As if New York's latest loss wasn't enough bad news, the Giants' already
lengthy injury list continued to grow. Micheal Barrow (concussion), Dhani
Jones (ankle)
and Will Allen (shoulder) might not be ready for Sunday's game in Washington.
Coach Jim Fassel said Jones might be sidelined 2-3 weeks and Allen was
scheduled to undergo an MRI Monday.
On Sunday, the defense played without
starting tackles Keith Hamilton (out for the season with a torn Achilles'
tendon), Cornelius Griffin (ankle) and cornerback Will Peterson (concussion).
Griffin might return this week. Peterson's status is uncertain. Rookie
linebacker Quincy Monk, who has missed three games with an ankle injury,
might be ready for the Redskins.
If Barrow and Jones can't play, Fassel said Kevin Lewis and rookie Nick
Greisen would take their places in the starting lineup.
The coach and players emphasized they are not using injuries as an excuse for
their unsatisfactory performances the last two weeks.
"I haven't gone through a season yet where injuries haven't had some sort of
impact on the season," QB Kerry Collins said. "Some years I've won, some
years I've lost. Obviously, we've had our share of injuries. But you can go
to 32 teams in this league and they'll say the same thing. You can either
find a way to overcome it, or you can continue to stay on a mediocre level,
and a lot of times that's exactly what we did."
"I don't want to make excuses," Fassel said. "If you want to know the truth,
it's hard to try to answer a person's question honestly without it sounding
that way. But, I don't want to do that. It doesn't matter. The biggest thing,
if you want to make excuses, is that you are talking about things that are
out of your control, that's number one. There are enough things that are out
of my control and I don't worry about them. I don't worry about them at all."