The Giants finally got a couple of touchdown passes from Eli Manning in last night’s 28-16 victory over the Rams, but their receiver corps got banged up in the process, with injuries to Mario Manningham and Domenik Hixon. If either, or both, is unavailable for Sunday’s game against the Eagles, it will be costly.
Manningham caught three passes for 56 yards but he sustained a concussion in the second quarter and did not play in the second half. That could be a potentially tough loss for the Giants, who are not exactly deep at receiver. Manningham stumbled while making a bobbling catch for a 31-yard completion late in the second quarter. Afterward, Manningham said he got hit in the neck, was fine and did not have a concussion but the Giants stated Manningham did not pass the concussion test.
Hixon late in the second quarter made a tremendous juggling grab in the end zone for a 22-yard scoring catch but he came down awkwardly on his right knee and hobbled off the field. He is coming off reconstructive surgery on the knee, an injury suffered in the spring of 2010 that forced him to miss all of last season. He said the issue is not with his knee but with his right calf.
“They asked me if I felt 100 percent, I gave them an honest answer, ‘No.’ They said they wanted to go ahead and hold me out,” Hixon said. “I think more or less they are being precautious. I’m not worried about it.”
The good news for the Giants at receiver is that Hakeem Nicks was able to start after missing practice time this past week with a bone bruise in his right knee. Also, second-year Victor Cruz finally got his first career NFL catch. It came in the third quarter when he gained 10 yards across the middle for a third-down conversion.
Newly acquired receiver Brandon Stokley was brought along slowly. He did not have a catch but he did get held by cornerback Justin King for a 16-yard pass interference penalty.
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DE Justin Tuck as expected made his season debut after sitting out the opener with a stiff neck. Tuck notched his first sack of the season in the third quarter, tripping up Sam Bradford for a 15-yard loss.
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LB Michael Boley‘s second-quarter 65-yard fumble return for a touchdown was the first Giants defensive touchdown since Dec. 21, 2009, when Terrell Thomas returned a fumble 14 yards for a touchdown at Washington.
After scoring, Boley fired the ball out of the end zone, but it inadvertently hit Ryan Brown, a Giants production intern, directly in the face.
Brown said it stung but he was OK.
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The Rams went without their top running back, Steven Jackson (strained quad). . . . Coach Tom Coughlin met prior to the game with USMC Sgt. Dakota Meyer, the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor for heroism in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Sgt. Meyer also participated in the coin toss.