New York Giants

Giants' running back Shane Vereen out for the season

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The New York Giants lost their first game of the season on Sunday, and running back Shane Vereen came out of the game with a serious injury.

With Rashad Jennings sidelined by a left thumb injury, Shane Vereen stepped into a bigger role Sunday against the Washington Redskins. He delivered a solid performance, with 11 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown along with two catches for 28 yards, but Monday afternoon brought some injury news on Vereen.

It’s unclear when the injury occurred during Sunday’s loss to the Redskins, but the Giants are now looking thin at running back. Jennings’ status is looking like a week-to-week proposition, but the Giants do have an extra day heading into a Week 4 Monday night game against the Minnesota Vikings. Jennings told SNY concerns about his ability to contribute in the passing game rendered him inactive on Sunday, and ball security seems like an obvious issue until further notice.

Assuming Jennings is out or limited, for another game and perhaps longer, Orleans Darkwa becomes New York’s de facto No. 1 running back. He had 10 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown, with one catch for nine yards, in a bigger role on Sunday. Over a six-game stretch last season, he had 33 carries with at least six carries three times in that span.

Behind Darkwa, in theory, is rookie Paul Perkins and veteran Bobby Rainey. Perkins has only been active once through three games, with zero carries, and Rainey has registered one catch for 24 yards in two games played this season. Rainey had a reasonably productive run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014, averaging 4.3 yards per carry with 33 receptions, but he was buried on their depth chart last season with just five carries in 16 games.

Losing Vereen takes a passing game weapon away from Eli Manning, as well as a more proven healthy option as Jennings deals with his injury. The Giants’ offense should be fine though, as long as Manning avoids a lot of performances like Sunday (two interceptions) and stays healthy.