Giants defensive end Justin Tuck — who sat out practice yesterday with groin and neck woes and was limited to riding a stationary bike — is holding out hope of playing Sunday at Arizona. But he admits his neck injury is a lingering issue, one that may not go away anytime soon.
“I just have to take time to quiet it down; unfortunately, we don’t have time. Am I concerned for [the] long-term? No. [But] obviously you just want to be out there every week playing. … It’s definitely frustrating, no question, but it’s football. You understand you’re going to have these little nagging things,” said Tuck, who acknowledged he eventually may have to see a specialist. “If it gets to that point, sure I will. But right now it’s not there.”
Unfortunately, right now, neither is Tuck. He acknowledged that the painful neck injury, which began as a stinger in late August, is keeping him from exhibiting his full “God-given abilities” and using all the weapons in his proverbial arsenal.
“Each day he feels a little bit better. I am optimistic [he’ll] play,” said Tom Coughlin, who seemed to feel the groin was the more serious issue. But Tuck himself was hoping just to gut his way through the next three weeks and get some needed rest in the Week 7 bye.
“This has a mind of its own. I wake up some days and don’t feel it at all. I wake up other days and it rears its ugly head,” Tuck said. “The less I can do, the less it’ll be aggravated. We’re just buying time here. We play every week. Hopefully we get to the bye week and if you don’t have any recurrence you have an extra week so it’ll cool down — hopefully permanently.”
With Jason Pierre-Paul in the midst of a breakthrough — his 41⁄2 sacks are second in the NFL — and Osi Umenyiora practicing now for the second straight day and potentially returning from knee surgery Sunday, the Giants’ pass rush is in good hands if Tuck can’t play. But defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said Tuck may line up even if he doesn’t practice today.
“Justin was playing such good football for us during camp and the preseason. He was playing at a high level, and he’s not playing at that level right now,” Fewell said. “I know that’s got to be frustrating for him, because it’s frustrating for us, because we know what Justin can do. He’s just got to battle his way through that.”
brian.lewis@nypost.com