We’ve got a bleeder!
Giants quarterback Eli Manning exited Monday night’s Jets-Giants preseason opener after his forehead was gruesomely gashed open after an unfortunate series of events.
Brandon Jacobs started off the mess by running into Manning on a passing play. (Jacobs got his signals crossed; Manning probably changed the play at the line of scrimmage.) Jacobs caused a fumble and jostled Manning’s helmet upwards.
Jets linebacker Calvin Pace did the rest with a free shot on Eli from the blind side, which knocked Manning’s helmet flying. Manning fell forward and hit his head on another facemask; it appeared to be of Jets safety Jim Leonhard.
Blood quickly started gushing out of Manning’s head like it was Evil Dead 2. We’ve never seen anything quite like it on the football field. (UPDATE: Here’s a picture of the injury. Don’t view if you want to eat tonight.)
That’s the bad news.
The good news, if you could call it that, is the injury was well-timed. The play came on a fourth down and Manning was set to come out of the game. Manning will have to get some serious stitches, but we wouldn’t think it would be a long-term problem.
Manning finished 4-of-8 for 77 yards, helped out by a fantastic play by Ahmad Bradshaw on a 51-yard catch.
UPDATE: Manning had a three-inch head laceration that required stitches.
UPDATE II: Tests concluded Manning didn’t suffer a concussion. Eli says he’s fine.