The New York Giants likely lost one of their best players for the rest of the season due to a gruesome injury he suffered on Thursday night. During the game against the Washington Football Team, Giants offensive lineman Nick Gates suffered a lower leg fracture. He was seen rolling around in pain before was leg was wrapped in an air cast. According to the New York Post, some were comparing the leg injury to what former Washington quarterback Joe Theisman suffered after being sacked by Giants legend Lawrence Taylor in 1985.
Because the injury was so bad, NFL Network decided to not show the replay. Gates’ teammates came onto the field for support, and he was then transported to a local hospital. He is expected to have surgery on Friday. “The team had a little bit of a gut punch seeing a guy like that who is a strong leader,” coach Joe Judge said after the game. “I thought they rallied and responded the right way for him. He’s an all-in team guy.”
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Gates, a co-captain on the Giants, moved from center to left guard for the game. He has been with the Giants since 2018 after signing with the team as a free agent from Nebraska. He spent his rookie season on injured reserve but became one of the team’s top players over the last two seasons.
The loss of Gates is one of the many issues the Giants are dealing with right now. The team lost on Thursday and is now 0-2 on the year. “There are a lot of things to build on going forward,” Judge said. “But obviously in a game like this, you can see the margin of error with the score. It was a tight game and there are a lot of little things that add up over time. We’ve got to clean some stuff up as a team, keep moving forward, keep learning from the negatives, building on the positives to put us on course to improve as a team.”
The Giants are looking to get back into the championship picture after last winning the Super Bowl in 2011. The last time the Giants made the playoffs was in 2016 when they lost in the wild-card round. 2016 was also the last year the Giants had a winning season.
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