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New York Giants’ Defensive Line Riddled With Injuries

Historically, the Giants’ defensive line has been one of the team’s greatest strengths. It helped spoil the New England Patriots’ attempt at a perfect season in 2008 and always is deep.

But according to The New York Times, injuries this season will test the mettle of a group that includes the likes of Chris Canty, Rocky Bernard and Osi Umenyiora. 

It starts with tackle Jay Alford, who injured his left knee,  in the Giants’ loss to the Bears on Saturday. Alford sustained a tear of his medial collateral ligament and a partial tear of his anterior cruciate ligament. All of that translates to two weeks of rehabilitation before a more conclusive course of action is selected.

Defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka also sustained a minor ankle injury during that game.
Add that to Canty’s hamstring injury, which has kept him out of two preseason contests and hasn’t improved much.

Bernard hasn’t seen any action due to a hamstring injury, but coach Tom Coughlin is confident the defensive tackle will return to the gridiron soon.

One bit of good news is that defensive tackle Fred Robbins, who missed the first preseason contest while recovering from offseason knee surgery, returned Saturday.

Still, the Giants’ defensive line clearly faces an uphill battle — especially because they’ll now have to face the Jets and Patriots, two teams that are perfectly capable of exploiting the line’s current weaknesses. Coughlin hopes that, at the very least, this dire predicament serves as cold water to the face of the line.

“I hope it’s a wake-up call,” Coughlin told the Times. “This rotation and depth is a nonfactor right now.”