Giants coach John Harbaugh defended running back Cam Skattebo, who stayed in his stance on a crucial Jameis Winston quarterback sneak during Thursday night’s loss to the Commanders.
Harbaugh said the call was a quarterback sneak but not a tush push, and Skattebo wasn’t supposed to be pushing Winston.
“We had a certain check involved in it, so he wasn’t supposed to be up there pushing. We didn’t call the same [QB sneak] that we’ve been calling,” Harbaugh said, via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. “What else am I supposed to say? He wasn’t supposed to be up there pushing.”
Why the Giants wouldn’t want Skattebo to push Winston in an attempt to get the first down yardage is unclear, but the play looked strange, and it was a big one for the Giants, who had a 21-17 lead late in the fourth quarter at the time, but couldn’t hold the lead after getting stuffed on that quarterback sneak and lost 24-21.