JIM HAGUE
Associated Press
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New York Giants running back David Wilson will not practice for the rest of the week and is out for Sunday’s Hall of Fame game after suffering what the team called a “burner” in practice on Tuesday.
Late in Tuesday afternoon’s practice, Wilson took a short pass from backup quarterback Curtis Painter and ran with his head down into the back of reserve guard Eric Herman.
Soon after, Wilson was taken off the field by an assistant trainer.
After practice, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said that Wilson suffered a “burner.”
Wilson underwent fusion surgery to repair vertebrae and a herniated disc in his neck in January. Wilson had just received clearance to return to full action when the Giants began training camp last week.
On Wednesday morning, on the team’s scheduled day off from training camp, a team spokesman said that Wilson underwent tests at the Hospital for Special Surgery and that the 23-year-old former first-round selection would not practice for the remainder of the week.
Wilson will also not play when the Giants face the Buffalo Bills in the first preseason game of the year, the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, on Sunday night.
According to team spokesman Pat Hanlon, Wilson will be “examined and evaluated” by Dr. Frank Cammisa of the Hospital for Special Surgery on Monday. Cammisa, the chief of spine services at HSS, was the specialist who performed the fusion surgery on Wilson on Jan. 16.
Wilson is entering his third season after the Giants selected him in the first round (32nd overall) of the 2012 draft out of Virginia Tech. He had a solid rookie season, rushing for 358 yards and scoring four touchdowns, while gaining 1,533 yards in kickoff returns, including a 97-yard return for a score.
In a game against the New Orleans Saints, Wilson set a team record for all-purpose yards, accumulating 327 yards in a 52-27 win. Wilson returned four kickoffs for 227 yards, including a 97-yarder for a touchdown, while rushing for 100 yards on 13 carries and two more touchdowns. He became the first player in NFL history to have 200 kick return yards and 100 yards rushing in the same game.
Wilson did not have a successful second season. After being counted on for being the team’s No. 1 running back, Wilson rushed for 146 yards on 44 carries (3.3 yards per rush) and lost three fumbles. He left the game against Philadelphia Oct. 6 with what was first believed to be a “stinger,” but was later diagnosed as being spinal stenosis, ending his season and forcing the January fusion surgery.
The surgery was believed to be career-threatening at that time, but Wilson, who claimed he never felt any pain at all through the process, was determined to return.
“I was staying positive and not hearing any of that,” Wilson said earlier this year. “It was weird, because it was hard to worry because I felt nothing. I did my research, weighed the pros and cons, and had the surgery. But I never felt any pain.”
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