The initial update on Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams appeared promising.
Head coach Brian Daboll told reporters on Monday that he was dealing with a knee injury and he is day-to-day. The Giants coach seemed to indicate the situation was better than it had appeared on Sunday when Williams left the game in the third quarter.
“It’s better than it could be,” Daboll said. “He said he feels a lot better than he did yesterday. He’s walking around, so we’ll take it like we normally do with all these things each day. Hopefully he’s a fast healer.”
Later in the day, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the injury was a sprained MCL and that it wasn’t expected to cost Williams much time.
#Giants DT Leonard Williams suffered a sprained MCL on Sunday, source said. While he may miss time, it’s not expected to be much. Coach Brian Daboll had said it was "better than it could be.”
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 19, 2022
The Giants have taken a few hits on defense so far this young season and losing Williams for any period of time would be another blow. New York played without edge rushers Azeez Ojulari and Kayvon Thibodeaux along with corner Aaron Robinson in their 19-16 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Williams did undergo testing on Monday to examine the extent of the injury.
The incident occurred during the third quarter when Williams went to rush quarterback Baker Mayfield. Williams was shoved into right tackle Taylor Moton, who fell on the lineman’s leg.
The key piece to the Giants’ defense laid on the ground for several minutes before he eventually made his way off the field under his own power with a limp. He was ruled out of the rest of the game a short while later.
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Williams has been a big part of New York’s defense with parts of seven tackles over the first two games of the season.
The Giants have come out in 2022 with two surprising wins to start the year 2-0. It marked the first time since 2016 that they’ve won their first two games of the year and now have a date on Monday night football with the Dallas Cowboys coming up.
