After Week 1, the Dallas Cowboys were limping a little after being ravaged by injuries in the season opener. However, coming out of Week 2, most of the league is starting to feel their pain. There was an abundance of serious injuries throughout the NFL coming out of Week 2. Here are the ones that hurt the most.
Saquon Barkley, Giants
The Giants have confirmed that Barkley tore his ACL on Sunday and will miss the rest of the season. New York already has a lackluster offensive line and the worst rushing attack in the NFL through the first two weeks of the season.
Dion Lewis and Wayne Gallman are poised to take over running back duties. However, the fallout from Barkley’s injury will fall primarily on the shoulders of Daniel Jones, who now needs to grow up in a hurry to give the Giants a fighting chance in 2020.
Nick Bosa, 49ers
Losing Bosa to a torn ACL is a game-changer for the San Francisco defense. He might have been the best pass-rusher in the NFL this year. But now we’ll never know. It also doesn’t help that Solomon Thomas may have suffered the same injury and Dee Ford sat out Week 2 with an injury as well. In its current state, the defensive line is ravaged, which could force the 49ers to look outside the organization for replacements.
Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers
With a high-ankle sprain, Garoppolo’s availability moving forward is questionable at best. Some quarterbacks have been able to play through a similar injury in the past, but high-ankle sprains are notoriously fickle.
With so many injuries on the San Francisco defense, the 49ers will need a little more from their offense moving forward. If Garoppolo ends up missing a few weeks, perhaps as many as six or eight, Nick Mullens will have to step into his place.
Drew Lock and Courtland Sutton, Broncos
The Broncos suffered a big blow before the season when they lost Von Miller, and now the team’s injury woes are bordering on cruel. Both Lock and Sutton left Denver’s loss to the Steelers, a game they nearly won without them.
The Broncos fear that Sutton is done for the year while Lock could miss anywhere from two to six weeks with a shoulder injury. The Broncos are also without starting cornerback AJ Bouye for a few more weeks. For a team that’s lost two close games to start the season, it’ll be hard to shake off this many key injuries.
Christian McCaffrey, Panthers
McCaffrey suffered a high-ankle sprain that could sideline him for at least a month. Despite starting the year 0-2, the Carolina offense has looked good, in large part because teams have to respect McCaffrey. Without him, things could get ugly quickly for first-year coach Matt Rhule because the Panthers don’t appear to have the kind of defense that can win games.
Also, backups Mike Davis and Trenton Cannon don’t have much of a track record. Even when he returns, McCaffrey’s mobility could be limited given the nature of high-ankle sprains. The bottom line is the Panthers may not be able to survive such a loss.