Giants give Tyrone Tracy ‘Paul Pierce’ moniker after injury scare
Tyrone Tracy has a new nickname.
One week after he left the practice field on a cart with an air cast on his lower leg and tears in his eyes, Tracy was back practicing Tuesday for the Giants.
Within a few hours of the injury, worst-case scenarios had been ruled out after a hospital visit, and the rookie running back was back in team meetings preparing for his next opportunity.
Call it the most improbably fast recovery since Celtics star Paul Pierce missed just a few minutes in Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals, after leaving the court in a wheelchair.
“A lot of the folks around the building started calling me ‘Paul Pierce,’ ” Tracy quipped. “They said I pulled a ‘Paul Pierce.’ But it’s all good. I know there is very genuine love around the building, and I’m happy to be here.”
Tracy has never had any football-related surgeries and didn’t know what to think as trainers rushed to his aid after the kickoff-return-gone-wrong Aug. 13.
“It was definitely something scary,” Tracy said. “The doctors took precautionary actions. So, I didn’t know what was wrong. They didn’t directly know what was wrong. They just did what they thought was right in the moment.”
Tracy was on the verge of locking up the No. 2 running back spot when he went down.
“At that point, we’re all human,” Tracy said. “I’m trying to be faithful and positive in the moment but … when things like that happen, thoughts start creeping in. You start thinking, ‘The season’s over.’ I have high hopes for my rookie season. So, at that moment, I’m thinking all that kind of went down the drain. I thank God that I was able to come back and be able to play again.”
Tracy thinks he passed Monday’s return-to-action test and could be back in 11-on-11 reps soon.
“I feel really good,” he said. “They wanted to see how well I was moving. And me, personally, I think I did fairly well.”
Because of the timing of Sunday’s restructure to LT Andrew Thomas’ contract — converting $4.175 million of his base salary into a signing bonus to create $3.34 million in salary-cap space — after QB Daniel Jones’ bad preseason game, theories emerged that the Giants might be looking to add more competition.
So, are they in the quarterback market?
“No,” assistant general manager Brandon Brown said. “Why would we be?”
The Giants are paying $5 million guaranteed to Drew Lock and have Tommy DeVito (six starts as a rookie in 2023) behind Jones.
“The cap space, it’s not just for the cut-down [additions], but it’s also in-season spending,” Brown said. “When you have the opportunity to restructure guys that are premium-level players, that are durable and they’re what the organization wants to be about from a character standpoint, it’s a win-win.”
“Week-to-week” injuries to Micah McFadden, Darius Muasau and Matt Adams have shredded the inside linebacker depth.
Carter Coughlin returned Monday from an extended absence, but he is a special-teamer first.
“We’re down some guys there,” coach Brian Daboll said. “We’ll see what happens down the road.”
Daboll ruled out moving a versatile defender like Nick McCloud or Isaiah Simmons to adapt.
The Giants signed undrafted rookie S Clayton Isbell and waived/injured Dennis Houston, who had a cast on his forearm.
