Giants’ running back Peyton Hillis injures ankle
By Hayden Kane
The New York Giants signed well-traveled running back Peyton Hillis in the middle of the 2013 season to provide some depth at the position. That gave him enough time to persuade the Giants to re-sign him for a couple more years this past off-season with his modest though effective performance.
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On Wednesday, which happened to be the same day that Hillis became the no. 2 running back for the Giants by virtue of the fact that David Wilson‘s career is over, the 28-year-old injured his ankle in practice. Per Kieran Darcy of ESPN.com, head coach Tom Coughlin was comically vague about what the actual issue was with Hillis:
"“It’s an ankle/foot kind of thing,” Coughlin said. When asked whether he knows how long Hillis will be out, Coughlin responded, “I don’t. It looks like it’ll be a little while.”"
As far as August injuries are concerned, however, it is telling that Coughlin let on that it will be a “little while.” Without getting carried away with interpretations, that very well could mean a lengthy absence for Hillis and an even thinner depth chart at running back for the Giants.
For his part, Hillis still has high hopes that the injury is nothing serious (also from Darcy):
"“The way they talk, if I rest it and get treatment on it, hopefully I’ll be back as soon as possible,” Hillis said. “They haven’t let me know when, but I’m looking to be back pretty early.”"
The larger point here, however, is that the Giants potentially face a dire situation in the backfield. Sure, Rashad Jennings will be a nice starter and Andre Williams has shown some promise. But Hillis was never a super option as a second string guy in the first place, and now things would only be that much more dicey in the event of another injury.