Ryan Connelly injury: Torn ACL to cost Giants’ rookie linebacker rest of season

The New York Giants feared after Sunday’s game that rookie linebacker Ryan Connelly had suffered a torn ACL in his right knee when he crumped to the ground in the fourth quarter of a 24-3 victory over the Washington Redskins. Those fears have now been confirmed.

An MRI on Monday morning showed the tear, per an announcement from the Giants. Connelly, a 23-year-old selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, will be placed on injured reserve and will miss the remainder of the 2019 season.

Connelly had moved into the starting lineup for the Giants and had become the team’s defensive signal caller with Alec Ogletree out of the lineup. Sunday, Connelly had an interception, a sack, five tackles, a pass defensed and a quarterback hit.

“It’s unfortunate, but he’s got a real bright future and he’ll come back from this,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “He was doing a lot of really good things for us. He’s a young player. Part of being a pro sometimes is coming back from injury. If he approaches this the way he has approached playing in the game, he’ll be back to full strength here soon.”

The Giants officially placed Connelly on IR Monday evening and were awarded defensive end Chris Peace off waivers from the Los Angeles Chargers. He appeared in one game, playing three special teams snaps.

Connelly will finish his rookie season with 20 tackles (two for loss), a sack, two interceptions, two passes defensed and a quarterback hit.

Peace, an undrafted rookie out of Virginia, was waived on Saturday by the Chargers.