Were Giants faking injuries to slow fast-breaking Cowboys?

Were New York Giants defenders faking injuries in Sunday night’s game to slow Dallas when the Cowboys shifted into their up-tempo offense?

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones implied that after the game, telling reporters with a laugh: “It was so obvious it was funny. It wasn’t humorous because we really wanted to take advantage, and knew we could get it if we could get the ball snapped.”

On consecutive plays, the Giants lost linebacker Dan Connor to a neck injury and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins to some type of upper-body injury. Jenkins returned to the game; Connor didn’t. The Dallas crowd booed while this was happening, and Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett conferred with officials.

The league sent out a memo to all teams last week, threatening disciplinary action for teams faking injuries, even if no penalties were called for it.

Asked about the span in question, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said: “They obviously had a bunch of injuries in that stretch. Tough break, I know. Seemed to come back pretty good after that, though.”

This isn’t the first time the Giants have faced such accusations. In a 2011 game against St. Louis, with the Rams on the move, New York linebacker Jacquian Williams and safety Deon Grant flopped to the ground almost simultaneously with phantom injuries.

“Hate to see that,” ESPN announcer Jon Gruden said at the time, referring to Grant. “He’s not really hurt. That is a tactic defenses have used in the past against no-huddle offenses.”

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