Darrian Beavers' season over after Giants linebacker tears ACL
Giants linebacker Darrian Beavers (41) walks off the field after sustaining an injury during the third quarter of a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, on Sunday, Aug 21, 2022. Credit: Brad Penner
The Giants went 1-for-2 on MRI results Monday.
While there was palpable relief after images of first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux’s right knee showed no structural damage, tests concluded that sixth-round pick Darrian Beavers suffered a torn ACL and he’ll miss his rookie season.
Beavers, the team’s final draft pick in April, had a strong debut against the Patriots last week and was playing well against the Bengals Sunday before he went down with his injury in the third quarter.
The inside linebacker is the latest member of the team’s draft class to suffer a significant injury. Offensive lineman Marcus McKethan, a fifth-round choice, tore his ACL in a practice in MetLife Stadium on Aug. 5, S Dane Belton fractured his collarbone, CB Cor’Dale Flott hurt his groin in the preseason opener, and offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu has missed two weeks with an undisclosed injury. Add Thibodeaux’s sprained MCL to that list.
“Injuries are a part of the game,” Brian Daboll said. “You never want guys to get hurt but that is the nature of playing a contact sport at the highest level. Certain things happen and some of them are out of your control . . . It’s a physical, physical sport with a lot of contact and people moving at high speeds, and unfortunately you're going to have some of those.”
When they are season ending as this is for Beavers, though, the disappointment can be even harder to take.
“There's a wide range of emotions for every player and each player is different,” Daboll said. “You try to be there and be supportive and do the best job that you can in that regard. What's next and having your mind on what's next and helping the players in any way that you can, so it's tough . . . particularly for guys who were developing and doing a good job in camp with a bright future.”
“That’s the challenge of offensive line play is trying to get five guys to act as one because if one part of it breaks down, it makes all five of them usually look bad,” Daboll said.
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.
