The Jets got some good news yesterday at the team’s first practice at New Meadowlands Stadium when Mark Sanchez participated for the third-straight day — and even ran a lap around the field after taking a penalty — without any pain in his surgically repaired left knee. The news wasn’t so encouraging, however, for the Giants’ Domenik Hixon.
In the Giants’ first practice at the stadium on Tuesday, Hixon caught his foot in the turf while backing up to field a punt. Originally, it was thought he’d just hyperextended his right knee, but tests yesterday revealed a torn ACL that will keep the receiver — who’s also the team’s best kick and punt returner — out for the entire 2010 season. Players had reported that the FieldTurf surface felt soft, though according to the Post, that’s to be expected. And before sitting down to write a strongly worded letter to the folks at FieldTurf, take note that GM Jerry Reese didn’t think the playing surface was to blame for the injury.
Reese’s bigger concern — other than the seams at midfield where the interchangeable Jets and Giants logos are moved in and out on trays — had to do with whether anyone on the current roster will be able to return punts this season. (He wasn’t quite as concerned with who will return kicks.) Reese named Mario Manningham and Aaron Ross as possibilities, though he also admitted that “obviously we will look to see if there are any trade possibilities for us back there.”
Sanchez ‘great’ after Jets minicamp [NYP]
Giants lose Hixon after knee injury at New Meadowlands Stadium [NYP]