Giants Q&A: How bad is the injury to Johnathan Hankins?
Johnathan Hankins #95 of the New York Giants is tended to by the training staff during the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Oct. 19, 2015 in Philadelphia. Credit: Getty Images / Rich Schultz
What happened to Johnathan Hankins?
The third-year defensive tackle, the team's best run-stopper, left after the first play of the second quarter with a pectoral tear. He'll have an MRI on Monday. A torn muscle can heal in a matter of weeks; a torn tendon is season-ending and requires surgery. "They are usually not very good," Tom Coughlin said of the third pectoral injury suffered by a key Giant in 2015 (Will Beatty, Prince Amukamara).
Did the injury happen when he reached in to force the fumble by Doug Martin?
No. "It happened when everybody else fell on me, I guess," he said. "It's a tough break."
The Giants have a new middle linebacker?
With Jon Beason on injured reserve and Uani 'Unga inactive with a neck injury, the job fell to Jasper Brinkley. He made a team-high seven tackles, forced a fumble and recovered another. Brinkley started and played sparingly last week before seeing his most action of the season Sunday. He obviously knew Beason was done for the year, but he said he didn't know 'Unga would be out until just before the game. "We needed him to step up and play tonight and he did," Coughlin said. "He made some big plays."
Can the Giants make a playoff run with Brinkley stepping into a starting role at this point in the season?
The Vikings did. "It kind of puts me in the mind of when I first had the opportunity to play in Minnesota, the same thing happened," Brinkley said of his rookie season in 2009, when E.J. Henderson was injured and Brinkley had to start the final four games of the season plus the postseason run to the NFC Championship Game. "I didn't flinch," he said of that experience. "I'm ready to do whatever it takes to help this team win."
How fast is Jonathan Casillas?
Fast enough to catch Bucs receiver Mike Evans from behind in the first quarter on a 68-yard reception. It was a key play as the defense held the Bucs to a field goal from the Giants' 12. "Just never giving up," Casillas said. He played in Tampa last year and was a teammate of Evans, so did he know he had the motor to catch him? "No, no, no," Casillas said. "The way he weaved a little bit gave me a straight-ahead angle to catch him. It just happened."
When was the last time kicker Josh Brown took a snap from under center?
"My junior year in high school," he said after doing it on the final play of this game and taking a knee on the extra-point attempt with no time remaining. "I think I threw that one to the other team."
More importantly, why was Brown doing it?
After Trevin Wade scored with zeros on the clock, the teams had to line up for the extra point. But as Brown came out to take a swing at it, referee Clete Blakeman reminded him that he did not have to actually kick it. "I was like, OK, we don't want to get everybody pounded one more time and I don't need to kick this ball," Brown said. "Let's just kneel and go."
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.
