When the New York Giants announced that linebacker Antonio Pierce would be sidelined indefinitely with a bulging disc in his neck, they meant until next season, at least.

Pierce was placed on season-ending injured reserve today, the result of what he thought was a stinger suffered more than a month ago in a home loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Pierce had an MRI on Nov. 22 that revealed the true nature of the injury, and he sought a second opinion from Dr. Robert Watkins in California, according to Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger.

There is no scheduled surgery for Pierce at this point, although that has not been ruled out. Next year will be the final year of his contract and now things are up in the air for the 31-year-old. Chase Blackburn is expected to replace him the rest of the season, but Garafolo pointed out that Jonathan Goff could see some action in the near future.

This much is known, the Giants’ defense has been a shell of itself without Pierce.

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