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The Giants won their second straight game on Sunday, but their defense lost a starting linebacker for the rest of the year.

Ryan Connelly left the game on a cart after hurting his knee and word on Sunday night was that the Giants feared a torn ACL. The team confirmed that diagnosis on Monday and Connelly will miss the rest of the year.

Connelly was a fifth-round pick in April and moved into the starting lineup at inside linebacker in Week Two of the regular season. He had interceptions against both Tampa and Washington and recorded 20 tackles in the first four weeks.

The injury came on a day when the Giants were already playing without Alec Ogletree and Tae Davis because of other injuries, so they were down to David Mayo and Nathan Stupar to close out Sunday’s 24-3 win.