Rashad Jennings Sorry For Blowing Lid Off Giants' 'Don't Score' Drama

Rashad Jennings is sorry, everyone.

Jennings apologized in a New York Post article published Monday for the negative attention he caused the Giants by revealing earlier this week he was ordered not to score late in New York’s season-opening loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

“First of all, let me say that I want to apologize from my heart for the negative light that I unintentionally cast my quarterback and friend Eli Manning in,” Jennings told Steve Serby as part of his weekly column for The Post. “I continue to have the utmost respect for him, and I have complete trust in his leadership. It is a strange and unwelcome feeling I have that after all these years as a professional football player, I finally get to experience the other side of how words can be misconstrued.”

Jennings told ESPN.com earlier this week that Manning ordered him not to score near the goal line with the Giants leading and less than two minutes remaining. According to Jennings, Manning took responsibility for the mishap — the Giants forgot how many timeouts the Cowboys had left — and the running back even said he was under the impression the call came from New York’s sideline.

But the media and fans, as you’d expect, have had a field day with “Don’tScoreGate,” or whatever you want to call it. And Jennings clearly regrets blowing the lid off the whole debacle.

“I see now how what I said could easily be misunderstood as an expression of resentment,” Jennings said in his column. “I make no claims to be a perfect communicator. But I also assure that I had no ill will at all in stating what I did. Yet I admit in retrospect that I should not have shared that information with the world. I chose to do so, and for that choice, I am truly sorry.”

Manning expressed his understanding as soon as Jennings called him to apologize, according to the running back, who also apologized specifically to his teammates, fans and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin for creating the unwanted buzz. Jennings now is hoping to turn the page.

“Going forward, I determine to take what I have learned from this experience to do all that I can to contribute to the success of my team,” Jennings said in the column. “We have Atlanta this week. What is most important is now ahead of us, and we cannot wait to get back to work.”

The Giants screwed up. And Jennings screwed up by pointing out the screw-up. It’s up to the G-Men not to screw up again, or else it could be a long season in the Meadowlands.