The New York Giants suffered another massive blow on Sunday as star rookie Cam Skattebo appears to have been lost for the season following a gruesome ankle fracture vs. Philadelphia.
Skattebo, who had already scored a touchdown prior to the injury, needed to be carted off the field midway through the 2nd quarter after his right ankle got caught up under an Eagles defender. The rookie tailback was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game, and transported to a local hospital where he underwent emergency surgery Sunday night.
“Yeah, feel absolutely terrible for the young man,” coach Brian Daboll said following his team’s 38-20 loss. “Obviously, saw it looked bad. I know you feel for anybody on your team that goes down and has a really bad injury and … I know the players feel the same way about [Skattebo].”
Although cameras initially showed the results of the injury, most broadcasts quickly switched to footage of the Giants sideline to avoid showing the obvious dislocation which had occurred. The severity of the situation was evident to both teams, with OL Greg Van Roten calling for medical attention immediately.
“I saw him on the ground with his leg trapped,” Van Roten said. “When he pulled it out, you could see his foot was the wrong way. Obviously, that is not normal. I just wanted [Skattebo] to stay down, called the trainers out, get the cart. Put the [ankle] back basically. It’s hard to see stuff like that.”
The 4th round draft pick began the season as a backup running back on the Giants roster, but had quickly cemented as a fan favourite due to his bruising running style. Across 8 games for New York (5 starts), Skattebo amassed 410 rushing yards, along with 5 TDs on the ground, plus another 207 yards and 2 TDs through the air.
He and rookie QB Jaxson Dart became fast friends, with their unbridled enthusiasm drawing comparisons to the fictional “bash brothers” from the Mighty Ducks film series.
“Yeah, I was devastated,” Dart said. “It’s my boy, man. So seeing him go down and obviously reacting to what happened, that sucks. It’s the worst part of this game.”
Already down star wide receiver Malik Nabers due to a torn ACL, New York’s offence will be hard pressed to score points in the second half of the season, which could lead to some developmental growing pains for Dart. In his absence, the Giants are expected to lean on Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary, though both have yet to show any kind of offensive spark in recent weeks.
New York’s front office could also look to dip into the free agent market to add some depth to the position in an effort to not put too much on Dart’s shoulders in his inaugural NFL campaign.
The Giants have 5 more games to go before their Week 14 BYE, and will host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday November 2nd in a 1pm ET showdown.
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