Mathias Kiwanuka didn’t need to study the tape to know that he detested what he saw out of Cowboys left tackle Flozell Adams in the second quarter of Sunday’s night’s pulsating 33-31 Giants victory.
“It looked like a pretty bad play,” Kiwanuka said yesterday.
The Giants defensive end didn’t like one bit the way Adams in the second quarter was beaten by an inside pass rush by defensive end Justin Tuck. In order to prevent Tuck from nailing Tony Romo, Adams — the most penalized player in the league the past two seasons — stuck out his leg and tripped Tuck, causing Tuck to hit the turf, injure his left shoulder and spend the entire second half on the sideline.
“This is the NFL, people put their careers on the line every day, so you don’t want to risk somebody getting hurt because of something cheap like that,” Kiwanuka said. “You understand they have a job to do, to protect their quarterback. But there are rules in the game for a reason. That’s definitely inexcusable.”
Tuck called the play “bush league” and vowed to play this Sunday in Tampa. Tom Coughlin didn’t sound as optimistic. He yesterday had no update on the condition of Tuck or receiver Domenik Hixon (sprained knee) other than to say both underwent a battery of tests.
Adams was incredulous that Tuck was angered.
“A shoulder injury? From a supposed kick?” Adams asked reporters in Dallas. “Tell him to stay up. He fell down. It ain’t my fault.”
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Coughlin wasn’t full of encouraging news regarding three players who were unable to play vs. the Cowboys: DT Chris Canty (calf), CB Aaron Ross (hamstring) and CB Kevin Dockery (hamstring).
Asked if any of those three are expected back at practice on Wednesday, Coughlin said, “I couldn’t say. I think it ends up being, hopefully, a day to day thing.”