Giants' James Hudson Says He Didn't Smack Cowboys' James Houston Intentionally

New York Giants left tackle James Hudson is denying any ill intent in his questionable blocking technique in Sunday's loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Hudson, who was seen smacking the helmet of Cowboys edge rusher James Houston in a viral video, told reporters on Wednesday that he didn't do it on purpose, but he acknowledged that he went overboard.

"It won't happen again. It can't happen again," Hudson said.

Hudson added that being limited to four games in 2024 due to injury "lit a fire" under him and caused him to bring "a different intensity" this season, but it hasn't worked out.

Sunday's game started off in shocking fashion as Hudson committed four different penalties on the Giants' opening drive, which is "something that hadn't happened this century," per SNY's John Flanigan. He jumped early and was called for a false start twice before committing two unnecessary roughness penalties, one of which was the blow to Houston. Rather than risk him getting ejected, Giants head coach Brian Daboll pulled him from the game and inserted rookie offensive lineman Marcus Mbow.

Hudson, who was starting in place of the injured Andrew Thomas, set the tone for a whistle-filled day for the Giants. The team committed 14 penalties for 160 yards and had seven more that were declined or offset. New York wound up losing a back-and-forth battle against Dallas 40-37 in overtime.

▶️ Full Giants-Cowboys Recap

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"We can't do that," wide receiver Malik Nabers said. "We kind of beat ourselves today, our first drive coming out on offense, we had like eight penalties starting the game off. If we don't have those eight penalties, we have explosive plays and we're in the red zone with chances to get points, so that really hurt us early in the game."

Hudson will have to control himself better as the Giants seek their first win when they face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football in Week 3.