Deon Grant denies faking injury

Deon Grant couldn't fake his fury over claims by the Rams that he flopped.

The Giants' safety hiked up his shorts to reveal a swollen right knee, asked people to go back and watch film of him limping on the field, and listed nearly every injury he's had since he came into the NFL more than a decade ago. It was his way of defending his toughness in the face of accusations that he was not actually hurt when he fell to the turf in the first quarter Monday night, slowing down the Rams' hurry-up offense.

"I don't fake nothing," said Grant, who returned after sitting out one play. "How can another person who is not in your body tell you when you're faking an injury?"

That's what the NFL is trying to figure out. The league sent a memo to all teams Wednesday reminding them of its policy against "feigning injuries, with subsequent withdrawal, to obtain a timeout without penalty." The memo stated that if the league determines that players are faking injuries, they and the teams could be subject to punishment including fines, suspensions and loss of draft choices.

"That's a dangerous path when you start letting referees decide whether a player is hurt or not," defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said.

Although the Rams brought the Grant incident to the attention of the league, Tom Coughlin said he had not been contacted by anyone from the NFL and was not aware of anyone from the Giants being asked about it.

Grant was indignant at the idea that he could have been fined.

"If you want me to be fined for that, how about you give me money for playing on these torn MCLs?" Grant said. "Give me some money for this metal plate and screws that I have in my hip, that was a career-ending injury . . . Give me some money for finishing a season with a cast on with a broken wrist and torn ligaments."

Grant said that he hurt his knee while making a tackle on the play before he went down. He thought he'd be OK, but was limping and stretching out his leg when someone -- he thinks it was Justin Tuck -- told him to go down.

"I see they're about to line up and I can't get off the middle of the field to the sideline," Grant said. "I had to drop fast."

Interestingly, when he showed reporters his swollen knee, he pointed to his right one. It did appear to be larger than the other. In the game, however, he grabbed his left knee while on the ground.