Of all the position groups that came up empty in the 23-0 loss to the Seahawks, the offensive line came up emptiest of all. Justin Tuck was asked on Monday if there is any way for the Giants defensive linemen to toughen up their teammates on the other side of the ball.
“We can do a better job of giving them better looks in practice, maybe I need to go play scout team and give them a look of what they’re going to see next week,’’ Tuck said. “I’m not as big as [Lions nose tackle Ndamukong] Suh, but I think I can get down in a three-technique and rush pretty well. Maybe you’ll see some of our veteran guys go on the scout team and give our O-line better looks as far as what kind of competition they’re going to see next week.’’
Tuck offered reasons for the struggles of the offensive line — “You’re on our third center, they got a lot of guys out of position trying to make up for a lot of injuries, they’ve shuffled guys in and out, obviously that takes away from chemistry” — but also stressed the need to upgrade the performance.
“We’re professional athletes, we got to play better,’’ Tuck said. “You ask any of those guys on the O-line, they’ll say the same thing.’’
Coach Tom Coughlin had no update on WR Victor Cruz, who left the game with a concussion and also a sprained knee. Cruz likely is done for the season.
Of the five interceptions Eli Manning threw against the Seahawks, he singled out the fourth one as the one he’d most like back. It came on the first play of the fourth quarter when he looked for Hakeem Nicks and instead found cornerback Byron Maxwell.
“I thought the little short crossing route to Hakeem was the one that was behind him,’’ Manning said. “That was probably the one I thought was the poorest throw of the day.’’
After reviewing the game, what did Coughlin think of Nicks’ effort on some of the passes thrown his way that were intercepted?
“I think you can always make an argument who jumps higher and so on and so forth,’’ Coughlin said. “There are times when you would like to think at least you can get the ball knocked down. Then again, perhaps if the ball comes out just a little earlier, a little further, maybe it’s a little bit of a different story.’’