Giants’ Xavier McKinney nearly lost three fingers in bye week accident

The New York Giants are back in the postseason for the first time in six seasons and there are many reasons for their resurgence. Experts are pointing to the leadership change and the emergence of quarterback Daniel Jones for the renaissance.

But truth be told, all you had to do to summarize why the Giants are back is watch the final play of last week’s Super Wild Card victory against Minnesota. The Vikings’ last-ditch effort was ended when tight end T.J. Hockenson was stopped before the first down marker by Giants safety Xavier McKinney.

It was McKinney’s eighth tackle of the game and not even his most important.

In his third season out of Alabama, McKinney has been a key cog in coordinator Wink Martindale’s defense, and the Giants are a tough out when he is in the lineup.

McKinney is still recovering from injuries suffered in an ATV accident during the Giants’ bye week in early November. It is only recently that we learned how severe those injuries were.

“I think a lot of people didn’t understand that I coulda really lost three fingers. I was almost close to losing three of my fingers,” McKinney told the New York Post.

McKinney’s hand was shattered to the point where surgeons had to use a combination of pins and screws to repair the fractures.

“When we were doing surgery, actually the doc told me afterwards, he was like he wasn’t sure how he was even gonna be able to get all the pieces back together because there was so many,” McKinney said.

The surgery was successful enough to allow McKinney to return to action on January 1 against the Indianapolis Colts. The Giants won that day, 38-10. It was the continuation of a trend that began at the beginning of the season.

McKinney has played in 10 games for the Giants this season. They are 8-2 when he starts and 2-5-1 without him.

McKinney will start this week against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Playoff round after missing the first two meetings this season, both Giants’ losses.

“It was tough to be on the sideline for every game that I was hurt,” McKinney explained. “So, it was no different than all the other games that I missed. We know we’ve got a new opportunity going into this game, we’ve been preaching all week, ‘we only get one chance, we only get one shot.’

“Obviously now, if you lose, you’re out. So, I think everybody knows the magnitude of that, so we’re just thinking of it that way and taking it day by day. Just trying to make sure we…