Justin Tuck doesn’t plan on watching the Super Bowl, but he has been watching plenty of football since the Giants missed the playoffs.
The defensive end has been studying game tapes from this season, trying to figure out what No. 91 was doing, because he just doesn’t recognize himself. Tuck knows his contribution was paltry compared to past seasons, having put up just four sacks with less impact as a run-stopper, but the 29-year-old said he already has begun training to ensure future film sessions won’t be so brutal to watch.
“I’m super motivated. Super. I’m working to see the things I need to work on, getting back to the Pro Bowl, All-Pro status that I’m accustomed to playing at,” Tuck said Tuesday at a Garden of Dreams charity event at Madison Square Garden. “It’s just frustrating to see that I haven’t played to that standard. That’s going to be a huge focus for me to make sure that I do due diligence this offseason, training, eating the right things, to make sure next year is a normal Justin Tuck year compared to last year.”
Tuck said he is feeling a lot better since the season ended, having dealt with a minor shoulder injury in the team’s final two games. He said no surgery is required and what he needs to do to overcome his struggles next season, the final one on his contract, is as much about mental barriers as it is physical ones.
“I just studied my technique, and I think for me, you start pressing, you start worrying about the wrong things instead of letting the game come to you,” Tuck said. “The sacks aren’t coming, the plays aren’t coming your way, you start doing some things where I look at myself and I was like, ‘Why did I do that?’ Because you’re just trying to make a play and it ends up working the wrong way for you.
“It’s just about letting the game come to you, understanding that you’ve made a name for yourself, teams are going to play you differently and you try your best to adjust to that and that’s what I’m looking at.”
Though Tuck has little interest in a Super Bowl that doesn’t involve the Giants, the two-time champion faced the Ravens and 49ers this season and thinks Baltimore looks awfully familiar to a pair of teams he played for.
“For me, I’m leaning towards Baltimore because they seem to be a team of destiny,” Tuck said. “I’m reminded of our Super Bowl wins, a team getting hot, a team with a great leader in Ray Lewis and a quarterback that’s playing lights-out in [Joe] Flacco. But I think it’s going to be one of those classic NFL games that’s going to come down to the wire.”