Ereck Flowers played hurt Sunday, had ankle examined Monday

It was hard not to notice New York Giants rookie left tackle Ereck Flowers hobbling around the field Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in the season-opening loss to the Cowboys. Flowers hurt his ankle early in the game and limped through the rest of it but never came out. He declined questions about it after the game.

Monday, though, the thing was still bothering him, and the team sent him for an MRI and other tests to see how severely it was hurt.

"They're doing the usual number of MRIs, etc., etc.," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said on a conference call Monday. "He did injure the ankle early on, and he gutted it out and finished the game. But today is a different day. He was limited to a certain extent because of the injury, but I thought he battled away, and that's what we always counted on -- that he would battle. And he did."

Flowers, the Giants' first-round pick in this year's draft, was pressed into starting left tackle duty in his first game due to an offseason injury to Will Beatty. He had a rough night in pass protection against the Dallas front, but it's possible he was bothered by the ankle problem and that had something to do with it.

If Flowers has to miss time, the most likely lineup would see Justin Pugh move from left guard to left tackle and John Jerry inserted into the lineup at left guard. But if the injury to Flowers is serious (and at this point there's no strong indication whether it is or it isn't), the Giants likely would have to add an offensive lineman. They only have eight on the roster and only made seven active for Sunday's game.


(espn.com)