It appears as though the New York Giants are facing the worst-case scenario with their star linebacker, Blake Martinez.
After leaving Sunday’s Week 3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the first half due to a non-contact knee injury, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported on Monday morning that Martinez has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2021 season.
The 27-year-old linebacker’s loss is a massive one as Martinez was the defensive play-caller and a team captain. He joined the Giants last season after four years with the Green Bay Packers where he improved his streak of seasons with at least 140 tackles to four straight.
He had 21 tackles in the Giants’ first two games of the season and an additional two on Sunday before he went down during the Falcons’ opening drive of the game while pursuing playmaker Cordarrelle Patterson.
Besides dropping another winnable game to a bad Falcons team in the final seconds, the Giants’ injury report will be a crowded one after an equally damaging outing to the depth chart.
Wide receivers Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard also left the game in the first half and did not return.
In Martinez’s absence, fellow linebacker Tae Crowder took over the defensive in-helmet headset duties and is expected to continue that role for the remainder of the season.
