Jon Beason believes he will be ready for season opener

Given his recent injury history, Jon Beason knows full well how alarming it was when the linebacker had to exit Saturday night’s preseason game with a knee injury.

But the New York Giants linebacker assured everyone that he doesn’t plan on missing the season opener on Sept. 13 against the Dallas Cowboys with the knee sprain he suffered.

“It’s minor,” Beason said in a conference call late Sunday. “Nothing too concerning in my book.”

“I totally believe that I can and I have my mind made up,” Beason added of whether he will be ready for the opener. “I’ll do everything I can humanly possible to make sure that that happens. And I don’t want just straight on Sunday. I want to get back in time for preparation for that [Dallas] game.”

Beason said he hurt his knee when he made a breakup on a pass attempt in the end zone. The linebacker felt some instability in the left knee and was kept out of the game. He underwent an MRI on Sunday which revealed nothing more than a sprain.

Head coach Tom Coughlin said he did not know how long his middle linebacker would be out. Veteran Jameel McClain should help fill the void until Beason is back.

“We do have the benefit of a guy that’s played a lot of football and is very good in the huddle,” Coughlin said of McClain. “Does all those things extremely well. So you hate to think in terms of anything that stretches your depth right at this point in time, but it’s a reality in our league.”

Beason said the most frustrating part of his injury is missing practice reps in new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s system.

“I felt like I was just starting to come into a zone where I felt comfortable in this scheme in terms of getting everybody lined up and trying to do my job at a high level and being active,” Beason said. “But the other thing about it is that I’ve been down this road before and I know how to prepare without necessarily being on the field.”

Beason played in four games last year due to a toe injury suffered in minicamp. And before playing in 15 games the year before for the Giants and Panthers, Beason played in a total of five games over the previous two years because of leg injuries in Carolina.

Beason and the Giants are relieved the injury isn't more serious especially after seeing the team lose two safeties –- Bennett Jackson and Justin Currie –- to injury for the season.

“People may say, ‘Hey, Beason has been accident prone the latter part of his career,’” Beason said. “But this game is unforgiving. ... For us, it’s unfortunate when starters and guys who you assume are going to be a big part of the equation for the season get hurt. But you know, that’s a part of the gig.

“So we’ve had some really bad injuries and knock on wood but we’ve had injuries that are just setbacks for guys that are probably going to come back and be fine,” he added. “You just keep your fingers crossed, but it is the nature of the beast and it’s like gambling, you just don’t know what’s going to happen. Day to day, anything can happen, so hopefully the injuries for us slow down, because they’ve been coming fast and furious over the past couple weeks.”


(espn.com)