The Giants need more from Justin Tuck, their team captain and erstwhile best defensive lineman.
What he’s given so far is not enough. Not even close. There is the reality of his health issues juxtaposed with the unofficial code of professional athletes that reminds us that if you’re injured you don’t play, and if you’re on the field you’re not injured and therefore have no excuse. Of course, that’s harsh but if it was easy, everyone would do it.
You can stroll right up to the 268-pound block of granite that is Tuck and say this to his face. He will not fight you on this because he’s one of the most self-aware players to ever wear a Giants uniform. You can try to get inside his head and when you do there’s plenty there to work with. He’ll give you what he has, but not all of it, which is why he can say, “As long as I have that epiphany, I don’t have to give it to you’’ and you sort of understand what he means on a day when he wasn’t presented with the standard-fare locker room inquiries.
Tuck admits he isn’t enjoying this season and you do not wonder why, even though the Giants are 6-3, alone in first place and in a few days can bury the Eagles so deeply that a backhoe would be needed to unearth them. The Giants are pretty good but Tuck has been pretty ordinary.
“I suck,’’ he said as if it were common knowledge. “I’m a very honest person.’’
Sometimes the truth hurts and, although Tuck is being hard on himself he’s being only slightly over-dramatic. He has exchanged dominant for decent and that is impossible for him to accept.
“I’m not me,’’ he said. “I’m not a very good player right now. It’s frustrating, because I do look at myself on film. I don’t like what I see. It’s not the effort. I feel like I’m putting forth the effort. There are some things not allowing me to play my style of football.’’
Some things are a nagging neck injury, combined earlier this season with a strained groin, robbing the Giants of their man of steel. He hurt his neck in the preseason and it’s never been right. He missed the season opener and later missed three straight games. He’s back, but not better than ever. In five games, Tuck has 10 tackles, two sacks and hasn’t caused or recovered a fumble.
“Has he been able to jump back on the bicycle and ride as fast as we want him to ride? No,’’ defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. “He’s always more critical of himself than anybody else. He’ll get better, it just takes time.’’
Tuck isn’t so sure. He admits the lack of production eats at him, which is akin to lugging a batting average of .190 into the Fourth of July and realizing there aren’t enough at-bats to come close to .300. He knows he doesn’t really suck, but his numbers do.
“I guess when I say it, it comes from the stats, I guess,’’ Tuck explained. “That’s the selfish part of being an athlete.
“The numbers are ego. I sit here and mope around and say, ‘I suck’ and at the end of the day I know I’m still out there helping our football team win.’’
Is he? Fewell says Tuck was excellent last week against the run in San Francisco and his snaps allow Jason Pierre-Paul to stay fresh. It’s quite a comedown from the Tuck standard. Last season was his finest, with 11 1/2 sacks, a league-leading five fumble recoveries, a team-leading 21 tackles for losses, five forced fumbles and a career-high 99 tackles.
How strange is it that as this season has evolved, another team captain, Eli Manning, has reached a heightened level while Tuck has fallen, if not by the wayside, certainly off to the side. He says he’s not trying to be cautious on the field and, “It’s not that I’m afraid to do things, some things I can’t do.’’
Tuck has seven games left to do more, to fight through it, to find a way to be great when his body is feeling lousy. He can take solace in the Giants’ success, but they are going to need more from him and his defense, to take some of the burden off Manning, in order to keep winning.
“If I’m going to be hurt the rest of my career, we make the playoffs and have a chance to make the Super Bowl, sign me up,’’ Tuck said.
He knows that wouldn’t suck.