New York Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee along with his ACL and is scheduled for surgery Thursday to repair both, according to league and team sources.
The 28-year-old suffered the injuries early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 12-7 victory over the Tennessee Titans at MetLife Stadium while rushing the passer. He crumpled after contact, reached for the knee and was helped off the field, unable to return.
Giants coach John Harbaugh confirmed the ACL tear on Monday. Additional reporting later revealed the meniscus damage. Both will be addressed in a single procedure at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
A combined ACL and meniscus repair typically requires nine to 12 months of rehabilitation before a player can return to full football activity. The Giants placed Burns on injured reserve this week, ending his 2026 season.
Teammate Malik Nabers sustained a similar pair of injuries on Sept. 28 of last season. Nabers underwent a second cleanup procedure to remove scar tissue during his recovery yet was cleared for the start of the current campaign. Through three games he has 12 receptions for 96 yards.
Burns entered the league as a first-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2019 and signed a five-year, $141 million contract with the Giants in March 2024. Across his first seven professional seasons he missed only three games, none of them while with New York.
Last season he recorded a career-high 16.5 sacks, second in the NFL, and earned second-team All-Pro honors along with his third Pro Bowl selection. He had never finished a year with fewer than 7.5 sacks before this season.
In three games this year Burns registered four tackles and no sacks before the injury. He had also been dealing with a left ankle sprain suffered the previous week against the Los Angeles Rams and was listed as questionable, yet he dressed and played in a situational role on a short week.
The loss compounds an already difficult stretch for the Giants. Starting quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2. The defensive front now leans more heavily on Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter.
Thibodeaux’s snap share rose from 47 percent in the opener to 60 percent against the Titans. Carter has the team’s only sack through three weeks. Only the winless Miami Dolphins have fewer.
Burns was pass-rushing on first-and-10 when Titans center Austin Schlottmann engaged him. He pulled up immediately afterward and was attended to on the field before heading to the locker room rather than the medical tent.
Harbaugh said after the game that an MRI would be obtained that night and that there remained “some hope” the damage was less severe than it appeared. Subsequent imaging confirmed the opposite.
The Giants entered the season viewing their outside linebacker group as a strength, built largely around Burns’s availability and production. His absence removes the player who led the NFC in sacks a year ago.
Team officials have expressed hope that Burns can follow a recovery path similar to Nabers and be available for the start of the 2027 season, provided the surgery and rehabilitation proceed without major setbacks. The immediate priority remains completing the procedure and beginning the long return to health.
