Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks got blown up by Saints rookie defensive back Isa Abdul-Quddus on Monday night, and the officials threw a flag. But Nicks shook off the hit, got back in the game and said afterward that he didn’t it was that big a deal.
“I was defenseless,” Nicks told Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger. “It’s football, he took advantage of it. He did what he’s supposed to do, I guess. I wasn’t happy, but it’s football. He got a good shot.”
It sounds like what Nicks is saying is what we heard a lot of people saying on Monday night: According to NFL rules, which place a high priority on protecting defenseless players, the hit was a penalty. But it’s also hard to ask a defensive back not to lay a hard hit when he’s trying to break up a pass to a receiver going over the middle.
Abdul-Quddus didn’t look like he was trying to injure Nicks, but he did break the rules. And he’ll surely be fined for it.