The New York Giants lost more than the game against Washington on Sunday. Running back Shane Vereen is out for the season with a triceps injury that requires surgery, the team announced on Monday afternoon.

Vereen is the team's passing-down back, and he assumed feature duties on Sunday in the absence of Rashad Jennings, who missed the game with an injury of his own. He was off to an excellent start to the season, averaging 4.7 yards per carry and catching eight passes for 75 yards as well.

New York has some depth at the position with Jennings, last year's preseason breakout Orleans Darkwa, and rookie fifth-rounder Paul Perkins, but none of them is the receiving threat out of the backfield that Vereen is. Chances are that Bobby Rainey will also help fill the void left by Vereen.

The Giants had not been a team that threw the ball to running backs all that often prior to last season, but Vereen still managed 59 catches while playing only 38.4 percent of the team's snaps (per Pro Football Focus).

It seems clear he was going to be featured even more this season, but the Giants will now have to deal without him. In a surprisingly competitive NFC East (three of the four teams are 2-1 or better), Vereen's is a big loss for New York.