Tuck will play despite pain in repaired shoulder

You know that uneasy feeling you get when a warning light on the dashboard of your car lights up? That's the kind of anxiety the Giants' coaching staff must have felt Friday when defensive end Justin Tuck showed up with pain in his surgically repaired left shoulder and sat out practice.

It was bad enough that the defense gave up 160 yards rushing to the Colts' anemic ground game in last Sunday's 38-14 loss, especially with 2,000-yard rusher Chris Johnson and the Tennessee Titans coming to New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday. But if Tuck has to go through another season playing with a bad shoulder, it certainly will test whether the Giants made the right offseason moves to shore up the defensive line.

Tuck is listed as questionable on the injury report, but he insisted he "absolutely'' will line up against the Titans. At the same time, he said the pain is in the same shoulder that required surgery, said he aggravated it against the Colts and acknowledged the possibility that it could linger.

He also said it impacted his play "a little bit.'' Will it compare to last season, when Tuck couldn't lift his arm much of the time? "I'll be able to answer that question after the game,'' Tuck said. "It's different. Last year, I was injured. This year, it's just hurting.''

When asked if he told the coaching staff to have a backup plan ready, Tuck downplayed the severity of the pain. "Once I get on the football field with the adrenaline from your teammates and the crowd, you tend to forget about it after a while,'' he said. "You feel it after the game, but during the game, you normally don't feel it as much. I'm banking on that . . . You kind of get in that gladiator mode.''

Given how poorly the Giants' defensive line performed against the Colts and the fact they drafted Jason Pierre-Paul and Linval Joseph in the first two rounds, coach Tom Coughlin was asked if veteran jobs might be on the line against Tennessee. "No, not necessarily,'' he said, preferring to place the emphasis on the depth the Giants now have. "We play a lot of people and will continue to do that.''

At a time when the Giants' leadership has been called into question by safety Antrel Rolle, Tuck was asked if playing hurt is a way to show leadership. "I don't know,'' he said. "If that's the case, I've been a leader for a long time.''

Notes & quotes: Center Shaun O'Hara (ankle/Achilles) is listed as doubtful and backup Adam Koets likely will start. Special-teams captain Chase Blackburn (knee) is questionable. Three players have been ruled out: safety Michael Johnson (back), linebacker Phillip Dillard (hamstring) and tackle Will Beatty (foot).