Tuck may try to play with shoulder harness
Photo credit: AP | New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck rides a stationary bike during NFL football training camp in Albany, N.Y. (August 4, 2009)
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Sept. 21: Giants 33, Cowboys 31
Justin Tuck's head popped out of the sweatshirt he was pulling on to reveal a rather large smile. The defensive end knew that so much had been made of his difficulties in dressing himself Sunday night with his wounded left shoulder nearly immobilized, so he wanted to do a little showing off by lifting both arms to slide on the sweatshirt.
Showing off? Maybe a little bit. But pulling on a sweatshirt and playing an NFL game are two totally different things. Tuck proved he can do the first. The second, well, we'll see. He did not practice Wednesday.
Tuck has a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder Sunday night after a leg whip by Cowboys tackle Flozell Adams tripped him and sent him crashing to the turf. While he's unlikely to play against the Buccaneers Sunday, both Tuck and Tom Coughlin left open the possibility.
"It's going to be day-to-day and hopefully by the end of the week there will be some progress," Coughlin said. "It's a matter of soreness and strength, soreness and strength. Who knows? Maybe he'll end up having to wear a harness. That's not a problem. We have a couple of guys doing that."
Tuck has experience with the harness as well as this same injury. In 2003 he partially tore his labrum in spring practices at Notre Dame and missed some offseason work. He reinjured it during the following season, his junior year, but he never missed a game. In fact, while playing with a harness, he set a school record with 13.5 sacks. "I'm going to look at the harness as a good-luck charm," he said.
A harness would restrict Tuck's motion. Starting cornerback Terrell Thomas, who had surgery in college to repair a dislocated shoulder, said he wore one while playing at USC. He also wore it for one game last season with the Giants.
"It limits you but it doesn't hamper you at all," Thomas said of the gear. "Justin's going to find that he has to do different moves maybe when he attacks offensive tackles with a pass rush. Other than that, he won't have a problem with it. He'll obviously be limited because he's wearing a harness, but it shouldn't be a setback."
Tuck also said the doctors told him it was a benefit to have had the injury before.
"Normally when you reinjure something your body knows pretty much how to respond to it so hopefully the comeback will be quicker than if it was the first incident," Tuck said. "So that whole process is encouraging and hopefully it bodes well for me."
Playing Sunday wouldn't be without risk, even with Tuck's shoulder strapped in nice and snug. There's a chance he could damage the joint more. It's something he's aware of and will weigh. "We just have to be smart about it and make sure bravery, I guess, doesn't cost us a year," Tuck said. "When I'm back on the field it'll be because I'm ready to go and not because I made a stupid or silly choice to be in there."
Tuck's injury is just the latest to a defensive lineman. The Giants already lost tackle Jay Alford for the season with a knee injury and Chris Canty has been sidelined with a calf strain. That means the remarkable depth that the team accumulated for its front during the offseason could hit the bottom of the depth chart this week with Dave Tollefson taking snaps at end
After his injury on Sunday, Tuck made it clear he intended to play in the upcoming game. Wednesday he said there was a little postgame adrenaline fueling that remark, but he remains optimistic. "Right now it's just day to day, taking it one day at a time, just being smart about it," he said. "The main thing that we're talking about right now is this season is a marathon, not a sprint. Obviously I want to be out there now, but our training staff and coaching staff know what they're doing, and I'm just all ears about it."
