Brian Daboll hopeful Daniel Bellinger will return to Giants this season
Daniel Bellinger #82 of the New York Giants is injured on the play in the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field on October 23, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. Credit: Getty Images/Mike Carlson
Giants rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger will undergo surgery to repair fractures to his eye socket and septum. Coach Brian Daboll said he is “optimistic” that Bellinger will return to play at some point this season but could not guarantee it.
“It’s probably too early to say when I expect him back,” Daboll said Monday. “We’ll see how this thing goes. I’m hopeful for it, but obviously you never know when things like this happen.”
Bellinger suffered the injury Sunday when Jaguars cornerback Tre Herndon reached into his facemask while making a tackle. Bellinger was carted off the field and taken to a hospital but returned to the locker room in time to celebrate the win and travel home with the team. While the injury left some gruesome swelling and discoloration around Bellinger’s left eye, a source said his vision was unaffected.
Bellinger had become a force in the offense with 16 catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns plus a rushing score.
The Giants have two other tight ends on the roster — Chris Myarick and Tanner Hudson — as well as recently added former Jet Lawrence Cager on the practice squad.
“I think any time one of your better players gets injured, you always miss him,” Daboll said, “but that’s why you have players on the roster. People are here for a reason. We have to find a way to use our pieces the best way we can.”
Notes & quotes: Daboll said a snippet of the Sunday broadcast that showed a fiery Daniel Jones interacting with coaches on the sideline was actually them celebrating his 1-yard TD run on a quarterback sneak. The clip looked more sinister because of what appeared to be Daboll separating Jones from quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney, but Daboll said on Monday he just wanted to be the first to congratulate Jones and nudged Tierney out of the way . . . Daboll was impressed with Landon Collins, the three-time Pro Bowl safety who rejoined the Giants as a practice-squadder and saw his first action of the season on Sunday. “He did a good job,” Daboll said. “He’s a pro. Obviously, he has played a lot of football. We got him acclimated to how we do things here and he picked up our defense well.” Collins played 23 defensive snaps and was credited with one tackle. He also was part of the mob that brought down wide receiver Christian Kirk at the 1 to end the game . . . Jones and Saquon Barkley became the third Giants tandem to rush for at least 100 yards each in a game and the first to include a quarterback in that partnership. The only others to accomplish it were Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, who did it against the Bills in 2007 and the Vikings in 2010.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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