Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
John Fennelly

Giants’ John Michael Schmitz, Daniel Bellinger were injured during ‘tush push’

Not much is working for the New York Giants these days. On their opening drive in Monday night’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, they chose to go for it on 4th-and-1 on the Seattle 36.

It didn’t work. The ‘tush push’ — a play where the quarterback keeps the ball and is pushed from behind by teammates to create more momentum — went nowhere.

An offer for Giants fans

For the best local North Jersey news, sports, entertainment and culture coverage, subscribe to NorthJersey.com.
Buy Giants Tickets

In fact, it was a double negative. The Giants gave the ball up on downs and lost two key players — center John Michael Schmitz (shoulder) and tight end Daniel Bellinger (knee) — for the remainder of the game to injuries.

“I just felt that was the right thing to do,” head coach Brian Daboll told reporters on Tuesday morning. “So, again, those are stuff that we talk about throughout the week, talked about it during the drive, right where we were at. Felt comfortable with the decision and felt comfortable with the play.”

The play has been a staple for the rival Philadelphia Eagles, who had success on 37 of 41 attempts last season and are back at it again this year after the league agreed to keep it legal.

The Giants, like many things they tried, couldn’t get it done on Monday night. They did manage to get those two key starters injured in the process as Daboll would later reveal.

‘They did a good job of stopping it,” he said. “So, got some penetration, built a wall and ended up stopping the play.”

Asked if it is a play the Giants work on in practice, Daboll admitted that it wasn’t.

“You walk through it, it’s not a live rep of practice, but we’ve been successful at it, just weren’t on that one,” he said.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.