Coughlin takes leg injury in stride
Gians coach Tom Coughlin pumps his fist after his Giants made a defensive stand in the third quarter. (Dec. 24, 2011) Credit: David Pokress
Injuries are part of the NFL. The Giants and their 13 players on injured reserve know that more than most. But usually it's the players who come up hobbled from games, not the coach. So when Tom Coughlin was run into on the sideline Saturday, apparently injuring his left leg or knee, it was noteworthy.
That he shook off his injury was inspirational. "We are all all-in," Justin Tuck said Monday. "Coach Coughlin is the same as all of us. I know that leg is banged up a little bit, but he wasn't showing any ill effects today and came in excited about the opportunity that we have this week."
Antrel Rolle, who went home to Miami for the holiday weekend, said he texted Coughlin to check in on him Sunday. "Some of our toughness definitely rubbed off on him," Rolle joked. "He is a tough guy. He kept it going. If our coach is strong enough to go out there and fight and keep it going and hang through a situation like that, we're younger, why can't we do it? That's the mentality I have."
The injury certainly has slowed the 65-year-old. Coughlin, who usually bounds up the stairs to the stage for his news conferences, climbed them gingerly Monday, putting two feet on each step before limping across the stage. "I may not be able to run for a while," he said.
Coughlin was just as tight-lipped about his own injury as he is with his players', refusing to describe it. When he was coaching at Boston College, he had a collision with a player that left him with a torn ACL, and he wouldn't let the doctors treat it.
Coughlin said he let his guard down this time because he saw ballcarrier D.J. Ware was out of bounds. He wasn't expecting a late hit from Aaron Maybin that sent Ware into Coughlin's legs.
"As John Mara said, 'Too bad you got hurt, but we got the 15 yards,' " Coughlin said.
Coughlin never went down, although he was in clear and immediate pain. Trainers attended to him on the bench, but he was back on his feet coaching the team within a matter of minutes.
The Giants have no doubt he'll be on the field for practice Wednesday. "He better be," Rolle said. "We need everyone on board."
