Giants injury news: LT Andrew Thomas, WR C.J. Board placed on IR

The New York Giants have placed starting left tackle Andrew Thomas and wide receiver C.J. Board on injured reserve.

Thomas has been dealing with a lingering injury in his right foot, which effectively kept him out of the Giants’ game against the Dallas Cowboys. He started last week against the Los Angeles Rams, only to leave the game after playing 29 snaps with a left ankle injury.

We don’t know the severity of Thomas’ injury as of this writing, but the move to place him on the injured reserve means that he will be off the field for at least three weeks. That places his earliest possible return to the field against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football after the Giants’ bye week.

The Giants’ offensive line has been absolutely besieged with injuries as Thomas joins fellow starters Shane Lemieux and Nick Gates on the injured reserve. This could be particularly bad news for the Giants as they face the Carolina Panthers, who boast the NFL’s best pass rush win rate (per ESPN).

The Giants will likely again turn to the duo of Matt Peart and Nate Solder to bookend their offensive line, though it remains to be seen which player will man Thomas’ left tackle position. Peart lined up at left tackle in relief of Thomas against Los Angeles, but the Giants could swap the two in an attempt to shore up pass protection that was shaky at best.

Board suffered a broken arm Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.

The Giants are filling the two roster vacancies by signing offensive tackle Korey Cunningham and wide receiver Dante Pettis off their practice squad. Both were elevated from the practice squad last week. Cunningham played three snaps at right tackle. Pettis caught five passes for 48 yards.

Practice squad protections

Here are the four players the Giants are protecting on their 16-man practice squad this week:

LB Benardrick McKinney
DT David Moa
WR David Sills
TE Chris Myarick

Practice squad changes

In addition to promoting Cunningham and Pettis to the 53-man roster, the Giants made a few other practice squad changes on Tuesday.

Signed:

OT Derrick Kelly
LB Benardrick McKinney
WR Travis Tolvonen

Released:

G Cole Banwart
TE Jake Hausmann