Geno Smith rips 'dirty play' by Giants that nearly left him with knee injury: 'I just don't respect that type of stuff'

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Geno Smith
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Geno's knee knows. 

The Seahawks quarterback dealt with an injury scare during Seattle's "Monday Night Football" win over the Giants. New York pass rusher Isaiah Simmons tackled Smith along the sideline, landing on the back of his legs and inadvertently driving the quarterback's knees into the turf.

Smith would miss some game time but return for the second half, and luckily avoid major injury. Still, he was visibly distraught and upset both after the hit and throughout the remainder of the game.

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"A dirty play. Dirty play," Smith told ESPN prior to the second half. "You guys can see it. It was a dirty play. It's no place in this sport for that and hopefully something happens, but other than that, the grace of God allowed me to come back into this game and I'm happy to be back out there. …

"I just don't respect that type of stuff," Smith said postgame. "There's no need for that type of stuff. It's a hard-fought game out there. We're all battling, but there's no need to take shots at guys running out of bounds on the sideline."

Smith was taken for X-rays, which seemed to indicate no damage done to his knee. He would return in the second half and finish the game 13-of-20 passing for 110 yards and a touchdown. Drew Lock filled in for Smith during his absence, going 2-for-6 passing for 63 yards.

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The hip-drop tackle is something that the NFL considered banning in recent years, but there's no clear solution, considering it still is tackle football, after all. Smith avoiding injury means the debate will likely simmer for the time being.

Speaking of respect, the Seahawks utterly disrespected the Giants on the field, sacking Daniel Jones 11 times in the 24-3 victory. Jones turned the ball over three times in the process, cutting off the Giants' offense at the knees.

Wait, bad analogy.

Author(s)
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Joe Rivera is a senior content producer at The Sporting News and teaches Multimedia Sports Reporting at his alma mater, Rutgers University.