IN THIS TOGETHER: Giants’ players and staff huddle around Ahmad Bradshaw (holding helmet up) during yesterday’s practice. (Neil Miller)
Never has The Bulldog been more eager to bite than now.
The Bulldog lost his way back home the night before the first Cowboys game and found his way into Giants coach Tom Coughlin’s doghouse for the entire first half.
Tomorrow night, with the stakes piled as high as the Empire State Building, The Bulldog can’t wait to be unleashed. The Bulldog feels GRRRRRReat, and he barks: Just Give Me the Damn Ball and watch.
“When we run the ball we win, man,” Ahmad Bradshaw said yesterday as the Giants prepared for tomorrow’s NFC East-deciding clash at MetLife Stadium. “When we’re successful with it, we have a good time out there.”
The Bulldog deserved only scraps on Dec. 11 when Brandon Jacobs rumbled for 101 yards.
“I had a lot of excitement with it … make the bad turn into good in the best situations … it happened, and it was done, and I just wanted to have a lot of excitement for my team and for my running back teammates, we’re running back brothers too,” Bradshaw said.
But tomorrow night, the Cowboys get four quarters of The Bulldog.
“Oh yeah. … And we’ll see how they handle it,” he said.
How do you think they’ll handle it? The Bulldog smiled and said: “I don’t think it’s handleable.”
The Bulldog said he hopes Coughlin throws him a bone.
“Just to put my team on my back and be able to run the ball,” he said.
His teammates know exactly what opposing defenses have to deal with when The Bulldog is running as angry as he runs.
“An animal,” Deon Grant said. “Because he’s quick, he’s got good speed, and his vision is amazing so you have to deal with a complete back, and that’s a full load. A healthy Ahmad is something I’ll take on my team any day.”
“To be honest with you, I’ve never seen him knocked back, even when they’re stopping him for no gain, or a minus gain, he’s always either falling straight down or falling forward.”
The late, great Smokin’ Joe Frazier would have loved The Bulldog.
“If he gets loose, he’ll punish you, now,” ” Dave Tollefson said.
Bradshaw is asked how a bulldog runs.
“He’s low, he’s strong and he’s bow-legged,” Bradshaw said with a laugh.
“And bulldogs always have that angry look on their face … always look like they got that mean, grumpy look on their face,” Grant said. “Even if they might not do nothing to you. The difference with him, he’s going to try and do something to you every time he touches that ball — even when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands.”
The Bulldog may have missed a month, but he has prided himself on playing through painful foot injuries over his career. He is listed as probable. Or in his case, proba-bulldog.
“He’s a beast … short stature, but he packs a lot of power,” Mathias Kiwanuka said. “Doesn’t bark a whole lot, but he’ll bite your [butt].”
The Bulldog, 214 pounds of ferocity, left teeth marks all over Brandon Pool en route to the end zone last week.
“Nothing’s going to change, man. … You’re going to get my all every Sunday night,” he vows.
The Bulldog is hungry for the playoffs.
“We call him Bulldog for a reason,” Justin Tuck said. “Obviously he’s battled through some injuries and he’s not been 100 percent, but he brings a lot of heart and soul to our offense. And you can just tell, when he’s on the football field, the intensity that comes out of that offensive side of the ball is elevated, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s gonna be up to. He normally shows up in big games, and shows up pretty good so having him for the entire game is definitely swinging the momentum in our favor.”
Unleash The Bulldog.
“We can’t wait,” Bradshaw said.