Promising New York Giants rookie suffers non-contact injury

Months after his departure, New York football fans are still mourning the loss of running back Saquon Barkley, and they had to grapple with the thought of losing yet another one Tuesday morning when Giants rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. was carried off the field.

Giants rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. suffers ankle injury during training

While catching a kickoff in practice, the 166th pick fell to the ground and was unable to get up. After botching the kick, Tracy Jr. attempted to pick up the loose ball before he fell to the ground. The Giants' medical team soon had his right ankle wrapped in an aircast and wheeled him off the field on a cart.

On the injury: Tyrone Tracy was way back as a kickoff returner. He botched the catch, reached down to pick up the ball, and his lower leg buckled. You could tell it was serious just by jumping. He had really carved out a major role for himself in this offense behind Motor Singletary. #Giants100

— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) 13 August 2024

Tracy Jr. has already shown enough ability to believe he will be an immediate impact player in New York's offense this year. The Iowa and later Purdue product looked good in his team's first preseason game last week, running five times for 26 yards. He also forced four missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.

You still have to consider Eric Gray and Dante Miller, who also rushed well in New York's first preseason scrimmage, but many expected Tracy Jr. to be a central piece on the committee of running backs who will run behind Devin Singletary this year.

“I think he's done a really good job of understanding all the little nuances, the protection, the identification, the route concepts, the alignments,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said of Tracy Jr. earlier this summer. “He's a smart player. I'm glad we have him. He's got good size though. Good length. For a young player just coming into our program, he's done well.”

But all that will have to wait.

Here is the good news

Although Tracy Jr. will certainly be out, the Giants diagnosed a “lower ankle sprain” later on Tuesday, which likely rules out the possibility of a season-ending injury. It was then revealed that Tracy Jr. had attended some meetings that afternoon and Jordan Raanan had been called in by ESPN even called it a “relatively positive result”.

An ankle sprain for RB Tyrone Tracy. He will likely be out for some time, but a relatively positive outcome given the opportunities.#Giants

— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) 14 August 2024

Whether Tracy Jr. will be ready for the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1 remains to be seen, although Art Stapleton of USA Today Tracy Jr.'s sprain is reportedly a Grade 2 sprain that is healing “week to week.” It usually takes 3 to 6 weeks for everything to heal completely, but that can vary depending on the person. The opening game in New York is in three and a half weeks.

Fortunately, Singletary also spoke to reporters on Tuesday and seemed more than up to the task of handling a heavier load than originally expected early in the season. Motor previously played for Daboll when they were both in Buffalo, and the halfback didn't seem the least bit pleased to be back in an offense led by him.

“It's fun to be back in this offense,” Singletary said. “I feel like I'm getting along well with the guys. Man, you can do anything [in this system]. You can catch the ball out of the backfield. Of course they're going to pass the ball back to you. You have to be able to pass professionally, but for me it's fun to pass professionally. I miss playing defense, so for me this is the way to get the feeling of being able to hit somebody. But that's what makes it fun for a running back.”