New York Giants have faced a massive setback as safety Jabrill Peppers suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and a high ankle sprain, both on his right leg, and has now been placed on injured reserve. 

During the third quarter of the Giants’ 25-3 victory over the Carolina Panthers, Peppers was hurt on a punt return. He is the third of the Giants’ team captains to suffer a season-ending injury, joining centre-guard Nick Gates (broken leg) and linebacker Blake Martinez (ACL).

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The injury means double trouble for the Giants as they also waived cornerback Josh Jackson and wide receiver David Sills on Tuesday. J.R. Reed, a defensive back, has been released from the Los Angeles Rams’ practise squad and will join the Giants’ active roster on Wednesday. The practice squad’s contract with defensive tackle Woodrow Hamilton has been cancelled.

Peppers, who is a five-year veteran, is in his third season with the Giants. He had 30 tackles, 19  of them solo, including a 3-yard sack of Sam Darnold on Sunday, two tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and one pass defended.

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Peppers was a first-round draught pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017, and he was traded for Odell Beckham, Jr. on March 13, 2019, along with first and third-round selection picks. In his 32 appearances with the Giants, he has started 30 of them.

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Meanwhile, his replacement Reed played in one game for the Rams this season and seven regular-season games as well as two postseason games last year. Reed’s father, Jake, played in the NFL for 12 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints.

In the last match, the defence, which was supposed to be the heart of the team, finally had a good game in holding the Panthers without a touchdown and limiting them to 173 total yards.

With inputs from the Associated Press