Blackburn to sit out with MCL sprain
NEW ORLEANS - OCTOBER 18: Heath Evans #44 of the New Orleans Saints is tackled by Chase Blackburn #57 of the New York Giants at the Louisiana Superdome on October 18, 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Credit: Getty/Chris Graythen
Last week when Chase Blackburn was dealing with an elbow injury, I foolishly suggested to him that he take a day off from practice to feel better.
"Yeah," he said. "Not gonna happen."
Well, now he has no choice. Blackburn, who has toughed his way through injuries for a surprising six-year NFL career, sprained his right MCL in a collision on Monday night. He'll likely miss several weeks -- Tom Coughlin said he would not put a number on it -- while rehabbing the injury.
"Obviously he’ll have to work himself into being able to practice and play and it will take some time," Coughlin said.
That will just about kill Blackburn. In fact, I'm not going to say that he's going to miss any time until we are on the field tomorrow afternoon for practice and he is not lined up at linebacker.
While a few weeks will be like a prison sentence for Blackburn, it's actually the best-case scenario. There is no surgery in the plans, Coughlin said, and there was no damage to the ACL.
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Besides Blackburn and of course Eli Manning, Coughlin mentioned two other players with injuries. He said Ramses Barden has been dealing with some lower back pain and doctors are trying to determine if it is muscular or structural. That bears watching. And he also said that he believed that Jim Sorgi took a shot to the ribs and did not re-injure his throwing shoulder (an injury that put him on IR at the end of last year). Coughlin wasn't certain about Sorgi's injuries, but he said that QB coach Mike Sullivan told him that Sorgi would be good to go this weel.
