NFL

Giants place Cordle on IR, he’s done for season

This was to be a very important final month for Jim Cordle as he filled the Giants’ starting center role and was set to stay in it the remainder of the season. He was finally getting his chance to establish himself with the Giants and in the NFL. He’d shown steady improvement since replacing the hobbled David Baas, but his development, for this season, has come to an end.

Cordle was placed on season-ending injured reserve Tuesday, continuing the battering of an offensive line that had already lost Baas and right guard Chris Snee to season-ending injuries. Cordle came out of the 24-21 loss to the Cowboys with what he said was damage to the patella tendon in his left knee, but he was told he might be able to manage the injury and continue to play. It turned out that is not the case and Cordle is done for the season. His place on the roster was taken by offensive lineman Stephen Goodin, who has spent the entire season on the practice squad.

When Cordle left the game against the Cowboys in the second quarter, left guard Kevin Boothe moved over to play center and James Brewer came off the bench to play left guard. That is the lineup the Giants will likely go with for the final five games, assuming everyone stays healthy.

Boothe has plenty of experience at center and Brewer, a 2011 fourth-round draft pick, is next in line as far as depth and this will be his chance to show he should be a part of the Giants’ future after not doing much thus far.

Cordle, 26, played in every game since the start of the 2012 season, mostly as a reserve. He started three straight games, beginning with the Sept. 29 game in Kansas City, when Baas went down with a neck injury. Baas returned for only one game before hurting his knee and Baas started the past four games.

The addition of Cordle inflates the Giants’ injured reserve list to 10 players, including eight who started at least one game this season: David Wilson, Aaron Ross, Henry Hynoski, Shaun Rogers, Da’Rel Scott, Baas, Snee and Cordle.

Goodin (6-foot-6, 308 pounds) was originally signed in May 2012 as a rookie free agent from Nebraska-Kearney. He was on the practice squad for part of last season and spent all of this season on the practice squad until this move to the roster.

The Giants made a change on their practice squad, signing offensive lineman Steven Baker and terminating the contract of defensive back Brandon Jones. Baker was on the practice squad earlier this season