Big Blue all pain, no gain without WRs

ELI MANNING got good news that an X-ray on his neck was negative. Unfortunately, that was the only good news of the day for the Giants.

Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall, Sterling Shepard and Dwayne Harris all suffered injuries, leaving the Giants’ offense completely decimated after a 2722 loss to the Chargers — which, by the way, dropped them to 0-5 in what has been a nightmare season.

“It hurts,” said Roger Lewis Jr., the only wide receiver the Giants had left at the end of the game. “They’re like big brothers to me. So, it really hurts.”

Beckham was diagnosed with a fractured ankle that may require season-ending surgery. Harris has a fractured foot, ending his season. The extent of Marshall’s and Shepard’s injuries — which are both to the ankle —are unclear, but Marshall was carted off the field, which is never a good sign, and Shepard is believed to have sprained his left ankle, which he also sprained in training camp.

Lewis actually stepped up in a big way after Shepard and Marshall went down, catching a 29-yard touchdown in the third quarter to put the Giants up 16-10.

“I just wanted to be able to make a play to change the game,” Lewis said. “We fell short.” The injuries also extended beyond the wide receivers. Orleans Darkwa saw reduced carries after a 23-yard touchdown run in the first quarter because of a pulled muscle in his leg. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Landon Collins and Jonathan Casillas were coming in and out of plays because they were banged up, too.

Injuries are part of the game but this felt unprecedented. Only D.J. Fluker said he had seen something like this while playing for the Chargers, saying he once saw 47 players go down one year.

Still, losing the receiving corps was the real punch to the gut and left Justin Pugh scratching his head at the end on the final drive.

“To be honest, it didn’t hit me and then I was like, ‘wait, why do we have three tight ends out here?’” Pugh said. “Then, I realized that Dwayne went down, Shep went down, Brandon went down, Odell went down. It’s crazy.”

Rookie tight end Evan Engram, who was lining up wide the final series, was nearly at a loss for words.

“Sucks,” he said. “I’ve never seen that before, I’ve never been a part of that. It sucks.”

CEi Manning had two touchdown passes over 20 yards and the running game had a pulse, but Manning was also sacked five times. Got first interception, but no sacks, and struggled to hold any lead.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Probably the best week of the season as a unit.