The New York Giants sustained a devastating loss to injury on Sunday afternoon. Electric rookie RB Cam Skatebo suffered a gruesome ankle injury, later diagnosed as a dislocated ankle, that ended his 2025 campaign prematurely.
Skattebo was rushed to a local hospital in Philadelphia for emergency surgery on Sunday afternoon, and “all went well,” per head coach Brian Daboll. He will begin rehabbing immediately, but will have a difficult road ahead toward recovery.
Giants expecting a long road to recovery for RB Cam Skattebo
“He’s recovering,” Daboll told reporters early Monday afternoon. “Obviously, he’ll be missed, but on the road to recovery.”
Skattebo’s rookie season finishes after just eight games with 410 yards and five touchdowns rushing and 207 yards and two touchdowns receiving.
Skattebo will be sidelined for the remainder of this season, leaving second-year RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. as the next man up in the backfield. Tracy totaled 1,123 total yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns as a rookie last season.
Skattebo could be back for Week 1 of the 2026 season
No timeline has been officially disclosed, but NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport offered an optimistic recovery time in a recent report.
“If all is good and clean and the surgery went as well as everyone believes, he should be back with no issues for next year,” Rapoport said on NFL Network the morning of Oct. 27 (h/t AZ Central). “It’s a gruesome injury but the recovery is actually not as bad. We’ve seen several others with similar injuries come back and play the next year. Dak Prescott comes to mind. So, 2026 for Cam Skattebo.”
Prescott broke and dislocated his ankle in a Week 5 game against the Giants, missed the rest of the season after undergoing surgery, but returned for Week 1 of the 2021 season. He went on to lead the Cowboys to an 11-5 record that season as he finished second in Comeback Player of the Year voting.
The recovery might look a little different for Skattebo when compared to Prescott due to the nature of the two positions they play. Skattebo, being a running back, will need to be able to fully cut and shift laterally before he can return to the field.
But, nevertheless, if Skattebo has a clean recovery and avoids any infections or setbacks, he could be back on the field early for the Giants in 2026.