After being injured by Adams’ kick, Giants’ Tuck says he hates the Cowboys a little more

Tuck, Hixon miss Giants practice Wednesday

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The left shoulder injury that Justin Tuck suffered when he flagrantly tripped against the Dallas Cowboys is similar to one the Pro Bowl defensive end sustained when playing in college.

The good news for the New York Giants (2-0) is that Tuck didn’t miss any games when he was injured playing at Notre Dame.

“The doctor sounded encouraged because normally when you re-injure something your body knows pretty much how to respond to it so hopefully the comeback will be quicker than if it was the first incident,” Tuck said Wednesday after practice. “So that whole process is encouraging and hopefully it bodes well for me.”

Giants coach Tom Coughlin was cautious about Tuck’s chances of playing against the Buccaneers (0-2) in Tampa, Fla. on Sunday.

“It’s a matter of soreness and strength,” Coughlin said. “Who knows, maybe he’ll end up having to wear a harness. That’s not a problem; we have a couple of guys doing that. He’s a little bit less sore today than he was yesterday.”

Tuck was hurt in the first half of the Giants’ 33-31 win over Dallas when tripped by Cowboys tackle Flozell Adams.

Coughlin called the penalty a flagrant foul.

The NFL on Wednesday announced that Adams was fined $12,500 for two fouls in the game, both for kicking his opponent. The first play was the incident with Tuck. The second play occurred in the fourth quarter when he kicked Osi Umenyiora.

“It makes me hate the Cowboys a little bit more,” said Tuck, who led the Giants with 12 sacks last season. “You can write that I did say hate. I stand by what I said right after the game that it was a bush league play. You move on, that’s my plan, to move on.”

Adams, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, denied doing anything wrong earlier in the week and said Tuck should learn to stay on his feet.

“Normally, people go to the Pro Bowl for blocking people, not tripping people,” Tuck said. “So maybe he should keep his feet on the ground. We’re not going to get into a war of words here, we are going to let it be what it is, and I’ll see Flozell when we play them again.”

The Giants, who came into the season with a lot of depth on their defensive line, may also be without defensive tackle Chris Canty for the second straight week. He missed the Dallas game with a calf injury and he did not practice again on Wednesday.

Tuck said his shoulder has improved markedly since Sunday.

“Right now, it’s just one day at a time and we’ll see how it plays out,” he said.

Starting receiver Domenik Hixon hurt his right knee in the Dallas game and he also missed practice on Wednesday. His status also is being listed day to day.

Receiver Mario Manningham, who had 10 catches in the game, was limited at practice with a sore shoulder.

Also not participating in the practice were safety Kenny Phillips (knee), cornerbacks Aaron Ross (hamstring) and Kevin Dockery (hamstring), receiver Hakeem Nicks (foot) and halfback Danny Ware (elbow).