New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw is thought of around the league to be one of the toughest players in the NFL, but he might not be tough enough to play Sunday.
Bradshaw suffered a sprained knee in the team's 52-24 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, which may keep him from playing against the Atlanta Falcons on the road this week.
Head coach Tom Coughlin did not rule him out officially, saying that he has seen the running back play through injuries numerous times in his career.
"I am not going to speculate -- because of the toughness of this young man -- on how long it would be," Coughlin said to ESPNNewYork.com. "He is very positive about it and definitely wants to get back as fast as he can."
Bradshaw suffered the injury in the first half against the Saints and was limited to just 33 yards on 11 carries. Backup running back David Wilson handled the majority of the rushes during the game, gaining 100 yards with two touchdowns on 13 carries, including a 52-yard score in the fourth quarter.
"I am not going to rule him out of anything. I am not going to talk about the percentages or anything like that. You can speculate on that knowing full well what the injury is," Coughlin added.
Wilson was stellar in the Saints game and returned a kickoff 97-yards for a touchdown. It was the first Giants kickoff return for a score since Domenik Hixon did it in 2007 in Week 17 against the Patriots. Wilson amassed a team-record 327 all-purpose yards and became the first player in NFL history to have 200 return yards and 200 rushing yards in the same game.
The Giants were forced to bring Wilson into action after backup Andre Brown broke his fibula in the team's 38-10 victory over the Green Bay.
Brown served as the primary goal-line back this season and scored eight touchdowns, including one in each of his last five games before being hurt. Brown rushed for 385 yards and eight touchdowns this season after playing for three different teams over the past few years.
Wilson previously was in coach Coughlin's dog house after fumbling in the second carry of his career against the Cowboys. After playing most of the season on the kick return unit, Wilson made his mark against the Saints and will continue to do so if Bradshaw is hurt.
Bradshaw has rushed for 869 yards and four touchdowns this year, but missed the game against the Carolina Panthers earlier this season with an injury. Brown started that game and had 113 yards rushing with two touchdowns for the first 100-yard day in his career in the 36-7 win.
If Bradshaw is held out, Wilson is likely to get his first start of the season and will share carries with Kregg Lumpkin and Ryan Torain, who were signed two weeks ago as insurance for Brown.
"Just gave me more confidence that if need be, I could go in and be productive for my team because the season is narrowing down," Wilson said. "With Ahmad a little bit banged up, even if he is playing, they won't want to keep him in there and keep getting him banged up. It will be a rotation-type thing and having a successful game last week does give me confidence."
This season Wilson has rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries and has amassed 1,321 return yards for a new franchise record. He was named NFC Special Team Player of the Week after his big game Sunday.
Bradshaw has dealt with injuries throughout his career and has surgery on both his feet as well as his ankles. He also suffered a neck injury earlier this season.
"The other day when he did injure the knee (against the Saints), he got it taped and went back in and had three straight short-yardage runs in a row to make a key first down," Coughlin said. "No one even knew what was going on there. He told me he had no limitations. He is a tough son of a gun. I say that with admiration."
Wilson made a big impression on his teammates in the game on Sunday, including defensive end Justin Tuck.
"Hey, man, that's one of the most impressive games I've seen, especially from a rookie who kind of got in the doghouse early," Tuck said of Wilson to ESPNNewYork.com. "To show that will to come back and continue to work and showcase that, without him we don't win that game on Sunday, hands down. We have to try our best now to keep his head the same size it is right now."
Wilson also made an impression on Giants general manager Jerry Reese with his touchdown celebration: a back flip, something Wilson had been doing since college. He even posted a YouTube video from his days at Virginia Tech in which he did a bunch of them in a row.
"Nobody asked me to stop," Wilson said after the game. "Reese just told me if I get hurt, then he'll be in my grille."
Tuck also spoke about the back flips after the win on Sunday.
"I told him several times never to do that again," Tuck said. "We're going to have another talk about not doing it. Everyone knows how athletic he is, but the last thing we need is him having some tweak injury by showing off to the crowd. Let's just keep him upright and running and leave the backflips for YouTube. They're already on YouTube. If people want to see them, they can go to YouTube and see them."
Wilson did a flip after scoring his kickoff return and previously did it in the game against the Cleveland Browns when he scored the first touchdown of his career on a 40-yard run late in the game.
The Giants are also dealing with some defensive injuries this week, including to starting cornerback Prince Amukamara, who suffered a hamstring injury against the Saints. Coughlin said the second-year defensive back was doing better, but that the injury is "tricky."
"Tricky," Coughlin said about in injury. "They all want to play. So he's, 'Oh, I feel better today.' But what can you do? 'We can't run him today.' Okay, good."
Amukamara was hurt for the beginning of last season, but has played very well this year, making 49 tackles and one interception. He did not practice on Wednesday, but will likely play against the Falcons. Kenny Phillips sat out with a knee injury last Sunday and did not practice on Wednesday either.
