Big Blue View
The Giants lose their best player to injury
Things have gone from bad to worse for the New York Giants on Thanksgiving against the Dallas Cowboys.
The team announced at the close of the third quarter that star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence had been ruled out with an elbow injury. He confirmed after the game that he suffered a dislocated elbow.
Lawrence added that he doesn’t know what his timeline for a return is, nor does he know if this spells the end of his season. A dislocated elbow is an incredibly painful injury, but more tests will be required before we know whether Lawrence will need surgery to repair the injury.
The big man has otherwise been durable. He’s played 4,196 defensive snaps for the Giants (as well as 640 special teams snaps) spread across 91 games — not counting this week.
Lawrence left the field earlier in the third quarter after getting rolled up on while trying to make a tackle. The loss of Lawrence is a massive blow to the Giants’ defense as he’s arguably the best defensive tackle in the NFL and is certainly the Giants’ best defensive player.
Not only is he an immovable object in the middle of the Giants defense in the run game, but he is also a force to be reckoned with as a pass rusher and currently has 9.0 sacks on the year. Lawrence has matured into one of the league’s true difference makers on the defensive side of the ball, and it would be an incredible loss if he’s forced to miss the remainder of the season.
The Giants also announced late in the game that defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches had also been ruled out with a stinger. He left earlier in the second half and was ruled out at the end of the fourth quarter.
Backup nose tackle D.J. Davidson has also been dealing with a shoulder injury and left the field in the first half. The Giants were down to just two interior defensive linemen, elijah Chatman and Jordon Riley, late in the game.
