Prince Amukamara went down to make a leg tackle on Brandon Marshall and did not get up. He was carted off the field with a lower right leg injury. A bad week in which his ice-tub dunking by Jason Pierre-Paul went viral, compliments of Steve Weatherford, had suddenly gotten worse with four minutes left in the first period of Bears 20, Giants 17.
The good news: X-rays were negative.
The bad news: High ankle sprain.
The good news about the bad news: “Dr. [Russell] Warren thought it was mild,” coach Tom Coughlin said.
If Amukamara can make it back for Tony Romo and the Cowboys in 11 days — he has to hold the fort for Terrell Thomas, remember — then this night was a smashing success and the Giants can begin defense of their Super Bowl crown with a Bring-On-the-Cowboys mindset.
If he can’t, then Eli Manning better be as sharp as he was last night — 17-of-21 for 148 yards in one half — and the Big Blue pass rush better terrorize Romo to prevent him from terrorizing whomever is summoned by Perry Fewell to replace Amukamara.
This much appears certain: Manning will have more weapons at his disposal than at any time in his nine-year career.
To wit: the coming-out parties last night of running back David Wilson and wide receiver Ramses Barden, and never mind that it’s taken four years for Barden to come out and party.
Wilson ran explosively, he ran hard, he ran through stunned defenders and around them. Ran bigger than his 195 pounds.
“I heard a lot of people describe me as a speed back, and I never thought of myself as a speed back,” Wilson said. “I guess they are surprised when they hear speed back, and then, all of a sudden, you’re lowering your shoulder or spinning out of a tackle.”
Of course, the rookie first-round draft pick promptly caught a swing pass and was met immediately by Tim Jennings for a 3-yard loss.
“Had a catch on the second play of the game,” Manning said with a mischievous smile, “but he went the wrong way.”
He went the right way around right end for 20 yards. Then darted around left end on the next play for 15 more. Then turned a short pass on the left side into a 29-yard gain, after which Craig Steltz was flagged for unnecessary roughness out of bounds.
“Every time he touches the ball, it can be a big play,” Justin Tuck said.
If Wilson, who finished with 49 yards on five carries, runs like this, Brandon Jacobs hardly will be missed. If he runs like this, the Giants won’t own the NFL’s 32nd-ranked rushing attack.
“In college, I was used to breaking tackles and yards after contact, and to be able to do that tonight, it was a good feeling to know you don’t have to change up your game up so much at the next level,” Wilson said.
Barden, a one-man “Hard Knocks” series who has caught 15 passes over his three injury-ravaged seasons with nary a touchdown, caught one last night, an 11-yard slant on which his 6-foot-6, 224-pound body boxed out Charles Tillman. Barden later drew an interference penalty in the end zone on Tillman. Cornerbacks might yet fear this bulkier Plaxico Burress.
“They’re gonna be scared of throwing the fade on ’em, if he gets outside you can back-shoulder, you can throw it up, you have all those options,” Manning said. “So the first time, we ran a slant down there and he did a good job being physical, running the guy down, coming inside. Next time ran the fade route, beat the guy and the guy held on to him. You can box out the DBs a little bit, and that’s what you hope to get from a big guy.”
It would have been nice if Amukamara had been able to put something on tape that would have given Romo pause before initiating a saturation bombing campaign on him on Opening Night. He did not.
“Hopefully he ain’t something that keeps him out for weeks, it’s something that just keeps him out for a little bit and he’ll be ready for the opening week,” Tuck said.
If he isn’t, this eye-opening evidence that Manning is armed and ready with new toys signals that Coughlin’s immediate concerns at cornerback don’t mean that the Giants’ repeat dreams have landed upside down in a cold tub of ice.