Cooper Taylor (Saed).JPG

Safety Cooper Taylor (seen here earlier in the spring) suffered a setback.

(Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media)

The procedure was for a sports hernia, a person familiar with the situation told NJ Advance Media. The recovery time for such an injury is traditionally 4-6 weeks.

The Giants open training camp five weeks from Tuesday. The hope is that Taylor will be ready by then and able to compete. He was one of the few veterans not at the Giants' first organized team activity (OTA) workout of the year on Monday.

Taylor was working with the first-team defense earlier this spring. He's competing with Nat Berhe, Bennett Jackson, Darian Thompson and others for the starting free safety position. This is no doubt a setback. He no longer gets reps in the spring and will have to get back into playing shape immediately at a crowded position.

It's been a rough road for Taylor since the Giants drafted him in the fifth round out of Richmond in the 2013 NFL Draft. He's been plagued by injuries, ranging from his shoulder to his hamstring to his foot.

Taylor was cut and re-signed by the Giants last season. He rejoined the team in November, but sat out the finale with a concussion.

The Giants drafted Thompson in the third round of this year's draft with hopes of finally finding an answer at the safety spot opposite last year's second-round pick Landon Collins.

TALK IS CHEAP, Ep. 53: How Giants can improve roster before training camp

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Jordan Raanan may be reached at jraanan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan. Find NJ.com Giants on Facebook.