Miffed Grant denies faking injury to slow Rams

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — A somewhat miffed Deon Grant denied faking an injury to slow down the St. Louis Rams’ no-huddle offense and give the Giants’ defense time to rest in Monday night’s nationally televised game.

The veteran safety insisted Wednesday he hurt his right knee making a tackle on Cadillac Williams after an 8-yard run to the Giants 7 late in the first quarter.

The Rams told the NFL on Tuesday they suspected Tom Coughlin’s team was faking injuries, and quarterback Sam Bradford added it was obvious the Giants were wasting time.

On Wednesday, the NFL sent a memo to all 32 teams warning of fines, suspensions and loss of draft picks if it determines players faked injuries during a game.

“You go and check my medical report,” Grant said Wednesday after readily agreeing to answer questions about whether he was faking. “I have the injuries to speak for it ... two torn MCLs that I never had surgery, wrist surgery, shoulder surgery, a broken hip with a metal plate and screws in. How can another person that’s not in your body tell you you are faking an injury?”

The 32-year-old Grant, who barely took a breath in giving long-winded answers, showed reporters his swollen right knee and reminded them he has never missed a game in his 12 pro seasons.

He said, however, he was hurt after tackling Williams.

“I could see if I was walking and fell,” Grant said. “When you see after I made that tackle and bang my knee on that play, you see my bending my knee as I am walking.”

Grant said he believed defensive end Justin Tuck noticed it and told him to “just go down” because he was not going to make it off the field, and he was out of position as the Rams approached the line for the next play.

Bradford complained that he heard some Giants defenders telling someone to “go down” because they could not substitute and were out of position with the Rams in their no-huddle offense.

What made Grant’s injury suspect was rookie linebacker Jacquian Williams also cramped after the play.

Grant called that a coincidence and went off again when asked about a potential fine.

“I don’t care,” he said. “If you want me to be fined for that, how about you give me money for playing on these torn MCLs and for me finishing the season with a torn rotator cuff, with a labrum that I am going to get fixed at the end of the season so I won’t miss no games and sell my team out. I’m not sitting out and letting my team down.”

Grant scoffed at the Rams’ suggestion his alleged delaying tactics took them out of their offensive flow. He noted that the first three times the Rams got into the red zone they settled for field goals.

“What happened all the other times they got into the red zone and couldn’t punch it in?” Grant said. “What happened then? If it all stopped what they were doing, then let’s have a conversation. But it didn’t stop what they were doing. They caught us off-guard the whole game, except when it was time to stand up, we stood up. When it was time to punch it in the end zone, you all (the Rams) couldn’t punch it in the end zone. It’s that simple.”

Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka questioned anyone who would accuse a player of faking an injury.

“I really think that is a dangerous path to go down,” he said. “If you start letting referees decide whether a player is hurt or not it might come back to bite them big time.”

Kiwanuka made that statement before hearing about the league’s memo, and he seemed concerned when told about it.

“It’s going to put players in a position where if they are uncertain about an injury they might stay on the field a little longer and make the injury worse, and that might lead to lawsuits,” Kiwanuka said. “I think it’s inappropriate.”