New York Giants running back Andre Brown is out for the rest of the season after breaking his fibula in Sunday night's 38-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Head coach Tom Coughlin announced the news following the game that the injury occurred in the fourth quarter.
"Takes an awful lot off of the win, to be honest with you," Coughlin said to ESPNNewYork.com.
The Giants will now rely on starter Ahmad Bradshaw and rookie David Wilson without Brown in the lineup.
"I feel bad for Andre he's my little brother," Bradshaw said to ESPNNewYork.com. "It's heartbreaking for me just to see him so down. When I was a rookie I told David, (Derrick) Ward broke his fibula and I had to step in and be a big part of our offense. That's what I expect from David and I told him to get right and get ready for the following weeks to come."
Wilson has a locker right next to Bradshaw and will get a chance to live up to his potential as a first round draft pick.
"Dre played a big role in our offense running the ball, I'm definitely going to have to step up when my number is called and be prepared," Wilson said.
Wilson has been used primarily as a kick returner after fumbling in the opening loss against the Dallas Cowboys. He had fumbling problems in college, but has been much better since the opening game. Wilson also needs to work on his pass blocking skills, but Bradshaw feels he will be ready to play.
"I think he can be," Bradshaw said. "Once we get him going and get him learning a little more and different things in different areas I think he'll be a great asset to our offense."
Brown has scored a touchdown in each of the last five games and was key in the win against the Packers, rushing for 64 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown, which came on the opening drive of the game following a 59-yard screen pass to Bradshaw.
"We scored on the first drive it was a big step up for our offense," said Bradshaw.
Bradshaw rushed for 58 yards on 10 carries and also scored a touchdown. He has been dealing with foot problems all season, but said the bye week allowed him to heal up.
"It helped me a whole lot. I just felt more explosive. I'm not going through so much pain walking around," he said to the New York Times.
Brown was injured in the fourth quarter with just under 11 minutes left after breaking off a 16-yard run, his longest gain of the game.
"It's going to be a tough loss," Eli Manning said to the New York Times. "He's an important player for us, obviously."
Coughlin did not give a timetable on Brown's return from injury, but f the Giants play into the playoffs there is a chance he could return.
"It's a hard time for him but hopefully he can come back and maybe catch us in the playoffs," said Bradshaw to the Daily News.
Brown was drafted by the Giants in the fourth round of the 2009 Draft out of NC State and is second on the team this season with 385 yards on 73 carries. He is leading the team with eight rushing touchdowns and a 5.3 yards per carry average.
After being drafted, Brown played for four different teams but ended up with the Giants again last season and earned a Super Bowl ring. This year he made the team following preseason cuts and got a chance to start his first career NFL game against the Panthers in his home state of North Carolina after Bradshaw was hurt and could not play.
Brown took advantage of his opportunity, rushing for a career-high 113 yards on 20 carries to go with two rushing touchdowns. He also added three receptions for 17 yards in the game.
Wilson rushed for 13 yards on six carries after Brown left the game and has gained 102 yards with a touchdown this year.
That's a terrible thing to happen, especially to one of my teammates," Wilson said to the New York Times. "I wish him a speedy recovery."
For the Giants to be successful in the running game without Brown, Wilson will need to play a much bigger part of the offense.
His best performance this season came in mop up duty against the San Francisco 49ers when he rushed for 34 yards on seven carries. He also had a nice 40-yard run and a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns.
Safety Kenny Phillips was also injured after returning to the lineup after missing six games with an MCL injury. He left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, but was not worried about it following the game.
"I probably could have continued to play," said Phillips to the Daily News. "But with the score how it was, I figured it wouldn't make any sense to go out there and try to hurt it some more."
Phillips originally hurt his knee in Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles and has been credited with 20 tackles this season. With Phillips in the lineup on Sunday, the team was able to use a three-safety look with Antrel Rolle and Stevie Brown that helped shut down the Packer offense.
