Giants Third Rounder Carted off as NYG Suffers 5 New Injuries: Report

Getty New York Giants offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu (#75) left Friday's training camp practice with an injury.

We have reached the dog days of summer at New York Giants training camp as temperatures spiked on Friday, August 2. And with the heat came the injury bug.

After practice, The Athletic’s NYG beat reporter Dan Duggan noted that five Giants players left practice with injury on Friday. They were wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie, wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton, tight end Jack Stoll, offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu and defensive lineman D.J. Davidson.

Of the five, only two of the injuries are known to the media at this time. McKenzie suffered a “hip/back” issue that looked to cause “serious pain” — per New York Daily News reporter Pat Leonard — as Stoll left because of his “knee.”

Despite the mysterious nature of it, perhaps the most concerning injury was to Ezeudu. According to The Athletic’s Charlotte Carroll, the former third-round blocker was “carted off” the sidelines after getting pulled from the field.

“Didn’t see what happened but he was down as cart came out for him,” Carroll elaborated. “[Ezeudu] wasn’t in jersey at that point.”

The “Talkin’ Giants” podcast was also live at the scene as they have been all summer. Their X account added that they “saw [Ezeudu] limping off the field during team drills” before the cart eventually came and got him.

During his post-practice thread, Duggan confirmed that “this was by far the longest, most physical practice of camp,” so perhaps that contributed to all of the bumps and bruises.

Giants’ Joshua Ezeudu Got Some Work at Guard Before Injury

Although it’s now unclear if Ezeudu will miss time, the Giants appeared to be working on his versatility before his injury.

The 6-foot-4 blocker had mostly been working as a swing tackle this summer, but Duggan pointed out that he got some work in as the first-team left guard on Friday along with undrafted rookie Jake Kubas.

Jon Runyan Jr. is expected to start at left guard this season — and that’s not going to change in favor of Ezeudu or Kubas — but the veteran received some extra snaps off on the hot day so opportunity came knocking. Unfortunately, it didn’t end well for the youngster.

As a reminder, Ezeudu did log 289 snaps at left guard as a rookie in 2022 according to Pro Football Focus. He allowed three sacks and 15 quarterback pressures at that position, playing to a run-blocking grade of 53.1.

For what it’s worth, Ezeudu had very similar analytics playing left tackle in year two. He was slightly worse in pass protection allowing five sacks and 12 quarterback pressures over 266 snaps, but his run-blocking grade was marginally better at 53.4.

Positional versatility should help Ezeudu’s chances of making the roster as a backup offensive lineman, but he’ll still need to improve all around if he wants to earn a second contract with the Giants.

Injuries Could Stall Progress of Giants WRs Isaiah McKenzie & Bryce Ford-Wheaton

McKenzie and Ford-Wheaton entered training camp on the roster bubble — and potentially on the outside looking in according to most covering the team. However, both had been gaining ground on a roster spot before August 2.

Ford-Wheaton was listed as an early standout by NorthJersey.com reporter Art Stapleton on July 28. The long-time media member credited the second-year wideout with making a “strong roster push” at the time and during his next 53-man projection on August 1, Stapleton actually had Ford-Wheaton making the team.

“Ford-Wheaton is going to push [Isaiah] Hodgins and [Allen] Robinson for one spot because of his value on special teams,” the reporter reasoned. He chose to cut Robinson this time around.

As for McKenzie, he was coming off his “most active practice of camp” on August 1 according to Duggan. Who relayed after Thursday’s practice: “[McKenzie] got reps with the first-team offense in 4-WR sets with Darius Slayton’s workload reduced. McKenzie caught one pass from Daniel Jones and three passes from Drew Lock.”

The veteran signing is expected to compete with Gunner Olszewski — and potentially running back Dante Miller — for the lead returner role in 2024. On that note, McKenzie was also seen taking reps as the punt returner on August 1.

Hopefully, both Ford-Wheaton and McKenzie are able to return to practice in short order as they continue to fight for their place on the initial 53.