Darius Slayton Admits Injury Held Him Back Throughout 2025 Season

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton revealed that he played all of last year with his sports hernia injury. This factor may have contributed to the downslide in his production.

Slayton, who said he could have had surgery during the season but chose not to, added that he tried to rehab the injury in the offseason, but when it wasn’t improving, that’s when he decided to have the surgery on both legs.

While not one to make excuses, he did confess that the injury affected him “a good bit,” adding, “I'm not a big excuse person. So, at the end of the day, I could have played better regardless, but obviously it's different when maybe you're used to being able to catch the ball a little easier.

“You're having to strain a little more and maybe come up an inch short here or there. But at the end of the day, if you're out there, you've got to make it happen.”

Slayton played in 14 games last year with 12 starts. He saw just 63 pass targets, catching 37 for 538 yards. Those were his lowest single-season numbers since 2021 when he was limited to 13 games.

Having avoided the PUP list, Slayton has set about trying to find his place in what’s a very crowded receiver room. And thus far, he is off to a solid start in the eyes of head coach John Harbaugh.

“I like him. Hard worker, very determined. He wants to do well. Talented, big receiver,” Harbaugh said.

“I felt like he was back today. Yesterday, he probably was working through the soreness and a little bit of recovery. So, that's part of that, coming off that sports hernia injury. But, yeah, I think he's on the way back, and I'm hoping for big things.”

He’s not the only one. Slayton, who has the highest cap hit among the Giants’ receivers, is probably not in any danger of being cut this summer given that he has guaranteed money owed to him, but there’s no question that he’ll need to play a lot better.

In addition to his reduction in pass targets and receptions, he posted six drops according to Pro Football Focus, giving him 13 over the last two seasons, with six coming on second down.

Slayton has also seen his efficiency decrease depending on the down. Over the last two seasons, he posted a 66.7% reception rate on first downs. That percentage dropped to 52.6% on second down and 52.8% on third down.

In addition, his first-down conversions also dropped from 23 on first down to 13 and 16 on second and third downs, respectively.

In short, Slayton has a lot of work to accomplish to show he still belongs in the lineup. And he’s confident he can do that.

“I need to be able to run; I need to be able to move how I'm accustomed to being able to move. Honestly, once that's all done, I believe I’ll play to a level that I need to play at.

“I feel like I've always just been a glue guy. Kind of a do-it-all guy. There's not really too much for a receiver position that I'm not capable of doing. My plan is to fill whatever holes need to be filled and be successful at my role.”

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