The Giants have thrown the flag on the replacement refs for unnecessary incompetence.
Justin Tuck was asked if he had any level of concern with the replacement officials.
“No comment,” Tuck said.
That didn’t last long.
“I look at it like this — they didn’t ask to be thrown in that predicament,” Tuck said. “It’s a tough job, even the regular guys miss calls. It’s a lot of pressure on those guys. … They’ve missed calls, sure they have, but I think that they’re doing their best. … I’m not necessarily mad at the replacement officials. I’m more upset with the NFL for not handling this and taking care of this in due time, I guess.
“I think the replacement officials are doing their best in a very sticky situation for them. You’ve got to go out there and play the game. We can’t worry about officials. The regular guys, when they get back, they’re going to miss some calls, too. So, us as athletes, we’re always trying to figure out a way to cry and whine about something, but we just got to go out there and play the game.”
It can’t be the best possible game, though, if the best possible officials are not officiating it.
“There’s no doubt the integrity of the game is being compromised,” Mathias Kiwanuka said.
Kiwanuka was asked how the NFL had been compromised.
“Because the game has obviously changed,” Kiwanuka said, “and it’s not for the better.”
Tuck launched into an impassioned concern for player safety should the NFL fail to replace the replacement officials.
“I think with all the success this league is having, you don’t want this to be a damper,” Tuck said, “Coming off the season that we had last year and the season before that as far as ratings and excitement for the season to start.
“I think the replacement referee situation is just starting to put a damper on the league in some ways. You don’t want that to happen, and you don’t want guys going out there — next thing is going to be player safety, because of the lack of calls or the lack of … I’ve seen pass interference and I’m a defensive player and I’m just saying — I’ve seen pass interference at a high rate that hasn’t been called. I’ve seen holding calls at a high rate. …
“I’m not worried about replacement referees missing calls. We play through that all the time.”
Kiwanuka hopes there isn’t as much chatter about the officiating after the Giants face the Panthers tomorrow as there has been after Broncos-Falcons on Monday night.
“Hopefully we can get to the point where we’re just talking about football again,” he said.