Giants' Young Out 2-3 Months

Rodney Young joined the growing list of injured New York Giants defensive backs on Thursday when the team said the safety would be out two to three months with a stress fracture in his lower back.

The fracture was detected last week with a bone scan but doctors thought that Young would be able to play with it. The four-year veteran even practiced with the first team on Wednesday and coach Jim Fassel said there was a good chance he would have started a strong safety on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

However, Dr. Frank Camissa, a back specialist, advised the Giants late Wednesday afternoon that the injury was a little more serious than originally thought and it would be best for Young to rest for a couple of months.

Young will be fitted with a back brace to limit his movement. Surgery will not be required, the team said.

"I was shocked, because my back had been bothering me for a while, but I thought I would be able to suck it up and play with it," Young said.

The injury is the latest weird turn in the season for Young and the secondary.

Young, who started the first two games of the preseason, was injured in a training camp collision with a teammate. Two MRIs failed to disclose the fracture and he eventually was released in the Giants' final cut.

The team re-signed him a little more than two weeks ao when injuries to safeties Tito Wooten (hamstring), Shaun Williams (hamstring) and Sam Garnes (foot) and cornerback Phillippi Sparks (shoulder) left the team shorthanded.

The Giants also lost cornerback Jason Sehorn in the preseason with a knee injury.

Young said doctors told him he has an "old" fracture on the left side of his fifth lumbar vertebrae and a new stress fracture on the right side of it.

Wooten, who missed practice on Wednesday while resting his hamstring, returned on Thursday. He will start at free safety on Sunday. Percy Ellsworth will slide back to strong safety, where he started last week after Garnes underwent surgery on his right foot.

"This is bad. I don't know what's going on," Ellsworth said of the rash of injuries.

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