UPDATE: Micah McFadden has officially been ruled out for the rest of Sunday’s game in Washington with a leg/foot injury. Some good news for McFadden: X-rays on his leg and foot were negative, according to NFL Network. McFadden stood on the sideline with his right foot in a boot during the second half.
LANDOVER, Md. — The Giants lost starting inside linebacker Micah McFadden on Sunday. And it looks like he could be out for a while.
McFadden was carted off the field with 7:54 remaining in the first quarter of the season-opening game at the Commanders. The Giants’ medical staff placed an air cast on McFadden’s right leg.
It appeared he sustained a lower-leg injury while making a tackle on a 3-yard run by Austin Ekeler.
McFadden starts next to Bobby Okereke. After the injury, Darius Muasau entered the game for McFadden. The Commanders threw right at Muasau to complete that drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass, to go up 7-0.
The touchdown came two snaps after McFadden got hurt, as the Commanders immediately exploited a hole in the Giants’ defense, which entered this season with lofty expectations.
The Giants drafted Muasau in Round 6 last year. He played in 15 games as a rookie, with seven starts, and got 435 defensive snaps. He saw extended action because Okereke was hurt. Now, he might start next to Okereke, who is one of the Giants’ most important players.
McFadden, a 2022 fifth-round pick who became a full-time starter in 2023, is in a contract year. So the timing of this injury could be absolutely brutal for him, especially if he has to miss an extended stretch of time — perhaps even the entire season.
Still, the exact severity of his injury remains unclear, even though it looks bad.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com.
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