Word gets around. Tyrone Tracy lost the ball on a fumble on the first play of overtime two weeks ago in Munich. Now the rest of the NFL is on alert that this rookie running back might put the ball on the ground.
It happened again Sunday as the Giants were smacked around 30-7 by the Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium.
“Blood is in the water now,” Tracy said. “You’ve got to understand this is the NFL and ball security is job security.”
Down 23-0, the Giants flirted with scoring to open the third quarter when Tommy DeVito hit three passes to Malik Nabers — untargeted in the first half — and they advanced to the Tampa 5-yard line.
Tracy, fighting for extra yards, took a direct snap on first-and-goal, was hit by linebacker Lavonte David and fumbled, with defensive lineman Calijah Kancey recovering the loose ball. The Bucs proceeded to go 95 yards in 12 plays to make it 30-0.
“I had the ball in my right hand, should have had it in my left hand,” Tracy said. “I’m always trying to fight for that extra yard but I got to understand when enough is enough. That right there kind of hurt us. If that situation ever comes up again I got to understand when to call it off and just go down.”
Two weeks ago, Tracy’s turnover handed the Panthers their winning field goal in a 20-17 Giants loss. This time, Tracy took a seat on the bench for a while before head coach Brian Daboll reinserted him into the game.
“It’s something we got to continue to stress and work on,” Daboll said. “I have a lot of confidence in Tracy. But we can’t turn the ball over to the other team.”
Wan’Dale Robinson walked out of the locker room holding a signed Sterling Shepard No. 17 Buccaneers jersey. Shepard was with the Giants the past eight years.
“It means a lot,” Robinson said of the jersey swap. “That’s a guy, once I came in as a rookie, he took me under his wing and was like a big brother to me.”
Shepard caught five passes for only 16 yards in his first game against his former team.
“Obviously, I’ve built a relationship with a lot of these guys, so it was great to see them and catch up with them,” Shepard told The Post. “My mentality going into this was just trying to get a win. Having a ‘W’ anywhere is great, and especially here for me.”
Jermaine Eluemunor went out on the first series with a quad injury and was replaced by Chris Hubbard.
“That’s part of football,” Eluemunor said. “Sometimes the DBs like to go low on offensive lineman. Luckily, he didn’t hit my knee, because that probably would have taken me out. I’ll take a contusion over a freaking destroyed kneecap.”
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux, after missing the past five games following wrist surgery, had two tackles (one for loss) and one quarterback hit. He had to log more playing time than planned because Azeez Ojulari left in the first quarter with a toe injury.
“Definitely was gassed, but you got to keep playing,” Thibodeaux said. “I had to do more than we expected, but that’s the nature of the beast.”
Tim Boyle, signed on Tuesday to the practice squad, was the third quarterback.