When the Giants designated tight end Jake Ballard as waived/injured today, four months after he suffered a torn ACL in the Super Bowl and two months after he needed microfracture surgery on that injured knee, there was a quick outcry from some fans who thought the team was treating its injured player badly. But Ballard says that’s not the case.
After hearing from fans who didn’t think it was right that the Giants had waived him, Ballard took to Twitter to say he completely understood the business move and that he believes he will play for the Giants again.
“Thanks for love everyone but don’t worry, its a business, I’m on the road to recovery, and I believe I’ll be in a Giants uniform in ’13,” Ballard wrote.
The fact that Ballard is already pointing to the 2013 season underscores what a serious knee injury this is -- it doesn’t sound like there’s any chance of Ballard playing at all this season. But assuming Ballard clears waivers, it appears that the Giants will re-sign him and work with him through a lengthy rehab process that, everyone hopes, has the 24-year-old Ballard getting ready to play a year from now.