Giants' Darren Waller Says Hamstring Injury Not a Concern: 'I'm Playing'

New York Giants tight end Darren Waller isn't worried about his hamstring injury being an issue in a Week 2 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

"Nah, I'm playing," Waller told reporters Thursday.

Waller also said that the hamstring injury isn't cause for concern in the long term or moving forward.

Waller classified his injury as a nerve issue when speaking to reporters on Wednesday.

"I still have people on working me, a team, and it wasn't the same degree of strain as last year," Waller said. "It more so has to do with the nerve that was behind it. So it's not really a muscular issue. It was more so a little bit something different, like nerve-wise."

The 31-year-old didn't make much of an impact in a Week 1 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, catching three passes for 36 yards and being limited to 38 total snaps. However, he said he was able to do everything the coaching staff asked of him.

"I was able to go out there and do all the snaps they asked me to do and not have it affect me," Waller said. "There were some running real deep down the field where it might nip a little bit, but as far as everything that was asked [of] me, I was fine."

Waller found himself on injured reserve last season as a member of the Las Vegas Raiders due to a hamstring aliment. He caught just 28 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns in nine games last year.

The Georgia Tech product emerged as a dynamic offensive threat during the 2019 season when he caught 90 passes for 1,145 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games with the Raiders.

Waller followed that up with another 1,000-plus yard receiving season in 2020 but he has been limited by injuries in each of the last two seasons and it appears he could be limited again this year if his hamstring gets any worse.

The Giants acquired Waller from the Raiders in March and he leads a tight end room that includes Daniel Bellinger and Lawrence Cager.

After an embarrassing effort in a loss to the Cowboys, the Giants are hoping to bounce back this weekend with a win over the Kyler Murray-less Cardinals.