Shane Lemieux was supposed to be the starting left guard for the New York Giants in 2021. He was a young player with upside, a late-round 2020 draft pick the franchise believed could grow into a long-term answer on their long-beleaguered line.
Things didn’t work out. Lemieux suffered a partially fractured patellar tendon early in training camp, and tried to push through it. He lasted 17 snaps in the season opener before realizing he just couldn’t play on the damaged knee.
“I was trying to do everything I could to get out there,” Lemieux said this spring.