The New York Giants lost their best offensive player for the season in Week 2 with quarterback Jaxson Dart.
They will now have to wait and hope they haven’t lost their best defensive player in Week 3 with NFL All-Pro edge rusher Brian Burns, who left Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans with an apparent lower-body injury.
Burns lay on the ground, writhing in pain, for several minutes after the play in which the injury occurred.
“Brian Burns is down with a right knee injury,” Giants Nation Pod’s Bobby Skinner wrote on his official X account.
“Brian Burns is down on the field and in SERIOUS pain,” Giants reporter Connor J. Hughes wrote on his official X account. “He’s really, really hurting … It looked like trainers were working on Brian Burns’ right knee. He is being helped off the field by Stinnie & Thomas. He’s being taken right back to the locker room. No medical tent. Right to the locker room.”
Burns was questionable all week with an ankle injury but was a gameday decision to play.
Concerns for More Serious Injury Arise Quickly
The awkward way Burns went down led to some pretty quick speculation that the injury could be serious — if Burns’ reaction itself didn’t give that away.
“Came into game with left ankle sprain,” Dr. David Chao wrote on his official X account. “By video, now worry for right ACL injury.”
“Brian Burns looks badly hurt,” New York Daily News reporter Pat Leonard wrote on his official X account. “John Harbaugh held him out of practice all week but dressed him for the game … favoring something on his right leg. Goes right to the locker room with the help of trainers.”
Brian Burns 1 of NFL’s Highest-Paid Players
The Giants signed Burns to a 5-year, $141 million contract extension before the 2024 season, and in 2026, for the 1st time in his career, Burns lived up to the money.
Burns’ career-high 16.5 sacks in 2025 earned him NFL All-Pro honors for the 1st time despite playing on 1 of the NFL’s worst teams, and it also earned him the No. 9 spot among edge rushers in ESPN’s annual preseason position rankings.
“Burns put it all together in Year 7, finishing second in the league with 16.5 sacks on his way to a second-team All-Pro nod,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on July 8. “The sack total was the highest by a Giants player since Jason Pierre-Paul in 2011. Burns’ talent was obvious when he entered the league in 2019. But production has been spotty throughout his career, and some evaluators wanted to see him routinely play with more power … Burns’ 31 quarterback hits in 2025 ranked fourth among all defensive players. He was the NFL’s lone player with five multiple-sack games last season. Burns was a top-10 selection in past years before falling to honorable mention in 2025.”
Giants All-Pro Leaves Titans Game With ‘Serious’ Injury