Giants To Place DE Kiwanuka On I.R. With Neck Injury; Sign DB/KR Will Blackmon

[Mr. P]

 

quote]Mathias Kiwanuka said doctors are "very optimistic" the herniated disk in his neck will heal on its own but that "it's just going to take time.” The only question was how much time it would take.

 

By the Giants' estimation, it'll take the rest of this season.

 

Kiwanuka will be placed on injured reserve today, according to two people informed of the impending transaction. The people requested anonymity because the Giants have yet to announce the move, which will end Kiwanuka's season and likely serve as the transaction to clear space on the roster for kick returner Will Blackmon.

 

Kiwanuka, who had four sacks in his first three games this year while serving as both a defensive end and linebacker, is in the final year of his rookie contract, so there's certainly the possibility he's played his final game as a Giant. But right now, he and the team are most concerned about his rehab and health moving forward. It's uncertain at this point if he'll undergo surgery at some point.

 

More coming.

 

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2010/10/giants_to_place_mathias_kiwanu.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

too bad for kiwi, he was killin it early on.

[Mr. P]

this is actually the last year on his contract with the giants, with this injury, the way osi is playing, and the drafting of JPP, kiwi has probably played his last game as a giant.

[CrazedDogs]

damn, he had really come into his own this year. He's going to make some team very happy.

[Lubeck]

damn, he had really come into his own this year. He's going to make some team very happy.

 

 

My first thought is he ends up in St. Louis.

[BlueInCanada]

I'd love to keep Kiwi, maybe we offer him something that he wants. However like Pdoub said with Osi playing like he is and drafting JPP, I can see him going somewhere else for playing time.

[eagleEye]

someone explain to me why this is his last with the giants? Why the fuck would we let a player like him go?

[BlueInCanada]

someone explain to me why this is his last with the giants? Why the fuck would we let a player like him go?

 

Osi still has two years I think on his contract, we drafted JPP, we got Tuck and we still have Toffelson in the back up rotation.

 

Kiwi is going to be looking for a big payday and much more playing time. I guarantee you the Giants don't want to let him go but that's not their choice, it's Kiwi's and 9/10 he's going where the money/playing time is.

[TrashTalker92]

KIWI is a DE/LB hybrid, why the hell are we going to part with that type of talent??? i don't care how great Osi is playing or the fact that we drafted JPP. Neither of those can do the amount of things Kiwi can. Osi is back to his old self, getting at QB and stripping balls, but we all know he can be a little bitch sometimes. JPP showed great talent but that's because other teams really haven't show much focus on him yet.......

 

a team with a DE/LB and a LB/DB hybrid is a D coach's dream... i really hope JR put some though into it... excuse my vent, freaking pissed from the news..

[BlueInCanada]

KIWI is a DE/LB hybrid, why the hell are we going to part with that type of talent??? i don't care how great Osi is playing or the fact that we drafted JPP. Neither of those can do the amount of things Kiwi can. Osi is back to his old self, getting at QB and stripping balls, but we all know he can be a little bitch sometimes. JPP showed great talent but that's because other teams really haven't show much focus on him yet.......

 

a team with a DE/LB and a LB/DB hybrid is a D coach's dream... i really hope JR put some though into it... excuse my vent, freaking pissed from the news..

 

Well it's not like the article says "Jerry Reese made it clear that at the end of next year they will release Kiwi"

 

It's just speculation at this point, but think about it. We have a plethora of DEs and a LB core that looks to be solid, if you were Kiwi do you want to stay with the Giants or a team that will give you 1) more money and 2) a starting job?

 

Like I said the Giants would be thrilled to keep Kiwi come seasons end, but it's up to him and his agent if he want's to stay in the role he is now with the Giants.

[fringe]

That would be unfortunate but he'd probably be paid more and be a centerpiece of another team's Defense.

 

 

P.S. It doesn't look like anyone will be playing anywhere next year, as it stands now.

[Nas]

I don't see why some of you are stressing this now. it's way too early and we don't know who's gonna stay healthy and who isn't.. and whether this is a career ending injury for Kiwi.

[Treehugger]

this is actually the last year on his contract with the giants, with this injury, the way osi is playing, and the drafting of JPP, kiwi has probably played his last game as a giant.

