NFL

David Wilson will have to wait for career-altering diagnosis

It’s now a waiting game for David Wilson.

The 23-year old running back’s comeback from cervical fusion surgery might have been dealt a lethal blow, but Wilson won’t know for sure until after the weekend.

Forced out of Tuesday’s practice after suffering a burner, Wilson will not practice for the remainder of the week, nor will he play in Sunday night’s preseason opener, the Hall of Fame Game against the Bills in Canton, Ohio. Wilson will be examined Monday by Dr. Frank Cammisa, the chief of spine services at the Hospital for Special Surgery and the specialist who performed Wilson’s vertebrae fusion on Jan. 16.

Wilson took to Twitter on Wednesday to thank fans for their good wishes and state “I’m doing well.’’ He also seemed upbeat as he tweeted “Left practice early yesterday but everything turned out to be fine once the Dr. looked at me plus I passed all physical examination. I’ll find out more on Monday.’’

The results of that evaluation will likely chart the course ahead for Wilson, who could be facing the end of his NFL career. Wilson has also been found to have spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal.

He also tweeted on Wednesday afternoon:

The Giants were hopeful Wilson, selected in the first round of the 2012 draft, would be able to return to football despite the herniated disk he suffered against the Eagles Oct. 6. That ended Wilson’s season after only five games and triggered the need for him to have two vertebrae in his neck fused together. There were no guarantees Wilson could resume his career and it took until the July 21 start of training camp for Wilson to receive medical clearance for full contact.

All went according to plan during the first week of camp. Last Friday, with the Giants wearing shoulder pads for the first time this summer, Wilson got his first real test when he smacked headfirst into safety Cooper Taylor. Wilson said the contact “felt good’’ and he came out of it unscathed.

But Wilson did not make it out of his seventh practice. He took a shovel pass Tuesday from Curtis Painter, turned up the field and, head down, ran into the back of guard Eric Herman. The Giants listed the injury as a burner, or stinger, which is usually associated with nerve injury. It can cause weakness in the muscles or pain or numbness in the arms. Wilson was examined by the Giants medical staff and will have to wait until Monday for further evaluation.

Wilson takes a practice handoff from Eli Manning last week.Charles Wenzelberg

“We were praying that it would be not an issue, that he would be able to come back and just go to work and he was cleared, as you know,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said Tuesday.

The plan was for Wilson to play in a running-back rotation led by 29-year old Rashad Jennings, the former Raider who has looked solid in his first camp with the Giants. General manager Jerry Reese said during the offseason that any contribution the team received from Wilson this season would be “a bonus’’ and Reese fortified the backfield by not only signing Jennings but also by using a fourth-round draft pick on Andre Williams, a Heisman Trophy candidate who led the nation in rushing at Boston College. Veteran Peyton Hillis and second-year Michael Cox also returned.

Throughout the ordeal, Wilson maintained he never was in any pain and he was eager to return to action. A player who can relate to that feeling is defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who had to overcome a serious neck injury in 2010 to continue playing.

“This is a great opportunity that only comes around once in your life,” Kiwanuka said last week. “For all of us, when you’re forced with considering retirement prematurely, that’s a real tough thing and it really makes you reflect on all of the years you put in.”