TAMPA, Fla. — Justin Tuck played yesterday with a harness to protect his injured right shoulder. He did not start, but played mostly on third-down situations.
“I made it through,” the defensive end said after the Giants’ 24-0 victory over the Bucs. “That’s all that matters. I’m going to be sore, but we’ll deal with that next week.”
Tuck was so doubtful he would play that he didn’t bring his cleats. “I had to borrow some,” he said.
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Kareem McKenzie limped off the field with an injury to his right knee, suffered on a 26-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes in the third quarter. UConn rookie Will Beatty replaced McKenzie at right tackle.
On that same drive Kevin Boothe replaced Rich Seubert (shoulder injury) at left guard. LB Chase Blackburn looked as if he would join the list of wounded players when he was carted off late in the first quarter with a lower leg injury. But he returned in the second quarter.
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The Giants took the opening kickoff and, 12 plays later, scored the game’s first touchdown on a six-yard run by Brandon Jacobs. It was the Giants’ first red-zone touchdown of the season.
“We always try hard to go in and score on our first drive and try to take some air out of our opposing team and the fans,” Jacobs said.
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Bucs fans erupted in mock applause when Tampa Bay earned its first first down of the game with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. A 3-yard run by Carnell Williams finally moved the chains for the inept Bucs.
“Nothing worked all day,” said Bucs QB Byron Leftwich. “It stinks when you play that badly because we know we’re a better football team.”
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Giants made wholesale changes after taking a 24-0 lead early in the fourth quarter. Backup QB David Carr replaced Eli Manning, Beatty moved to left tackle replacing David Diehl and Guy Whimper moved into right tackle. Gartrell Johnson also got in on a third-down situation, dropping a pass from Carr.
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Tom Coughlin had to look hard for negatives, but pointed to five penalties for 60 yards and a missed 21-yard field goal by Tynes just before halftime.
“There’s always something you have to work on and there are areas we still need to get better at,” Coughlin said.