Henry Hynoski hurt, leaving possible opening for John Conner

The Giants' fullback battle may have resolved itself.

Henry Hynoski seemed poised to win the job over John Conner, but he left Thursday night's 16-13 victory over the Patriots at MetLife Stadium with an injury to his left shoulder. That's the same shoulder he injured last year, when it required surgery and landed him on injured reserve.

Tom Coughlin was short on specifics, calling it "some kind of cuff injury or something of that nature."

If Hynoski is unavailable for the start of the season, it could mean Conner gets the job. And what probably will be one roster spot for a fullback.

"That's unfortunate for him," Conner said. "I don't wish that on anybody. I'm praying for him. He's a tough guy and he's having a great camp and hopefully everything comes back all right and he's OK."

Hynoski was not in the locker room during media availability.

Conner had a chance to make a big play when, on second-and-goal from the 1, he was given a handoff. Instead of pushing straight ahead, though, the 5-11, 245-pounder tried to go vertical over the pile. He was stuffed. Really, he barely got off the ground.

"I haven't done that probably since high school," he said. "It was a big pile there, I tried to do the best I could. It's hard when you start about two yards from the quarterback . . . Down there I don't want to mess around too much. I just want to hit it, and that was the best option at the time. Unfortunately, I didn't get in, but Peyton [Hillis] was able to get in on the next play."

Conner knows he could get stuffed again this weekend -- not while trying to get into the end zone but while trying to get on the roster.

"I've been through this before with a couple of other teams," he said of being cut. "I did my best, I put it on the field. I feel like I did enough to make this team, but that's not my decision. It's a good group of guys and I would love to be on this team, but at the end of the day, that's the organization's decision whether I stay or not."

Ultimately, that decision might have more to do with Hynoski's shoulder than Conner's ups.