New York Giants offensive tackle Matt Peart suffered a torn ACL in Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia, and will be out for the remainder of the season.
Peart, who got the start at right tackle with Nate Solder inactive due to COVID protocols, was hurt with just under five minutes left in the first quarter, his knee buckling as he blocked for a Saquon Barkley run. He walked off the field aided by trainers and the team initially called it a knee sprain, ruling him out for the day before announcing the severity of the injury Monday.
“To see his season end the way it is with the ACL and how he was really plugging forward – one thing about Matt is he's a really, really good team player, and the guys really like him and respect the way he works and goes out there every day and prepares and challenges and competes,” head coach Joe Judge said Monday.
That is a usual complement from Judge, but truthfully, Peart had a rocky and injury-plagued second season with Big Blue, starting five of the team’s 15 games (the first four at left tackle while Andrew Thomas was out) but also spending time completely out of the rotation.
According to Judge, though, Peart’s season isn’t so much about lack of performance as it is about how much he was hampered by injury.
“I think one thing is he's dealt with a number of setbacks from injury. He showed up to training camp, had to go on PUP, had an issue with his back that set him back a good bit,” Judge said. “That was something that kind of snowballed and kind of rolled into early in the season as far as him being able to go out there and really play at a top-level. There's been a number of other things that kind of crept up on him this year in terms of bumps and bruises that have kind of carried over, and you hate seeing a guy struggle through a number of injuries that set him back throughout the year.”
Korey Cunningham replaced Peart at right tackle Sunday, but Solder will hopefully be able to return from COVID protocol this week to bolster the line.
“I've got to reach out to Nate myself today and see how he is doing today. I haven't gotten a report from our medical staff today in terms of Nate being in any severe or negative situation, but I don't want to speak for Nate on that,” Judge said. “I can’t tell you exactly how he's feeling, but Nate having more of a documented situation, there's definitely a heightened awareness with his situation with his family and himself.”
Peart, meanwhile, can only start to get ready for 2022 and hopefully be able to make it back in time to start the season.
“You talk about Matt’s year, trying to build in that second year, but his number one priority right now is getting healthy,” Judge said. “You hate seeing any player get hurt, guys who truly love the game and love their team being injured. One thing that we're certain of is we know he's going to get great medical attention and he's going to get great attention to the rehab process and get him back on the field. He's still a young player with a bright future ahead of him. I saw a lot of good things; obviously, he's still developing in his position, there are a lot of things he can build on and grow on and can improve on, but his number one priority right now is just to get healthy.”
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If Solder can return, the Giants will have seven healthy offensive linemen on the active roster, including three tackles, with three more linemen on the practice squad. One of those is Isaiah Wilson, who was active on Sunday due to Solder’s absence, and he may be an option at the tackle spot as well.
“We’ll go through the week, but I think he obviously is an option for us possibly at tackle along with some other players,” Judge said. “He’s really been plugging away in here and he's made some progress. We've flexed him between guard and tackle through some drill and team work. As we go through this week, we'll look at a number of guys on our practice squad in terms of flexing them up as who can be that next tackle up for the game.”
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