Giants avoid the worst with Micah McFadden injury

Contrary to popular opinion, not everything that happened in the Week 1 loss was the worst-case scenario for the Giants.

Linebacker Micah McFadden, who initially was feared to have suffered a season-ending injury when he was carted off the field with an air cast on his right leg in the first quarter against the Commanders, was back on the sideline during the second half.

McFadden was undergoing further testing Monday on his leg and foot before a recovery timeline could be established.

If McFadden is going to be week to week, he could land on injured reserve for a minimum of four weeks.

“I think he thought when he was out there laying on the ground that he broke his leg,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “I know he didn’t do that, but getting some other things looked at here.”

The Giants turned to Darius Muasau — a 2024 draft pick who has drawn high praise internally — to play 38 snaps in place of McFadden.

On Muasau’s second play off the bench, Jayden Daniels targeted him in coverage for a 7-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz.

“Man, seeing Micah go down was bad,” edge Brian Burns said. “That’s a tough loss. People don’t know how valuable he is to this defense. He flies under the radar a lot, but Micah is a baller. I just hope his injury isn’t too serious.’’

McFadden is coming off back-to-back 100-tackle seasons and is playing for a contract in 2026.

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Punter Jamie Gillan handled the opening kickoff before kicker Graham Gano reclaimed his usual duty for the next two kickoffs.

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The second-year NFL dynamic kickoff rules force teams to land returnable kickoffs between the 20-yard line and goal line or put the kicking team’s defense in a bind by giving up better starting position.

“Jamie is good at some of those kicks with this new kickoff rule and where to put it,” Daboll said. “We’ve been working on that between Jamie and Graham on kickoffs, particularly for that first game.”

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Receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was a surprise choice as a kickoff returner given that he had not done that in his first three NFL seasons.

He had returns of 20 and 21 yards.

“Wan’Dale is good with the ball in his hands,” Daboll said. “He had a couple chances [to break a big one] there if we could just sustain on a block a little bit longer.”

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Daboll historically has made some big lineup changes between Weeks 1 and Week 2, including benching guard Mark Glowinski for Marcus McKethan in 2023.

But Daboll said he is not considering any personnel changes to the offensive line.

The exception, of course, would be if left tackle Andrew Thomas (foot) is ready to make his season debut. 

Left tackle James Hudson (six), left guard Jon Runyan Jr. (three) and center John Michael Schmitz (two) combined to allow 11 quarterback pressures against the Commanders.