New York Giants Official Website

  LB Pierce out indefinitely with injury
  By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

NOVEMBER 21, 2009

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - Early this season, Giants defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan was talking about Antonio Pierce's uncanny knack for anticipating what play the opposing offense is about to run.

"I think even if they wouldn't say it to a man, all of our defensive players rely on it," Sheridan said.

Now they have to do without it for the foreseeable future, beginning tomorrow at home against Atlanta. Pierce, the Giants' defensive captain and leading tackler, was diagnosed yesterday afternoon with a bulging disc in his neck and will be sidelined indefinitely.

"Our concern is for AP, and we are here to support him," Coach Tom Coughlin said today. "He is, obviously, very disappointed, and our thoughts are about him and his well-being right now. Imagine how he feels. In addition to the shock he expressed last night, there is the disappointment. He has been waiting and working for two weeks to get back on the field to get the taste of the last game out of his mouth.

"We won't have AP on the field, but we will have him on the sideline, and we'll have his heart and his leadership there to rally the troops - all the troops, defense, offense and special teams. He will be there to lend his support to all of them, and, like I said, we are here to support him. Hopefully through treatment and doing what needs to be done, he will get back quicker than anybody expects."

Pierce was on his way to becoming the Giants' leading tackler for the fourth consecutive season. Had has 51 tackles (31 solo), one more than Terrell Thomas. The nine-year veteran and fifth-year Giant had three tackles for losses, a sack, two passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Perhaps more importantly, his long hours of study each week put him as close to inside the offensive huddle as any opponent could get.

"He is the most cerebral guy I have ever been around from a football standpoint - it's not even close," Sheridan said. "He's literally like having a coach and then some out on the field, because he has a player's feel for it."

Thanks in large measure to Pierce's leadership and production, the Giants defense is ranked first in the NFL in yards allowed at 274.4 a game.

Pierce was looking forward to the defense improving in the season's final seven games and to helping the Giants end their four-game losing streak tomorrow against the Falcons. He practiced all week and was not listed on the team's injury report.

But he had suffered a burner in the Arizona game on Oct. 25. Pierce experienced very little discomfort until practice this week. The team's medical staff sent him to the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan for an MRI. Pierce was examined by team physician Dr. Russell Warren and Dr. Frank Camissa, Chief of the Spinal Surgical Services at HSS. They diagnosed the bulging disc.

"I'm shocked with what I heard from the doctors," Pierce said. "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."

Pierce has been a durable player since joining the Giants as a free agent in 2005. He has played in 69 of 73 regular season games and six of seven postseason games. Pierce had started every game this season. In 2008, he missed a victory over San Francisco with a quad injury. Previously, his most serious injury was a severely sprained ankle in 2005, which kept him out of the final three regular season games and the NFC Wild Card Game vs. Carolina. Pierce was a Pro Bowler in 2006 and is a team captain for the third season in a row.

Coughlin did not say who will take Pierce's spot in the starting lineup. The most likely candidate is five-year veteran Chase Blackburn, who has started five games this season at weakside linebacker for Michael Boley. Second-year pro Jonathan Goff has drawn praise from Coughlin for his special teams play and might warrant a look on defense.

But Coughlin made it clear it will take more than one player to fill the hole in the middle of the defense left by Pierce's absence.

"We have 52 other good players, and guys have to step forward to fill the void," Coughlin said. "The other members of the defense have got to reach down and play harder, faster, better."

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