Giants return specialist Braxton Berrios says he is having season-ending surgery

NEW YORK (AP) — Braxton Berrios said Tuesday he is having season-ending surgery on the injury that knocked him out of the New York Giants’ game Sunday against Arizona.

Coach John Harbaugh on Monday said Berrios was dealing with a foot or ankle injury from a punt return. Berrios was getting evaluated this week before the team needed to make the decision whether to put him on injured reserve.

Berrios announced his status on social media on his 31st birthday after getting the news earlier Tuesday, saying it was "time to rebuild."

“Two of my last three seasons ended this way, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t miserable right now,” Berrios wrote on Instagram. “I felt I belonged here this year, and everything finally fell in place. Now it feels like everything I’ve poured into the last 9 months is gone in the blink of an eye.”

Berrios made it through just four games since signing with the Giants in June. He played in four regular-season games and one in the playoffs for Houston in 2025 after just six with Miami the previous year.

The Giants turned to Charlie Jones as the returner after Berrios left late in the first half and got ruled out midway through the third quarter. Jones was signed to the active roster off the practice squad when Odell Beckham Jr. was released, and Dalen Cambre is an option to get promoted now.

“Our first look would be internally, yes,” Harbaugh said Monday on a video call with reporters. “We’ve got guys that have been here practicing who are in the system, know what they’re doing or are preparing for this opportunity. ... So, that would be our first look. I’m sure we’ll turn over every stone, too. But sometimes the best stones are right under your feet. So, that would probably be our move, I would think.”

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FILE - New York Giants wide receiver Braxton Berrios (87) warms up before an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans in East Rutherford, N.J., Sept. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he has a call scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible case of plague at a Siberian research institute.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he would be talking with Putin about the case “very soon.” Health authorities are investigating after the death of an employee at an anti-plague institute, which authorities attributed to pneumonia with an unknown cause.

Asked what the U.S. intelligence community was saying about the case, Trump said the U.S. is in “very deep discussions” on the topic. “We’ll be able to report about it, probably tomorrow,” Trump said.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday said the case presents a “very low” risk outside Russia. The United Nations agency said it was in contact with Russian authorities following reports of the death last week of a woman who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

On Monday, Trump said the U.S. would be willing to help Russia with the situation. “It’s a rough disease. You know, that’s a disease we used to be able to control, but somehow those microbes have gotten stronger and smarter. They’re like an army,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The call also comes as the Trump administration faces an Oct. 18 deadline to decide which Russian entities, if any, it will sanction under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which Trump signed into law on Sept. 18.

Ukraine has given the administration and Congress a wish list of Russian companies, vessels and individuals it would like to see hit with U.S. sanctions under that law.

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AP writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters after arriving on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)