EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants running back David Wilson said Friday that he fears his neck injury could be season-ending and that doctors have told him he has spinal stenosis.
Wilson will travel Sunday to California, where he'll be examined Monday by neck specialist Dr. Robert Watkins. Wilson left Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles at the end of the first quarter after, he says, a hit in the end zone left his entire body numb. Wilson missed Thursday night's game in Chicago.
"I feel perfectly fine right now, but they're telling me something else is wrong with me," Wilson said Friday. "The X-ray is bad. They show one of the vertebra's close to my spinal cord, so they want to check it out first. That's frustrating, to feel good like I do and have a picture hold me up."
But teams are necessarily going to be careful with neck injuries, and the Giants and their doctors don't want to put Wilson in a game if he's at risk of a more serious injury. Wilson said he's spoken with other players, including Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who have struggled with neck injuries in the past.
"The difference is, they all say they had pain," Wilson said. "I don't have any pain."
Wilson was asked directly whether his condition was spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal column, and he said, "Yeah, that's what it is." Asked if he worried it could be season-ending, he said, "Yeah, but I'm just trying to stay positive. Best-case scenario is I'm on the field next Monday against the Vikings."
Giants coach Tom Coughlin said the indications he'd received about Wilson's injury were that it was not likely to be season-ending, but he acknowledged that it's a possibility, depending on the results of Watkins' exam.
"It's a disk issue, and they will determine the severity of it," Coughlin said.
Spinal stenosis is a potentially serious condition that can end careers, as it did famously in the case of Cooper Manning, the older brother of Peyton and Eli Manning, before his college football career began. Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin was able to have a long and successful career in spite of the condition, however.
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Jarvis Jones also was diagnosed with the condition prior to the draft.