Cowboys' Adams likely to be punished for shoving Tuck
Photo credit: John Dunn | Dallas Cowboys' Flozell Adams (76) starts a scrum against the New York Giants at the end of the second quarter at Giants Stadium.
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Week 13: Giants 31, Cowboys 24
Flozell Adams most likely will be punished by the NFL for his blatant shove from behind Justin Tuck that sparked a mini-melee at halftime of Sunday's game. But Tom Coughlin would have preferred that the act have some consequences within the game.
Because the shove and the grabbing of Mathias Kiwanuka's face mask - the infraction for which the Dallas tackle was actually flagged for a personal foul - technically occurred after the conclusion of the half and because the Cowboys were considered the offensive team on that final play (a 57-yard field-goal attempt), the Giants did not reap any benefit from Adams being penalized.
"I think there's no place in our game for the act that he took, and to not have some kind of immediate officiating response, there's something that needs to be addressed there," Coughlin said. "Not that the officials did anything wrong; that's just the way the rule is."
By the time Coughlin got on the phone with NFL officials Monday morning to discuss it, the league already was on the case. Adams likely will face a fine and could even be suspended. But in the game, there was nothing officials could do to penalize him.
"That's the issue," Coughlin said. "There was no [ejection], no penalty assessment, nothing."
Coughlin said the issue likely will be brought up during the offseason by the NFL's competition committee. Given that Giants president John Mara is on that committee, it has even more of a chance of being discussed. But Sunday, Coughlin and the Giants had no choice but to "decline" a penalty that never really occurred. "There was no option given to us," he said.
Snee sore but not out
Coughlin said guard Chris Snee has a hyperflexion of the knee, but an MRI taken Monday revealed no damage. "He's sore in that area," Coughlin said. "It's just going to have to be a day-to-day thing." He also said that kicker Lawrence Tynes "banged his elbow" on a fourth-quarter kickoff.
