Giants LB Antonio Pierce Out For Season

After initially being ruled out indefinitely due to a bulged disc in his neck, Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce has been placed on IR and will miss the remainder of the season, according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.

Pierce suffered a burner during the team's October 25th game against the Cardinals, and continued playing the next few weeks before undergoing an MRI on November 20th, which revealed the bulging disc. Pierce flew out to Los Angeles last week to seek a second opinion, but was given the same treatment options: either rest or surgery.

Pierce has been flummoxed throughout this ordeal, telling WFAN radio:

It’s crazy because I feel great. And that’s honest. The only reason I went and got MRI done anyway is just because the trainers wanted to have something on record as far as just making sure you’re OK, because when a player gets a burner or a stinger you just want to get a check up on it. That’s where I thought we were. That’s where the Giants thought we were.

But obviously it turned out to be something different, something that still doesn’t bother me. But when the MRI says one thing and the doctors say ‘This is what happens if you do play,’ you’ve got to listen to them.

Ralph Vacchiano points out that since the 31-year-old Pierce is in the last year of his current deal with New York, it's conceivable that he has played his last game as a Giant. While serving as a fixture of the Giants' defense the past few years, PIerce's play had slipped this past season, and had faced increasing calls from the fans to be replaced.