Giants deny targeting concussed Williams - Ingles

Two days after two Giants players made an opponent with a history of concussions a target, the team did its best to back away from the notion and the N.F.L. said it would not impose discipline.

In comments to reporters after the Giants’ victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Jacquian Williams, a rookie linebacker, said the Giants were aware that 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams had sustained head injuries and tried to capitalize on that information. Kyle Williams muffed one punt return, and lost a fumble on another one in overtime that set up the Giants’ winning field goal.

“The thing is, we knew he had four concussions, so that was our biggest thing, to take him out of the game,” Jacquian Williams said of Kyle Williams, who had replaced the injured Ted Ginn Jr. as San Francisco’s punt returner.

Devin Thomas, a wide receiver and special-teams player who recovered the ball both times, said: “He’s had a lot of concussions. We were just like, ‘We’ve got to put a hit on that guy.’ ”

Neither Williams nor Thomas was made available to reporters Tuesday, but defensive end Justin Tuck dismissed the suggestion that the Giants would focus on a player’s head.

“Obviously, we consider ourselves to be a physical group and we want to hit everybody,” Tuck said. “But I don’t think we’ve ever talked about knocking anybody out with concussions or anything like that. We kind of stay away from that.”

Tuck added: “It’s not like we weren’t trying to hit him. We were definitely trying to get a lot of hats on him because he might not have been as comfortable back there as say a Ted Ginn, who had been there all year. But as far as trying to knock him out of the football game? No.”

When linebacker Michael Boley was asked about the issue, he said flatly: “We didn’t talk about it. Concussions are a big deal. Obviously, we don’t want to hurt anybody. We’re a fraternity of brothers all across the league. We don’t want to see anybody get hurt.”

Greg Aiello, a spokesman for the league, wrote in an e-mail that the Giants would not face any penalties for their comments.

“Players are held accountable for their actions on the field,” Aiello said. “There were no illegal hits to the head or neck area against Kyle Williams on Sunday. There was no conduct by the Giants of any kind that would suggest an effort to injure Kyle Williams in any way.”

This article was written by Sam Borden and appeared in the New York Times.