Landon Collins, Mykkele Thompson injuries send Giants back to drawing board at

With Jason Pierre-Paul’s return to camp still up in the air, the defensive line has no proven defensive ends.

Meriweather, 31, was a teammate of Jon Beason’s at the University of Miami. Lack of depth is what killed them last season. “He needed it, and he didn’t get much last night”. They were hoping to leave the game unscathed, but that is the exact opposite of what happened. However, the one score that does count is total number of injuries and the Giants sure suffered a few of those.

He started 10 games for the Redskins last year, finishing with 53 tackles (34 solo), a career-high 3.0 sacks, four passes defensed, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery, but wasn’t brought back. “Now we’ve lost one of those guys, the other issue is how quickly Landon can come back so he doesn’t miss out on anything”. The Giants announced later that X-rays of Collins knee were negative. Collins can’t afford to miss valuable practice time.

Yellow flags and hefty fines follow safety Brandon Meriweather wherever he plays in the NFL, and now he will take aim for the Giants after the desperate team signed him off the street Sunday to add experience to a depleted secondary. The injuries probably will force him to work more at safety. Also in Cincinnati, Jayron Hosley suffered a concussion and Chykie Brown sprained his knee.

Meriweather, 5-11 and 204 pounds, has played in 99 regular-season games with 68 starts. The Giants now look like they will be without their leading slot corner, as Trumaine McBride injured his hamstring. He is challenging not only for playing time, but fighting for his roster spot as he has done little to earn a place on the team outside of his draft pedigree; a third rounder in 2012. The Giants were already down Nat Berhe at the safety position and now players like Jeromy Miles, Cooper Taylor and Bennett Jackson will have to step up. Collins returned to the sidelines, but not to the game.

Overall, Coughlin was not happy with the way his team played against the Bengals. Collins is expected to return within a month, but Thompson was placed on injured reserve as he will need the year to recover.

The Giants were hit hard at a position they couldn’t afford to be in the secondary.

When it comes to the state of his secondary, Tom Coughlin is at as much of a loss as anyone. He pulled a calf in the veteran minicamp in June and reinjured it early in training camp.