As if the Giants had enough ground to make up for Thursday against the Patriots, New York now enters the Week 6 game at New England without several keys players on offense.
Running back Saquon Barkely (ankle) and tight end Evan Engram (knee) are officially ruled out for the Giants' 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., as are wide receiver Sterling Shepard (concussion) and running back Wayne Gallman (concussion).
The Giants announced the news Wednesday on Twitter.
As of Tuesday, Giants head coach Pat Shurmur had said that there was "no decision yet" on Barkley -- who suffered a high sprained right ankle in Sept. 22's 32-31 win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- leaving the door open for the workhorse running back's return against the Patriots, but the short-week turnaround after Sunday's 28-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings shortened the window for the possible comeback.
Behind Barkley at running back, the Giants go another week without the backup Gallman, who has been in the protocol since the Vikings game.
Also against Minnesota, Engram suffered a sprained MCL, as ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported Tuesday and SNY's Ralph Vacchiano confirmed. Engram missed Monday's practice with what Shurmur said was "game soreness" and still had a chance to play against the Patriots.
Shepard ended up with his second concussion in weeks against the Vikings and is likely to miss at least the new few games as a result.
The four absences make Thursday's game even tougher for rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, who faces the NFL's top-ranked defense -- through five games of an undefeated start, the Patriots have allowed 238.4 total yards on average.