Giants head coach Brian Daboll announced that lineman J.C. Hassenauer, 27, suffered a triceps injury during practice on Sunday. The injury will require surgery and will keep him out “long term,” coach Daboll said to reporters on Monday morning.
Hassenauer was signed by the Giants, who needed help along the interior offensive line, in April. He previously played three seasons, starting seven games with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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Hassenauer’s story is a testament to perseverance. The Minnesota native spent four years at Alabama but did not start until the 11th game of his senior season against Mercer after filling in for an injured player at left guard the previous week against Mississippi State.
He then started the Crimson Tide’s final four games, including College Football Playoff victories over Clemson and Georgia with the latter being the game in which Tua Tagovailoa famously replaced Jalen Hurts and rallied Alabama to a national title in overtime.
Coach Daboll was the offensive coordinator for that Alabama team.
Hassenauer signed as an undrafted free agent with the Atlanta Falcons in 2018 and was among the team’s final cuts before signing with the practice squad. He was released from the practice squad in October of 2018 and signed with the Steelers’ practice squad in 2019. He made the Steelers’ roster in 2020 and started four of the team’s final six games that year and three games the following season.
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Hassenauer started a career-high four games at center for the Steelers in 2020. The following year he started three games at center and had a respectable 67.7 grade from Pro Football Focus. He did not start any games last season.
He was competing with rookie John Michael Schmits and Ben Gredeson for the starting center job
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Bob Brookover, Giants beat reporter for NJ Advance Media, contributed to this report. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Manuel Gomez may be reached at mgomez@njadvancemedia.com.