NFL teams
Dan Graziano, senior NFL national reporter 10y

Walter Thurmond out for season

NFL, New York Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants cornerback Walter Thurmond will have surgery Tuesday to repair a torn pectoral muscle and will miss the remainder of the season, a significant blow to a Giants secondary that was supposed to have been the strength of the team but has struggled in the first two games.

The Giants on Monday were also awaiting further (and possibly bad) news on linebacker Jon Beason, who reinjured his toe in Sunday's game, and wide receiver Jerrel Jernigan, who suffered a midfoot sprain in the loss to the Cardinals.

But the loss of Thurmond, who signed a one-year, $3 million free-agent contract to be the team's nickelback, is going to be a tough one to overcome, even with the depth the Giants have at the cornerback position.

"It's very unfortunate with Walter. We looked forward to him being a good player for us in the secondary," safety and team captain Antrel Rolle said Monday. "But this week it'll be Trumaine McBride in there in his place, and I have all the confidence in the world in him."

McBride was a starting corner for the Giants in 2013 and has some experience playing that nickel role. But the Giants signed Thurmond because he is one of the best in the league at nickelback, and they believed he would give them a clear advantage at the spot every week. McBride might be able to handle the job, but he won't create mismatches in the Giants' favor.

Similarly, Beason was re-signed because the Giants deemed his contributions at middle linebacker last year too valuable to let go. But he missed all of training camp due to a foot injury suffered in spring practice and aggravated the injury Sunday. It's possible he could be out for a significant amount of time, even the rest of the year. With rookie Devon Kennard out with a hamstring injury, the Giants could be quite thin at linebacker all of a sudden.

The Giants typically work out players on Tuesday for tryout purposes, and this week will be no different. They will have at least one open roster spot vacated by Thurmond and could have more depending on the severity of the Beason and Jernigan injuries. Dan Fox is the linebacker, Chandler Fenner and Bennett Jackson are the cornerbacks, and Julian Talley is the wide receiver on the practice squad.

^ Back to Top ^