ALBANY — Chris Canty wanted no part of being viewed as a trend-setter.
“I didn’t start this, don’t put this on me,’’ he said yesterday on the final day of training camp at the University at Albany.
Actually, Canty did start this, although he’s certainly not to blame. Canty is coming off knee surgery and arrived at camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list, a designation he has been unable to shake. He’s a starting defensive tackle, but the Giants accumulated so much depth at that position that his absence, until now, didn’t cause much of a ripple.
“I thought we were as deep there we were at any position on the team,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said yesterday. “It’s not that way right now.’’
What so often happens is one position during a summer is hit with a rash of injuries. All of a sudden, it’s the defensive line, specifically defensive tackle, that has been ravaged.
It was revealed yesterday Shaun Rogers, the veteran signed this offseason to add experience and bulk to the interior of the line, is done for the season before it ever started because of a blood clot in his lower leg. That could be a career-ending blow for Rogers, a 33-year old, 11-year NFL veteran who reported to camp in excellent shape after dropping a load of weight.
There’s more.
Marvin Austin, coming back after missing his entire rookie season with a torn pectoral muscle, had held up in training camp but now has a back issue, which is why he was sent to the Hospital for Special Surgery for tests. Austin was on the field Monday afternoon and again in the evening for the team jog-through. Coughlin got a call around 9:15 p.m. that night that Austin’s back was a problem.
“I’m praying that the phone call comes in, it’s a good one and it can be controlled and all that business,’’ Coughlin said.
There’s more.
Another defensive tackle and roster long shot, first-year Martin Parker, has a herniated disc in his back and will have surgery, ending his season.
The sudden depletion at defensive tackle forced the Giants to sign Carlton Powell on his 27th birthday yesterday.
Powell, originally a 2008 fifth-round draft pick of the Broncos out of Virgina Tech, has previously been with five teams but has played in only three NFL games.
Earlier in the day, the Giants worked out three players to fill spots on the defensive line.
Linval Joseph, a starting defensive tackle along with Rocky Bernard — the only experienced, healthy players at the position — said: “Things happen, just like last year, things happened, and we’re going to get through it.’’
For now, first-year Dwayne Hendricks and rookie seventh-round draft pick Markus Kuhn are in line for emergency promotions — both were working yesterday with the second-team defense.
Hendricks had two sacks in the preseason opener and continues to attract extreme praise from Coughlin.
“He goes a million miles an hour, I have just the utmost respect for that kid,” Coughlin said. “That kid works his ever-lovin’ off.”
As for Kuhn, he’s a raw German import who notched a tackle for a loss on his first play in Jacksonville and has shown an aggressive side. General manager Jerry Reese called Kuhn a “buzz-saw’’ after drafting him.
“It was funny because it caught on in Germany, too,’’ Kuhn said of the “buzz-saw’’ description. “In Germany they say, ‘Kreissäge.’ So that’s what they call me over there, too. Maybe it’s saying … sometimes I don’t have the greatest technique but I stay busy and I stay after it. The effort is there. That’s for sure.’’
As for Rogers, Coughlin said he showed his commitment by losing nearly 50 pounds, going from the high 380s in the spring to 334 pounds when he reported to camp this summer.
“He was really excited about being a part of this team,’’ Coughlin said. “He got along really well with our defensive linemen. He actually asked to go play some more snaps the other night, which I thought was really neat. It’s just a sad thing.’’