Darren Waller has been riddled with injuries in his debut season with the New York Giants, and on Friday, he spoke about his frustrations on the issues.
“If the same things keep bothering you, the same things keep showing up — whether that’s me or anybody on the team — you have to find a way to sit down and be like, ‘Why is this happening?’ and figure out a solution,” Waller said, via Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post. “I don’t know if it’s getting even more precise with diet. Whatever it may be, throwing things on the board, seeing what it is. I don’t have the answers right now.”
Waller is healthy now, but he missed five games between early November and mid-December due to a hamstring injury that landed him on the injured reserve list.
It’s not the first time that Waller has dealt with hamstring problems, as those same issues limited him to just 20 games during his final two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders.
The 31-year-old added that he has the “same speed, same ability” that he had during his peak with the Raiders when he posted back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns in 2019 and 2020, but said he needs to figure out how to continue “to be out there.”
In 10 games this season, Waller has logged 42 catches for 456 yards and a touchdown. Most recently, he snared a couple of balls for 32 yards in a Week 16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Waller, who played his collegiate football at Georgia Tech, was originally selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
However, due to drug-related suspensions, Waller barely got on the field with the Ravens.
He made his way to the Raiders in 2018, and after having a very limited role in his first season with the club, Waller broke out in 2019, catching 90 passes for 1,145 yards and three touchdowns. He was even better in 2020, hauling in 107 receptions for 1,196 yards and nine scores en route to a Pro Bowl appearance. Thanks to injuries, Waller has been unable to regain that form.
The Giants acquired Darren Waller in a trade with the Raiders last offseason. They are 5-10 on the year and will take on the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
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