NFL

The injury that’s cause for concern on the Giants’ O-line

The middle of June is no time to get all panicky and twitchy about a specific ailment that might infect your football team, but it is never too early to raise a red flag about Will Beatty and the Giants’ left-tackle situation.

As the offseason work grinds to a conclusion with the arrival Tuesday of a mandatory three-day mini-camp, Beatty will not be a participant as he continues to mend from his New Year’s Eve surgery to repair the broken right leg (tibia) he suffered in the season finale against the Redskins. The plan all along was to get Beatty ready for the July 21 start of training camp and that might be the case, but it is highly likely Beatty will not be given full clearance right out of the gate.

There is also no guarantee Beatty will be ready for the Sept. 8 start of the regular season, and it is certainly a possibility he might have to start off on the physically-unable-to-perform list, which would force him to miss the first six games.

Even if Beatty is ready to roll, he will have missed valuable time on the field. He is coming off a terrible season, the first after signing a mega five-year, $37.5 million deal. For that investment, all the Giants got in 2013 was agita. Beatty allowed 13 sacks and admitted he struggled to live up to the new contract.

The Giants did not exactly stock the shelves with alternatives in case things don’t work out with Beatty. They signed four veteran offensive linemen in free agency but only one, Charles Brown, is a left tackle. In the NFL Draft, they selected only one offensive lineman, Weston Richburg, a center. Brown has been working with the starters in place of Beatty, and James Brewer — a fourth-year player with very little to show for his first three seasons — has been mixed in at left tackle, which cannot be soothing to those interested in keeping Eli Manning upright.

Brown, a 2010 second-round pick from USC, spent four years with the Saints. Last season he started the first 14 games before he was benched after getting dominated by Rams defensive end Robert Quinn, allowing two sacks to go along with committing two penalties.

“I saw enough, period,’’ Saints coach Sean Payton said at the time.

Brown, 27, doesn’t care to expand too much on what went down.

“My last season wasn’t terrible, but I did have a bad game before I got put out,’’ Brown said. “I remember the exact play, the exact look, so when I see the look now I don’t think I’ll ever mess it up again. … That one play is what I think set coach off last year. It was a slide out to a nickel player and I slid out too wide and I let the D-end get between me and the guard.’’

The result?

“A sack,’’ Brown said, before adding “It’s over bro, that’s done.’’

Other areas to watch during the next three days of Giants mini-camp

  • There’s suddenly a vacancy at the starting middle linebacker spot, with Jon Beason out for at least 12 weeks with a right foot injury. Rookie Devon Kennard, holdover Mark Herzlich and veteran free-agent addition Jameel McClain are all candidates as the audition begins this week.
  • Eli Manning’s ankle is fine as the brand-new system installed by first-year offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo continues to come together. Tom Coughlin, asked about the progress, said, “It’s slow, to be honest with you. Slow but steady.’’ This is the final dress rehearsal before the pace is accelerated in training camp.
  •  The revamped passing game may be without first-round pick Odell Beckham Jr., who has missed time with what he insists is a minor hamstring issue. There’s a good chance the Giants play it safe and hold Beckham out of this mini-camp, which won’t help his development.
  •  The Giants reached a contract agreement with their third-round pick, DT Jay Bromley, completing their 2014 draft-class signings. They also signed free-agent LB Terrell Manning, who previously played for the Packers and Chargers. He was a 2012 fifth-round pick of the Packers out of North Carolina State.