New York Giants fans have experienced a range of emotions over the last three weeks. They went from happy to angry to now devastated after dropping their previous two games and dealing with a plethora of injuries.
Big Blue knocked off the Eagles at home in Week 6 on Thursday Night Football, which gave the G-Men motivation heading into last week against the Broncos. The team allowed 19 points in the fourth quarter, resulting in a shocking Denver come-from-behind victory that left fans frustrated.
Fans were holding onto some hope that rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart could bounce back and pull off another miracle in Philadelphia. That was not the case, as the Giants lost in blowout fashion, but the real loss that fans are feeling more is for rookie dynamo Cam Skattebo, who was carted off the field with an ankle injury and underwent surgery Sunday night.
Cam Skattebo’s injury leaves a giant hole in the Giants’ locker room
The season has been a rollercoaster: starting 0-3, benching Russell Wilson in favor of Dart, then beating the Chargers in Dart’s first start — a game in which Malik Nabers suffered a season-ending ACL injury — and now sitting at 2-6 through eight weeks and likely being without Skatt for the rest of the year.
Skattebo has been a fan favorite since arriving in New York and has been a significant factor in both the running and receiving game. In eight games, he totaled 410 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 101 carries, plus 24 receptions for 207 yards and two more scores, including one against the Eagles in Week 8.
Losing him for the remainder of the season would be a brutal blow to an already-depleted offense, with Nabers out and Darius Slayton dealing with an ongoing hamstring injury.
After the game, head coach Brian Daboll and several players spoke to the media about the rookie back and offered their thoughts and prayers to the 2025 fourth-round pick, wishing him a speedy recovery. “I feel absolutely terrible for the young man,” Daboll said.
Kayvon Thibodeaux told reporters that he was on the sideline when the injury happened and didn’t actually see the play, but called Skattebo a “baller” and a “dawg,” adding, “You gotta respect the game, he respects it. You never know when this game is going to be taken from you, so day in and day out, you gotta respect it.”
KT wasn’t the only teammate to speak on Skattebo, as right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor added, “Mentally, he’s one of the toughest guys I’ve been around. If anyone can come back from an injury like that and be even better, it’s him.”
Skattebo wouldn’t have been as successful this season without his running mate. Dart was emotional at the podium when asked about it: “I was devastated, that’s my boy. So, seeing him go down and obviously, like, reacting to what happened, and I just, that sucks, it’s the worst part of this game.”
Dart even came over to Skattebo, who was surrounded by teammates as he was being carted off, and gave him one of their signature headbutts, which may be the last one we see for a while from the Giants’ rookie phenom duo.
You can imagine the locker room vibes are not high, but in the meantime, Big Blue will look to get back in the win column at home in Week 9 against the San Francisco 49ers. Dart will have to get it done short-handed, without his top wide receiver and now his top running back.