Actually it's put the Giants in a better position in terms of resigning him, as there will be less interest from other teams after a season-ending injury. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see St. Louis offer him big money though.

[CrazedDogs]

someone explain to me why this is his last with the giants? Why the fuck would we let a player like him go?

 

He wants more playing time or money than the Giants have to offer. But I'd be very happy if they kept him around.

 

Who knows, if there's no salary cap, maybe the Giants can go Yankee style and pay whatever it takes. Whatever, its not my money...

[Mr. P]

Giants GM Jerry Reese acknowledges 'painful' decision in placing Kiwanuka on IR

 

 

The Giants waited for four weeks, clinging to the hope that Giants DE/OLB Mathias Kiwanuka could return from a herniated cervical disk. Kiwanuka still believes he could play this season, but that thought become obsolete after the Giants placed Kiwanuka on injured reserve Thursday.

 

“It’s painful for us to go this route with Kiwi, but we’ve exhausted all of our options,” general manager Jerry Reese said in a team-issued statement. “What’s most important is for him to get healthy. We’re praying and hopeful that by next fall he will be back at 100 percent and playing for the New York Giants.”

 

Coach Tom Coughlin said the Giants "held out hope as long as we could" before five doctors reached the consensus that the "right choice" was holding Kiwanuka back from football this season. It's his second season in four years that concludes on injured reserve. He also missed the team's run to the Super Bowl in 2007 with a fractured left fibula.

 

“Like I said before, I felt like, given enough time, I could’ve made it back this season, but it’s the nature of the business,” Kiwanuka said. “The Giants had to move on, and I had to be okay with it. Regardless of what happens to me as an individual, I’m definitely still going to work with the Giants organization throughout the term of my contract. I know this team is going be successful, so I’m excited to watch it.”

 

The subtext in Kiwanuka's statement is that his contract expires at the end of this season. Both Reese and Coughlin expressed interest in Kiwanuka returning to the Giants, but much depends on how his health progress.

 

Kiwanuka would like to avoid surgery, if possible. The vexing part of the injury is that it does not hurt. There is no physical toll, but he must wait for the disk to heal.

 

“The consensus is that if I take the proper amount of time off, there is a very good chance that it’ll heal on its own," Kiwanuka said. "That’s what the goal is right now. If it doesn’t happen, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Regardless of whether or not it requires surgery, I’ll still be back by the opening of training camp.”

 

On the night before Kiwanuka was placed on injured reserve, he dined with Will Blackmon, the cornerback/kick returner who filled Kiwanuka's place on the roster. Blackmon, formerly with the Green Bay Packers, was a college roommate of Kiwanuka's at Boston College.

 

A fourth-round draft choice by the Packers in 2006, Blackmon averaged 21.1 yards on 66 kickoff returns and 11.0 yards on 47 punt returns and scored three touchdowns. He also has starting experience at cornerback.

 

“It’s tough, because we were a couple of weeks away from playing together again,” Kiwanuka said. "I was excited and heard there was a chance that he might come here, so I’ve been talking him up around the locker room. Man, he’s a great player. I told everybody he’s definitely the most talented and gifted athlete that I ever played football with, hands down."

 

It remains to be seen what Blackmon's signing means for Darius Reynaud, who has an undistinguished seven weeks as the Giants' returner. Blackmon said he's recovered from the knee injury that prompted his release from Green Bay.

 

“He has return experience and secondary experience,” Coughlin said. “He’s a veteran coming back off a (knee) injury. He’s been an outstanding returner in this league, and he’s been a contributor on special teams as well as on defense.”

 

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2010/10/giants_gm_jerry_reese_acknowle.html

[Sephiroth]

someone explain to me why this is his last with the giants? Why the fuck would we let a player like him go?

[Storm]

Hopefully, Willie Blackmon is that missing part of the special teams...especially if he can play on our kick offs and actually tackle someone

[boohyah]

Kiwi's done as a Giant unless he's willing to take Rocky Bernard's type salary or be downright stupid.

 

They can't pay them all, and Pierre Paul is going to have to be worked into the rotation, my feeling is this kid might make us all forget Kiwi, which is too bad because this kid never got the right push with us. He always seemed to make things happen.