Ahmad Bradshaw out for Giants-Broncos game
Photo credit: Getty Images | Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw on the sidelines against the San Diego Chargers at Giants Stadium on Nov. 8, 2009.
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Ahmad Bradshaw
Ahmad Bradshaw’s status for Thursday’s game in Denver has gone from “We’ll see” to “See you when we get back.”
The Giants running back, who has played through a sore ankle and cracked bone on his right foot, has been ruled out of the game against the Broncos, mostly due to a sprained left ankle suffered against the Falcons on Sunday.
Bradshaw did not travel with the team on Wednesday afternoon. The Giants revealed the injury on Tuesday and Bradshaw was in a protective boot and on crutches, so his chances of playing in the game were slim anyway. On Wednesday, before the team’s flight, the Giants officially declared him as inactive.
Danny Ware, the third-string running back who played mostly on third-down situations against the Falcons, will move up the depth chart and is expected to take Bradshaw’s share of the carries behind Brandon Jacobs (who will play but is also coming of a game in which he injured his knee and did not return). The Giants will likely also activate rookie Gartrell Johnson, who took the place of Ware earlier this year when Ware was sidelined with a dislocated elbow after the season opener.
Bradshaw isn’t the only important player the Giants will be missing in the game, or in their travels to Denver. Linebacker Antonio Pierce, who was diagnosed with a bulging disc in his neck on Friday, had already been declared out for Thursday’s game. But on Wednesday he was in California getting a second opinion on the diagnosis and course of treatment from orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Watkins.
After Sunday’s game against the Falcons, in which he was sidelined, Pierce said he felt healthy enough to play and had been playing with the injury for weeks. A second opinion could possibly clear the path for Pierce to return sooner than most believed (about six weeks) or force him into season-ending surgery. Right now the Giants are treating the bulging disc and monitoring it, hoping it heals on its own with rest.
No matter how the visit to California turns out, Pierce will not play on Thursday. He could, however, show up on the sideline for the game. Injured players usually do not travel to road games with the team, but Tom Coughlin and other players made clear the impact Pierce had even without wearing a uniform on Sunday.
The only Giant besides Bradshaw and Pierce on the team's injury report is Eli Manning, who is listed as probable with a foot injury.
