The Giants’ injury nightmare took another brutal turn Sunday, and this one lands right at the heart of their defense.
Brian Burns left New York’s Week 3 win over the Tennessee Titans in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, and NFL Network reported that the star pass rusher is believed to have torn his ACL. If that diagnosis holds, Burns’ 2026 season is done.
The injury happened with about 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter on a first-and-10 play. Titans quarterback Cam Ward hit Tony Pollard for a 1-yard gain, and Burns was down on the field afterward in obvious pain.
What makes the setback sting even more is that Burns was already playing through another issue. He had injured his ankle in last Monday’s 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Burns entered 2026 coming off the best pass-rushing season of his career, piling up 16.5 sacks for New York last year. Through three games this season, he had four tackles, four pressures and two quarterback hits. Now the Giants may have to ask a thinner group to pick up the slack, with Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Arvell Reese among the options to absorb more of the pass-rushing burden.
And Burns’ injury is only the latest blow. Against the Rams, starting quarterback Jaxson Dart also went down with a knee injury. There was first hope it would not be serious, but surgery became necessary and Dart has since been shut down for the year.
That leaves New York without its two most important players, one on each side of the ball, at a time when the season was supposed to be heading in a very different direction. The Giants came into 2026 with John Harbaugh as head coach and a wave of optimism after a Week 1 upset over Dallas. Instead, they’re now staring at the year through a much harsher lens.
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