Ailing Tuck may not play for next 3 weeks

As Justin Tuck's frustration over his lingering neck injury mounts, a window is appearing for him in the next several weeks. The Giants play the Seahawks and the Bills at home before their bye week, a span that could give Tuck a chance to rest his injury for four weeks (he didn't play Sunday against the Cardinals) and be ready for the second half of the season.

It's something the defensive captain said he is considering.

"That sounds like the smart thing to do," Tuck said with resignation Thursday. "We'll see. I don't know. There is no guarantee that if I sit out to the bye week I'd be healthy the rest of the season. You have to go on how you're feeling that day. That's why they call it day-to-day."

Tuck was limited in practice Thursday and just as limited with the media in a brief session. He was asked how frustrated he has become with the injury that has been bugging him since Aug. 29.

"Look at my face," he said with a stare, "and you'll answer that question."

Shutting Tuck down for a few weeks not only could give his neck a rest but also provide some psychological relief. The ups and downs of being day-to-day are tiresome, not only to players but for coaches as well.

"I know it's frustrating to me as a coordinator to say, 'This day he's on, this day he's off,' " Perry Fewell said. "You have high hopes. 'Oh, man, he's back! He's ready to roll!' And then it's like, 'OK, he's not here tomorrow.' I'm sure it's the same for him."

Tuck seemed on his way to recovery in playing against the Rams and Eagles. But he suffered a setback in the latter game and missed time on the field.

Tuck tried out new equipment Thursday. He has tighter-fitting shoulder pads with a neck roll on the back to give support around the collar. He's also changed facemasks, using one with more bars to prevent offensive players from grabbing it. Although he did not say so, Tuck apparently suffered a setback when one of the Eagles grabbed his facemask. The next day, he said players were going after his injury.

"I think a lot of teams know I have been having a little issue with it," he said Sept. 26 in his weekly spot on WFAN. "I don't want to be Michael Vick here, but they are kind of going at my head a little bit."

Fewell said he's seen that, too. "More than once," he added. Fewell did note his eye could be drawn to those plays because of the injury. Tuck dismissed that kind of play as "part of the game" Thursday, but he did acknowledge it is happening.

"I would say this: When you get a game where you feel like you've got an advantage in a situation, you try to exploit that," Tuck said. "That's what teams are doing."

As for resting him for several weeks, that could wind up being the case even if the Giants continue to call him "day-to-day."

"I leave that up to the medical people," Tom Coughlin said. "Justin wants to be back on the field and the medical people want to get him back on the field. I know it's frustrating when you start back and you get a setback. We are trying to get our best people on the field and he is trying to get on the field. We will fight our way through it, hopefully without any major setbacks again."