Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

According to a couple of Giants special teams players, their unit targeted San Francisco 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams for big hits because he had a history of concussions, New York Magazine reported. The hope was to knock him out of the game.

Although Williams never left the game, his muff of a punt in the fourth quarter and his fumble on a punt return in overtime led to 10 points that made the difference in the Giants’ 20-17 victory.

After the game Jacquian Williams, who forced the fumble in overtime that led to the winning field goal, told reporters, “The thing is, we knew he had four concussions, so that was our biggest thing, was to take him out of the game.”

Devin Thomas, who recovered fumbles on both plays, was even more direct in his discussion of the Giants’ strategy. He said a big hit by special teams player Tyler Sash on Kyle Williams late in the third quarter may have contributed to Williams’ shaky play thereafter.

“He’s had a lot of concussions,” Thomas told the Newark Star-Ledger. “We were just like, ‘We gotta put a hit on that guy.’ … Sash did a great job hitting him early, and he looked kind of dazed when he got up. I feel like that made a difference and he coughed it up.”

The Giants likely were aware of Williams’ concussion history from Williams himself. He had told reporters on Jan. 2 that he had had four concussions in his career, the last of which occurred Dec. 24 at Seattle.

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