So much for the Giants' return to good health.
Just hours after finally being able to practice with all 53 players on their active roster for a second consecutive day, the Giants were dealt a potentially devastating blow Friday night when they learned they could be without their defensive captain, Antonio Pierce, for most of the rest of the regular season. He's out "indefinitely," according to the Giants, with a bulging disk in his neck. And depending on how the disk responds to treatment, "indefinitely" could be up to six weeks - or possibly even much more.
That news "shocked" the 31-year-old middle linebacker when he got it Friday afternoon, according to a statement released by the Giants. Pierce had suffered a burner last month, in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 25, but according to the team, he had been experiencing "very little discomfort" since then. The discomfort returned this week, which prompted the Giants to send him for an MRI at theHospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan after Friday's practice ended. Then, after he was examined by team physician Dr. Russell Warrenand Dr. Frank .Camissa, the hospital's chief of spinal surgical services, Pierce got the unexpected news.
"I'm shocked with what I heard from the doctors this afternoon" Pierce said in the statement. "I had no idea that what happened a few weeks ago could keep me off the field. I didn't think it was that serious. I'm going to do everything the doctors tell me to do so I can get back out on the field as soon as possible."
Just when that will be depends on a lot of factors, including how bad the bulge is and how the disk responds to treatment. The treatment for a bulging disk could range anywhere from simple exercises, ice and electrical stimulation, to a cortisone injection, to surgery. For the moment, surgery doesn't appear to be under consideration, especially since it would end Pierce's season. Continue
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