Brian Burns Is Done for the Season. Now Who Steps Up for the Giants' Pass Rush?

New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh confirmed that outside linebacker Brian Burns suffered a torn ACL in the Giants’ Week 3 win over the Tennessee Titans.

“I feel bad for Brian more than anything,” Harbaugh said on Monday. “My heart breaks for him that way.”

The loss of Burns came in the fourth quarter of the 12-7 win over the Titans.

The linebacker was turning the corner when suddenly he was hit from the side, his leg buckling under him. Burns then hit the rain-soaked turf, clearly in pain, and began angrily pounding the turf in frustration before getting to his feet and hobbling off.

Burns, Harbaugh said, was due to have surgery to repair his ACL, though the coach did not say when that would happen.

The loss of Burns, one of two starting outside linebackers and someone Harbaugh called “a rock for us,” presents a challenge for the team to overcome, not only because of what Burns brought to the field but also because of what he brought off it.

The 28-year-old Burns, acquired in 2024 via trade from the Carolina Panthers, has never had a season in which he’s posted fewer than 7.5 sacks, a streak that will obviously end this year as he did not register a sack in three games.

Burns also took pride in being an iron man. He’s missed only three games in his eight-year career and none since coming to the Giants.

“The team is resilient. The team, the next guy will step up. We'll have to grow stronger,” Harbaugh said.

“You grow over the wound. You heal the wound, you grow over it, you scar up, and you move on. And we're not the only team that faces losses or will face losses.

“You've got to overcome the shock, get ready to play the next game, and find a way to win it. That's what we'll be doing as a team.”

Sep 27, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns (0) reacts after an apparent injury after a play against the Tennessee Titans during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In Search of the Pass Rush

With Burns out for the rest of the season, the Giants’ pass rush, which has been sluggish in getting out of the gate, will look for Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux to ratchet up their respective games.

“Yeah, they're going to have to, for sure,” Harbaugh said. “And, I mean, they've been playing a lot. Abdul especially has been playing a ton. And Kayvon's been playing a lot.

“So, it's not going to be a problem for Kayvon to play more snaps. What we need to do is get on track up front in terms of the pass rush.”

How the Giants will do that is still up in the air. Opposing teams have had great success thwarting the Giants' pass rush by getting the ball out of their quarterbacks’ hands at lightning speed.

According to Sportradar, quarterbacks facing the Giants have completed 73.3% of their pass attempts when throwing the ball in 2.5 seconds or less.

Those who took more than 2.5 seconds to throw completed 57.5% of their pass attempts; the Giants' lone sack so far this season came when the quarterback held onto the ball.

“We've got to find a way to overcome that,” Harbaugh said. “It’s always a chess game. We've got to find our next couple moves to get ourselves to the quarterback.

“We'll be working really hard, and we have been, but we've got to make it happen.”

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