Giants lose Collins for the season
Former All-Pro safety faces shoulder surgery
East Rutherford, N.J. — New York Giants safety and leading tackler Landon Collins is going to miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.
The Giants said Wednesday that Collins has a partially torn labrum and will need surgery. The team had said earlier Collins would not play Sunday in Washington.
The expected recovery time for this type of injury can be anywhere from four to six months.
Collins was not in the locker room before the practice to comment.
An All-Pro in 2016 and a twotime Pro Bowler, Collins was hurt in Sunday's overtime win against
the Chicago Bears. He left the game late in the first half after assisting on a tackle against halfback Tarik Cohen. He returned at least twice in the second half and has 96 tackles.
"Landon displays what he is, he's a very tough guy, very good tackler, he's made a lot of plays for us, especially close to the line of scrimmage," coach Pat Shurmur said of Collins' season.
"I've said it numerous times, in a sport where toughness is required, he's got a lot of it, so that's what I appreciate about him."
Collins has led the Giants in tackles in each of his first three seasons. His contract expires after this season. The second-round draft pick in 2015 has started 60 of the team's 61 regular-season and postseason games. He missed the 2017 season finale after fracturing a forearm.
"It (stinks) not having my guy next to me, but it's a next-man-up league, so that's what we got to do," fellow starting safety Curtis Riley said. "It's going to feel a little funny, but that's my guy, so I got to do it. We got to do it."
Veteran Michael Thomas and rookie Sean Chandler probably will share Collins' workload on Sunday.
"Obviously we're going to miss him, but it's an opportunity for young guys to step up, our new guys to step up," said Thomas, who had five tackles Sunday.
"You don't just replace a guy like LC, two-time Pro Bowl player, AllPro safety. You don't just replace that, so that's my brother, we're going to ride for him." Chandler said he would be ready. Chandler was an undrafted free agent out of Temple. He played in the NFLPA bowl game in January and was coached by Thomas, who signed with the Giants as a free agent in the offseason.
"He has always tried to give me the inside scoop and way I can do things better," Chandler said of Thomas. "He has always told me to work hard and he still does that."