ALBANY — Incredibly, for the second consecutive summer, the Giants lost the services of the player they’ve viewed as a rising star.
Cornerback Terrell Thomas is damaged, again. For the second time in 11 months, he suffered an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and is in danger of missing yet another season.
This cruel blow for Thomas and huge blow for the Giants snuck up on them. Thomas, who believed he was fully healed and primed for a resounding comeback, slipped while covering Domenik Hixon in a one-on-one drill during Sunday’s practice. He iced his knee on the side and no one thought it was a big deal. When the knee swelled overnight, the caution flares were lit.
An MRI and examination yesterday by team physician Dr. Russell Warren at the Hospital for Special Surgery revealed the new injury, which the Giants are only saying is “involving’’ the right ACL. If it were a full tear the ACL would be gone, which is not the case here. The ACL is in place, but it is believed to be partially torn.
“Terrell re-injured his ACL,” said Ronnie Barnes, the Giants senior vice president of medical services. “At this point, he will most likely undergo an arthroscopic procedure to determine the extent of the injury to the ACL. However, no decision has been made at this point. Terrell is going to consult with Dr. [Arthur] Ting, who performed an allograft reconstruction of the ACL in September.”
Thomas missed all of the 2011 season after tearing his right ACL last Aug. 22. A month later he underwent surgery performed by Dr. Ting, who also performed the first ACL surgery on Thomas’ right knee back in 2005, when Thomas played at USC.
Given this is the third time Thomas’ right ACL has been damaged, his football career is in danger of ending at age 27. It is believed no player ever has successfully made it back to the NFL after three torn ACLs.
After starting and amassing 10 interceptions in 2009 and 2010, Thomas was in line for a huge payday before blowing out his knee. The Giants believed in his ability to return to form and re-signed him to a four-year, $28 million contract, although the team protected itself as only the $1 million signing bonus is guaranteed. Thomas’ $1 million salary for this season will be paid if he’s on the roster or injured reserve.
The depth at cornerback just took a massive hit and the urgency grows for Prince Amukamara, last year’s first-round pick, to step in and start. Amukamara broke his foot last summer and did next to nothing in his rookie season.
There are other NFL-caliber cornerbacks on the roster, with Justin Tryon, Michael Coe and Bruce Johnson all returning from injuries and rookie third-round pick Jayron Hosley expected to contribute in his first season. The potential loss of Thomas, though, will again reverberate throughout the entire defense.
After he slipped on Sunday, Thomas remained on the field for several minutes before pulling himself off. Yesterday morning, Thomas told the Giants medical staff his knee had swelled up overnight and that prompted the team to send him to the Hospital for Special Surgery for further examination.
At first, Thomas did not seem overly concerned.
“He walked up to me after practice, he thought he felt good, he didn’t really seem to have any issues and this morning when he came back in he was swollen,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said. “I didn’t see him [yesterday] morning but I saw him [Sunday] afternoon and he walked up to me and said, ‘I slipped.’ ”
This past weekend, general manager Jerry Reese prodded Amukamara to “play like a first-round draft pick,’’ and now he will have to.
“He would always tell me that before the games last year and I didn’t take it to heart, I didn’t take it personal,’’ Amukamara said. “I just took it as encouragement. I feel I have a lot of expectations for myself and the organization has a lot of expectations for me.’’