Prince Amukamara ready to return for Giants

It could have been worse.

Prince Amukamara missed the Giants' last five games with a partially torn pectoral muscle, and while sitting out those games was difficult for the starting cornerback, he's grateful to have had an injury that did not compromise his speed.

"If it happened to be an injury below the waist, I think I'd be more cautious and a little bit more worried, especially this week with DeSean [Jackson] and [Pierre] Garcon," he said on Monday. "But since my legs are able to run I feel like I'm able to go. And that's how it was the last five weeks. I didn't really feel like I was injured because I was able to walk, able to run a little bit, but I just knew my chest wasn't ready."

Now it is.

Amukamara has been medically cleared to play Sunday against Washington and he should provide reinforcement to a defense that has struggled all season but has shown signs of improvement lately. Amukamara may be the finishing touch to the revitalized group that began showing a different life when Jason Pierre-Paul arrived.

"I think he can add a lot," Tom Coughlin said. "He's a good player and he's demonstrated that over the years. He'll hang in there, he's done a nice job of that. Everybody gets beat on a route once in a while, but he hangs in there and he keeps battling away. He has a strong physical presence, so I think there's no doubt he'll add tremendously."

Others also expected to return from injury this week: Linebackers J.T. Thomas (ankle) and Uani 'Unga (neck) and tight end Larry Donnell (neck). All three have started before their injuries. There is no more waiting for Victor Cruz or Jon Beason or Will Beatty to be a savior. As the Giants prepare for their final six regular-season games, for the first time all year they know which players will make up their team moving forward.

Amukamara said he will play with a brace to protect his chest and shoulder, but there really won't be much opportunity to test the injured area until he gets into the game. There are no full-speed tackling drills in practice and he'll have to rely on hitting padded dummies and throwing medicine balls to the injured area until he faces a live opponent.

"It's not even close to realistic as hitting a 230-pound human going full speed," he said. "But if I had any doubt that I would injure it more, or if the doctors did, I don't think I'd be out there."

Amukamara has dealt with injuries throughout his career, from a broken foot as a rookie to the torn biceps that ended his season last year. Now he's coming back from the pectoral injury, and he said the best way to do it is to pretend it doesn't exist.

"Anytime I step on the field I think my body just assumes it's 100 percent," he said. "Like even today, I wouldn't think I was hurt unless I did a movement and then I felt something pinch, but I didn't. So anytime I step on the field I just trick myself that I'm 100 percent so going up to tackle, I think, would just be instinctive. I hope there's no hesitation."

He certainly didn't have any on Monday.

"I feel like I'm ready to play four quarters of a football game," he said. "I feel 100 percent. I feel ready to go."

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

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.