Cullen Jenkins, Giants move past Damontre Moore headphones incident
Former Giants defensive end Damontre Moore celebrates after recording a sack against Jacksonville in a preseason game in 2014. Credit: Mike Stobe
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Cullen Jenkins offered little insight into his role in the locker-room altercation that led to the Giants’ decision to cut ties with Damontre Moore late last week.
“I’m not going to get into that,” Jenkins said in his first public comments since the incident on Friday. “That’s something that has gotten a lot of attention lately and I’ve heard stories all over the place, but I’m not going to get into that . . . There are lots of different stories, so every one of them can’t be right.”
The basic narrative is that the two defensive linemen got into a disagreement regarding Jenkins taking too many of the headphones that Odell Beckham Jr. had bought for his teammates as holiday presents. Moore confirmed that in an interview on ESPN Radio in New York on Saturday morning.
That turned out to be the final transgression in a season of them for Moore, who was waived. Interestingly, he was claimed by the Dolphins. On Tuesday, he will be officially awarded to the team the Giants beat on Monday night.
What Jenkins would speak on was the importance of moving past the Moore situation.
“It was big,” Jenkins said. “Any time something comes up or becomes a distraction, [especially] when your name is in it, it’s never good. It was big to be able to focus on what we needed to focus on and be able to get the win.”
Tom Coughlin, who also spoke for the first time since the incident, agreed.
“The guys moved past that and right into the next session,” he said. “They were trying to get ready to play.”
Jenkins, as he has in most games this season, was a captain for the defense on Monday night, which shows which side the team took in whatever argument took place (as if waiving Moore didn’t already).
Beckham, whose gifts sparked the confrontation, said he spoke with Moore after he was waived.
“There are so many things that go into it, you can’t just point fingers at the headphones,” Beckham said of the momentum that led to the decision. “It’s an unfortunate situation, but he’ll learn from it, he’ll grow, and he’ll come out better in the end. I talked to him as a friend of mine, a guy who wants to be great, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does from here on. They say adversity builds character and I think this will definitely be . . . a learning curve for him.”
Jenkins refused to characterize his relationship with Moore.
“You always have a relationship with players you play with,” he said. “We wish him well. I hope he does well.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
