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New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck has missed three straight games with neck and groin injuries, but the team is hopeful he’ll be able to play in Sunday’s showdown against the winless Miami Dolphins. Former teammates Michael Strahan and Antonio Pierce have both publicly questioned Tuck’s toughness as he recovered slowly from neck stingers and a sore groin.

Now, though, Tuck says the plan is for him to be as close to 100% on Sunday as he can be. “I’m OK,” said Tuck. “A lot better than I was before the bye week [last week]. They kept me limited. Just being precautionary as far as hoping we can come out of this week without any setbacks so we can be as close to full strength as we can on Sunday.”

The Giants are 10- to 11-point home favorites against the Dolphins. But even if the Giants can avoid a letdown against the Dolphins, their schedule gets much tougher starting the following week with a brutal stretch of five very tough games: trips to the Patriots and 49ers, then games against the Eagles, Saints and Packers. Those five opponents have a combined record of 24-8.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins don’t seem to be in a good place. Miami running back and former Kim Kardashian love interest Reggie Bush reportedly said “This team stinks” after falling to 0-6 by blowing a 15-point lead with less than three minutes to go against Tim Tebow and the Broncos last week. To which teammate Yeremiah Bell, who to my knowledge has never dated a Kardashian or any one of interest for that matter, responded Reggie Bush “stinks.”

The Giants have already lost at home to the Seahawks, so maybe the Dolphins have a shot, especially if Eli Manning throws a pick-six or three.