New York Giants star pass rusher Brian Burns suffered a torn right ACL on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, per a report from Ian Rapoport.
The injury didn’t look good in the moment, with Burns holding his knee on the ground in obvious pain and pounding the turf in frustration. Despite that, Giants’ head coach John Harbaugh said after the game that there was “some hope” regarding Burns’ injury.
That hope, it appears, was in vain as Burns’ season is over. This is the Giants’ second season-ending knee injury to a star player in as many weeks, with quarterback Jaxson Dart suffering a knee injury against the Los Angeles Rams.
Burns was playing through an ankle sprain he suffered at the end of the Giants’ loss to the Rams last week. It was a surprise that he even took the field against the Titans, given the sloppy, rainy conditions and the fact that Burns didn’t practice at all during the week. Burns’ presence on the field against Tennessee is a testament to his toughness, but that won’t get him back on the field in 2026. Instead, he’ll be relying on that toughness to push through his eventual rehab for a return in 2027.
The Giants will now rely on Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux as their starting edge defenders. The team came into the season with just three dedicated outside linebackers, though they can also use Chauncey Golston and rookie Arvell Reese in that role on occasion. The Giants also have Trace Ford, who had a promising preseason, on their practice squad.
Even so, this is a significant loss for a Giants’ defense that has been very uneven through the first three games of the season.