Two days after the fact, the Giants still were miffed at Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano for ordering his players to jump the snap and go for their knees on the kneel-down “Victory Formation.”
Coach Tom Coughlin said he had dropped the matter, but several of his players remained angry at Schiano’s unapologetic violation of one of the NFL’s unwritten rules on the final play of Big Blue’s 41-34 win.
“I’m trying to be political, but I’m just going to go out and say it: I thought it was a classless play,” Justin Tuck said. “I thought it had no place in the NFL, and that’s how you get guys hurt. I’ve been in the league for eight years, that’s the first time that I’ve ever seen that.
“There are guys who have been in the league a lot longer than I have, and that’s the first time they’ve seen it,” Tuck added. “So, if that’s how he wants to play it, he can do that to them, and everybody else. It’s not going to be an issue, until somebody blows their knee out. Or gets some prime guy hurt on national TV.”
Tuck wasn’t finished.
“Like I said, it’s not illegal — not at all,” he said. “I don’t agree with it. That’s not me being biased because it’s my teammates. That’s me saying if [defensive coordinator] Perry Fewell told me to dive at a guy’s knees when we’re losing, I would say ‘No.’ That’s just a man-on-man talk.”
Chris Snee admitted to some retribution during the moment that would be repeated if Schiano tried to repeat that on the Giants.
“If they go for my knees again, then they’re going to get a knee to the head just like they did Sunday,” Snee said.
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This time the homecoming is for real. Thursday night won’t mark the first time Charlotte, N.C., native Hakeem Nicks will play the Panthers in his hometown, but it certainly feels that way to the Giants’ star wideout.
That’s because his only other visit — last year — was Week 1 of the exhibition schedule and amounted to little more than a cameo by Nicks in front of friends and family at Bank of America Stadium.
Fresh off one of the most memorable days of his NFL career, Nicks definitely will have a bigger role this time.
“I’ve always dreamed of going back,” Nicks said yesterday as the Giants prepared to take on Cam Newton and the 1-1 Panthers. “The last time I played there was a preseason game, so there really wasn’t a lot of playing time. It’s a full game this year, so my family is definitely looking forward to it.”
Nicks was held out of practice as a precaution after getting his surgically repaired foot stepped on near the end of the Giants’ win last weekend, but Coughlin said he expected Nicks to play against Carolina.
Nicks came up huge in the victory over Tampa Bay, hauling in 10 passes for 199 yards and a score, but he is hoping to keep the expectations down for the trip home.
“I just want to do whatever I’ve got to do to get the job done,” Nicks said.