Tuck lifted game after talk with Coughlin

For most of Justin Tuck's football career, his body has done what he's wanted it to. Sure, he's had injuries before, but nothing like the string of physical setbacks that he's suffered through this season.

Neck. Groin. Ankle. Toe. And now shoulder. Those are the words that have followed Tuck's name on injury reports this year. His most serious problem -- the one that really threatened to make him a non-factor on the football field -- never appeared on any formal injury report.

Heading into the final month of the season, the Giants' Pro Bowl defensive end suffered from a severely bruised psyche. Wednesday, as his team prepared to meet the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's NFC Championship Game, Tuck revealed just how hard his journey this season has been.

"It's been one of those years where it just seems like when you got it right and were starting to feel good, then something else would happen," said Tuck, who was limited in practice Wednesday because of his shoulder.

Tuck heard others saying he wasn't the player he once was and was particularly stung by some comments made by former Giant teammate Antonio Pierce. The lowest point, however, came after the Giants' 27-20 loss at San Francisco in Week 10. For the first time in his career, Tuck started a game and did not finish with a single tackle.

"I [stink]," he told reporters afterward. "I'm not me. I'm not. I'm not a very good player right now. I look at myself on film, and I don't like what I see."

Tuck, the Giants defensive captain, had always been a leader in the locker room. But he said as he struggled on the field he began to withdraw. Finally, coach Tom Coughlin had seen enough. The team was heading into the first of its do-or-die games in Week 15 against the Jets. Coughlin took Tuck aside.

Coughlin let him know that he didn't have to be perfect. He just needed to do whatever he could out there to help his team win games.

And that's exactly what Tuck did in the final two games of the season. Despite playing with a nagging shoulder injury, Tuck had a sack, a tackle for a loss and batted down two passes in the win over the Jets. Then, against the Cowboys in the final game of the regular season, he came up with a huge sack of Tony Romo that forced a fumble.

"I like the adjustment he's made mentally," Coughlin said of his defensive captain. "He's decided that he's not going to allow any more distractions from the standpoint of the hurts. He's made that decision and he's pretty much stuck with it I think it's a smart move, and he's been productive in doing it."

Tuck credited his conversation with Coughlin, along with conversations he has had with teammates and "myself in the mirror" for the adjustment he's been able to make. No longer does he worry about what he can't do. He just tries to do what he can.

Said Tuck: "My teammates know where my heart is and I know where my heart is. I just came to the realization that I'm not going to get the stats I once put up, but that doesn't mean I can't help my football team win games. And at the end of the day, that's the goal."