This time Pierce calls out Tuck

For the second time this season, a former defensive captain and teammate of Justin Tuck's has called him out publicly for not being on the field. Antonio Pierce chimed in Monday on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" program.

"To me, if you don't have an injury that needs surgery or that's that severe, you need to be out there," Pierce said. "I don't want to question guys, but if you're one of the leaders on the team, which Brandon Jacobs and Justin Tuck are, and you say, 'You know what, the Seattle Seahawks, maybe we don't need to play this game,' and you miss out, that's what's going to come back to bite you in the tail."

Tuck has missed three of the Giants' five games while dealing with the effects of a preseason stinger as well as a groin injury. Jacobs was sidelined Sunday with a mildly sprained MCL.

Tuck laughed off Michael Strahan's Twitter comments questioning him about not playing the entire game against the Eagles. But appearing in his own radio spot on WFAN Monday, Tuck fired back at Pierce.

"In a way, he's completely right; in another way, he's completely wrong," Tuck said. "I'm the captain. I need to be on the football field. I can't be on it to help this football team right now . . . Maybe he should check his facts about what my injury is."

Tuck had his own jabs for Pierce as well, saying: "I can definitely remember him missing some football games."

Giant steps

G Chris Snee was released from the hospital Monday after suffering a concussion Sunday. Long snapper Zak DeOssie (concussion) was sent home from practice . . . C David Baas (neck) hopes to play Sunday . . . It appeared that TE Jake Ballard missed the block on Anthony Hargrove when Hargrove drilled D.J. Ware for a safety, but Tom Coughlin absolved him of blame. "It wasn't a real good idea at that particular spot," he said of the play design.