Giants Injury Round Up: What Happened to Paulson Adebo, Evan Neal?

The New York Giants have once again been unable to dodge the heavy bite of the injury bug.

This past week, they lost offensive lineman Evan Neal to a hamstring injury and learned that cornerback Paulson Adebo’s knee is still not right after four weeks. 

That plus starting quarterback Jaxson Dart remains in the concussion protocol, per interim head coach Mike Kafka, who provided an injury update during his Monday video call.

Let’s break it down.

QB Jaxson Dart

Dart was inactive for Sunday’s game against the Packers after landing in the concussion protocol. Kafka confirmed that the rookie, who showed up at the game Sunday and was spotted on the sideline, is still in protocol, though it’s unknown where he is in the five-phase process at this point. 

As of last week, Dart was unable to practice in a non-contact capacity with his teammates, which would suggest that he was likely in Phase 2 (aerobic exercise) or Phase 3 (football-specific exercises), the latter phase being one that the team could have conducted with the rookie once the media viewing period ended.

This week, if Dart is upgraded to Phase 4, which is non-contact drills, that would be a big and positive step forward for the team’s starter, who would then have a really good chance at being cleared in time for next Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.  

OL Evan Neal

It’s crystal clear–and has been for a while–that the Giants have given up on Neal, the 2022 seventh overall pick in the draft, considering how he has not taken a single rep on offense or special teams all season and has been inactive for all but one game.

Still, Neal’s landing on injured reserve last week with a hamstring issue raised a few questions, considering he hasn’t played all year and that his practice reps are believed to have been limited.

“Evan got hurt doing a workout,” Kafka said. “The docs decided to do the move to IR.” 

That move to IR for Neal has, without question, sealed his fate with the team that had such high hopes for him. 

CB Paulson Adebo

Adebo entered Week 11 listed as questionable but seemed good to go until pregame warmups, when he experienced knee discomfort, prompting the doctors to recommend he not play.

“Obviously, player health is super important to me, so I want to make sure Adebo is ready to rock and roll and that he's healthy and that when he's out there, he can go after it,” Kafka said.

But what about the long term for Adebo, who has now missed four games with the knee injury? Is he likely to miss more? 

“I'm not sure of the severity of it,” Kafka said. “We'll talk again and have a meeting with the medical, and see where it's at, and kind of what the decision was and what happened there. But I've got full trust in (the medical staff) and I know Adebo is itching to get out.” 

Adebo’s practice participation this week will tell the story as to whether he had a setback that could result in more time missed.