DETROIT – The sight no player wants to see occurred on the second play yesterday, as linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka had to be helped off the field.
“A guy gets carted off, it just kind of puts everybody in a little bit of a trance,” Giants center Shaun O’Hara said.
The Giants recovered and their defense held together in a 16-10 victory over the Lions at Ford Field, but it was a costly afternoon. Kiwanuka is through for the season with a broken left fibula, and in the third quarter, running back Brandon Jacobs was forced out with a hamstring injury.
Kiwanuka made a tackle on an 8-yard run by Kevin Jones, and stayed down on the turf after his left leg was accidentally rolled into by teammate Osi Umenyiora.
This injury immediately brought back memories of last year’s flurry of health problems to hit the Giants in the second half of the season. There was no immediate timeframe attached to the injury, but Tom Coughlin said, “I would think that, most likely, he is” when asked if Kiwanuka is done for the season.
Reggie Torbor stepped in for Kiwanuka and it’s now Torbor’s job for the foreseeable future. A four-year veteran, Torbor has started 13 games as a fill-in during his career and mostly has served as a special-teams player.
“That is a very, very costly loss for us,” Coughlin said.
“When he goes down, you definitely have to take a deep breath and kind of calm down and say, ‘OK, we’re going to be OK with whoever comes in here,’ ” Michael Strahan said.
Kiwanuka, in his first year at linebacker, was developing at a steady rate, improving in his pass drops and making an impact in the third-down dime package when the Giants utilize a pass rush comprised of four natural defensive ends. Kiwanuka had 4½ sacks and allowed defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to be creative in his schemes.
“Whenever a guy like that goes out, who does so much for your football team, it gives a lot of chaos as far as who’s going to back him up, who’s going to do this and do that,” defensive lineman Justin Tuck said.
Jacobs rushed 11 times for 54 yards and bulled his way past safety Gerald Alexander on a 10-yard touchdown catch-and-run in the second quarter. “In a situation like that, I had to be the king of the jungle,” Jacobs said.
In the third quarter, the king was dethroned when he lost a fumble at the Lions’ 26-yard line. The next and last time he touched the ball, he lost a yard and then grabbed his left hamstring. He said he did not hear the popping sound that often means a tear, but he could not return to the game.
“I’ll be all right. It’s something mild, it’s no big deal,” Jacobs said. With Derrick Ward already out with a groin injury, the Giants cannot afford the loss of Jacobs in the offensive backfield. Reuben Droughns, used as a short-yardage specialist, was forced into action and ran 11 times for only 13 yards.