The left shoulder injury that Justin Tuck suffered when he was flagrantly tripped against the Dallas Cowboys is similar to one the Pro Bowl defensive end sustained when playing in college.
The good news for the New York Giants is that Tuck didn't miss any games when he was injured at Notre Dame.
"The doctor sounded encouraged because normally when you re-injure something, your body knows pretty much how to respond to it, so hopefully the comeback will be quicker than if it was the first incident," Tuck said Wednesday after practice. "So that whole process is encouraging, and hopefully it bodes well for me."
Giants coach Tom Coughlin was cautious about Tuck's chances of playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. League sources told NFL Network's Jason LaCanfora that the Giants are preparing to be without Tuck and defensive tackle Chris Canty this week.
"It's a matter of soreness and strength," Coughlin said. "Who knows? Maybe he'll end up having to wear a harness. That's not a problem; we have a couple of guys doing that. He's a little bit less sore today than he was yesterday."
Tuck was hurt during the first half of the Giants' 33-31 victory over the Cowboys when tripped by Dallas offensive tackle Flozell Adams. Coughlin called the penalty a flagrant foul.
The NFL on Wednesday announced that Adams was fined $12,500 for two fouls in the game, both for kicking his opponent. The first play was the incident with Tuck. The second play occurred in the fourth quarter when Adams kicked Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora.
Adams, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, denied doing anything wrong earlier in the week and said Tuck should learn to stay on his feet.
"Normally, people go to the Pro Bowl for blocking people, not tripping people," Tuck said. "So maybe he should keep his feet on the ground. We're not going to get into a war of words here, we are going to let it be what it is, and I'll see Flozell when we play them again."
The Giants, who came into the season with a lot of depth on their defensive line, also might be without Canty for the second consecutive week. He missed the Dallas game with a calf injury and didn't practice again Wednesday.
Tuck said his shoulder has markedly improved since Sunday.
"Right now, it's just one day at a time, and we'll see how it plays out," he said.
Starting wide receiver Domenik Hixon hurt his right knee in the Dallas game and also missed practice Wednesday. His status is being listed day to day.
Wide receiver Mario Manningham, who had 10 catches in the game, was limited at practice with a sore shoulder.
Also not participating in the practice were safety Kenny Phillips (knee), cornerbacks Aaron Ross (hamstring) and Kevin Dockery (hamstring), wide receiver Hakeem Nicks (foot) and halfback Danny Ware (elbow).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
