NFL

Victor Cruz OK after crushing blow

PHILADELPHIA — Victor Cruz made no secret this past week that playing at Lincoln Financial Field does not rank high on his list. “It’s not the worst place in the world but it’s up there,’’ Cruz said.

Cruz, though, actually felt some brotherly love after he overcame a frightening injury scare and was able to finish Sunday’s 15-7 victory over the Eagles.

“It felt good, especially after the game, a lot of those guys, the coaching staff came up to me to make sure I was OK,’’ Cruz said. “As much as we go at each other head-to-head around the league, it’s still a brotherhood and we respect each other out there.’’

Midway through the third quarter, Cruz, after a 6-yard catch, was stood up by cornerback Bradley Fletcher and then nailed by safety Nate Allen, who body-slammed Cruz to the ground. Cruz stayed down a few minutes, and then went inside to get an X-ray of his neck, which came back negative, and he returned before the quarter was over. He came up with a 13-yard reception early in the fourth quarter and finished with seven catches for 86 yards.

“It was a little scary,’’ Cruz said. “Anytime you get hurt and you feel some pain it’s always scary. I just caught the ball and got tackled and went down and the defender kind of pulled me into the ground and [I] caught a stinger a little bit. It just felt sore, felt awkward for me to turn my neck.

“Fortunately by the grace of God I was good and X-rays were negative. So I was able to come back into the game and make a catch and that felt pretty good.’’

***

It was hard to believe, but the Giants in the first quarter actually were hit with a penalty for excessive celebration after Antrel Rolle’s diving interception of a Michael Vick pass. Rolle got up and did a little dance, which is allowed, but when a few teammates circled him and joined in, the flag was thrown as “group celebrations’’ are considered taunting.

“I felt horrible,’’ Rolle said. “I kind of got into the zone. I had one [interception] last week and I got a little dance and got away with it once, and I thought I could get away with it again. It wasn’t a smart move.’’

Rolle immediately went over to coach Tom Coughlin to apologize.

WR Hakeem Nicks had to come off the field briefly.

“Second week in a row I just caught a little shot to the ribs,’’ he said. “Got wind knocked out, that’s it.’’ … Josh Brown’s five field goals were a career high. … With his second completion of the game, Eli Manning passed Phil Simms as the Giants’ all-time leader in passing yardage. In 14 seasons with the Giants, Simms finished his career with 33,462 passing yards. Manning is also the franchise’s all-time leader in attempts, completions and touchdown passes.

With Brandon Jacobs (hamstring) inactive, RB Peyton Hillis (20 rushing attempts, 70 yards) again handled the rushing load and was more effective than in his first game, last week. … S Will Hill had an interception of Matt Barkley with 22 seconds remaining.