The Giants’ injury bug crossed the line of scrimmage and ended safety Jabrill Peppers’ season.
Peppers suffered a torn ACL last game and became the third co-captain (linebacker Blake Martinez and center Nick Gates) to be ruled out for the season. It’s a big loss for the Giants, but an even more significant blow for Peppers, who was playing on the final year of his contract and won’t have a chance to turn around a disappointing season before free agency.
Peppers went down clutching his knee at the end of a punt return against the Panthers. He initially was ruled out with what later was diagnosed as a high ankle sprain, but the damage was revealed to be much worse after Monday’s testing.
Peppers lost his starting job this month as the Giants went with Logan Ryan and Xavier McKinney at safety for better pass coverage. It’s been a bitter pill to swallow for the New Jersey native, who was a key piece in the 2019 trade that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns.
Before he was injured, Peppers had a sack against the Panthers, showing what might be his best skill — rushing the passer as an undersized outside linebacker.
The Giants already have three starting offensive linemen on IR (Gates, Shane Lemieux and Andrew Thomas) and only Thomas is expected to return. Four offensive weapons (Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard, Saquon Barkley and Kenny Golladay) who didn’t play last week could be out again Monday against the Chiefs.
Cornerback Josh Jackson, who was inactive for all seven games after he was acquired in an August trade from the Packers, and receiver David Sills were released in a flurry of Tuesday transactions. Second-year defensive back J.R. Reed will take one of those roster spots after being signed off the Rams practice squad.