Brian Burns looked across the practice field in disbelief.

Did that really just happen?

Burns saw one of his Panthers teammates — rookie defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon — suffer a season-ending knee injury.

This was late October 2021. But Burns — now a Giants star edge rusher — remembers it well because of how absurd the moment still feels.

Nixon got hurt after Carolina coach Matt Rhule — who had jumped from the college ranks in 2020 — had his team run a full-contact goal-line period during a midseason practice. Veteran players like Burns, then in Year 3, couldn’t believe Rhule did that.

“We were like: What the f--- are we doing?” Burns said. “I don’t think it made anybody turn against him. But we were just like: Why? Why are we going live goal line now?

“That’s my only thing with c

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