The New York Giants held their collective breath in the second quarter of a 25-22 preseason victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.
Rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux lay on the turf clutching his knee following a cut-block from Bengals tight end Thaddeus Moss. The replay looked concerning and in short order, a cart was headed out onto the field.
But Thibodeaux quickly waived it off and limped his way over to the sideline. He then headed into the medical tent for an examination, only to emerge sans a limp and with a big smile on his face.
It appears, at least for now, that Thibodeaux avoided any type of significant knee injury.
While the #Giants quickly ruled out first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux after taking a shot to the knee, my understanding is there’s initial optimism he avoided a major injury.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 22, 2022
“I’m all right. I’m good,” Thibodeaux told reporters as he left MetLife Stadium. “We’re good. Good news.”
Thibodeaux is still slated to undergo further testing on Monday, but he seemed to indicate he wouldn’t miss much (if any) time. However, head coach Brian Daboll was much more reluctant to share the team’s internal diagnosis.
“We’ll see. He’ll get the tests, and we’ll have more for you (on Monday),” Daboll told reporters. “These players work as hard as they can possibly work to try to do as well as they can, and anytime you see someone on the turf regardless of how they got here, it’s always, it’s hard as a coach to watch a guy go down.”
The Giants can ill-afford for Thibodeaux to miss any time. They’re already drowning in injuries on both sides of the ball and the rookie first-round pick represents their primary pass rush option.
In addition to Thibodeaux, the Giants were without 18 players on Sunday night due to the injury. They also lost rookie linebacker Darrian Beavers, kicker Graham Gano and wide receiver C.J. Board throughout the game.
