Dottino: Injury Bug Continues To Disrupt Giants' Practices

By Paul Dottino
» More Columns

Make it two-for-two, as in two inexplicable injuries to the same position in back-to-back Giants' practices.

First-round corner Prince Amukamara suffered a fractured left foot on Saturday night, a day after backup Bruce Johnson sustained a torn Achilles that prompted him to be waived-injured.  Johnson got hurt backpedaling on the natural grass while Amukamara was injured on the artificial turf in the fieldhouse, which is where the Giants were forced to work because of the rain.

Amukamara will have a pin inserted into his foot and is out indefinitely, although this type of injury typically can keep a player sidelined for approximately two months. He's a rookie who had no off-season training thanks to the lockout and whose 24-hour participation in camp was necessitated by his holdout. So it may be unrealistic to expect him to contribute on anything more than special teams when he finally returns to the field.

In the meantime, the Giants will have a competition behind Corey Webster, Terrell Thomas and Aaron Ross for two corner spots. Former Jaguars Michael Coe and Brian Witherspoon (who's had a terrific first week) would have the inside track of those on the roster. Veteran free agents Ty Hill and former Giant Kevin Dockery might be of some interest.

Earlier in the day, former Cardinals TE Ben Patrick, who was signed as a free agent last week, unexpectedly decided to retire and was placed on the reserve-retired list.

Paging Bear Pascoe, paging Bear Pascoe. Do the Giants really have any other choice? As well as he played at fullback last season, he's going to have to return to being the in-line tight end because he's the most complete option on the roster.

Jake Ballard has blocking attributes and Travis Beckum primarily is a receiver. The Giants will look at the waiver wire and find it's tissue-paper thin– with the most intriguing names being veterans Alge Crumpler (who's still rehabbing a shoulder injury) and Reggie Kelly (who was a solid blocker before an Achilles injury two years ago).

The move of Pascoe back to tight end puts a lot of pressure on undrafted rookie FB Henry Hynoski of Pittsburgh, who said he was targeted by 15 teams immediately following the draft. He was a powerful blocker who also showed good hands as a Panther and has impressed Coughlin.

NOTES: Coughlin said there was nothing new to report on the Osi Saga. … Coughlin called out WR Ramses Barden (ankle), wondering when the player might be able to practice. … Coughlin chuckles every time he talks about CBA's impact on diluting the training camp schedule – he started Saturday's team meeting by reminding his players that the preseason opener in Carolina is exactly one week away in order to enhance their focus.

For updates from camp, follow @GiantsWFAN on Twitter.

What do you make of the latest Giants' injury developments? Sound off below…