Tyrone Tracy now known as 'Paul Pierce' in Giants locker room

The New York Giants had a gut-wrenching moment during training camp last week when rookie running back Tyrone Tracy went down with an ankle injury.

Tracy has never had any major injuries or even surgery, and he described it as a “scary” moment.

“It was definitely something scary,” Tracy told reporters on Tuesday. “The doctors took precautionary actions. So, I didn’t know what was wrong. They didn’t directly know what was wrong. They just did what they thought was right in the moment.”

Tracy rolled his ankle during practice and was carted off the field with an air cast on. Everyone anticipated the worst as he went off to the hospital for scans and further evaluation.

When that was done and they learned the injury was not major, Tracy insisted they head right back to meetings.

“We were back after everything at the hospital. We were back in meetings fairly quick. It was really just because I didn’t want to miss meetings. I didn’t want to miss any information that was going in,” he said.

As a rookie, Tracy knows that he will fall behind if he misses too much information. He didn’t want that to happen, so he rushed back.

Tracy’s speedy return led his teammates to dub him “Paul Pierce,” the Boston Celtics forward who left the court in a wheelchair during the NBA finals in 2008 only to return on his feet a few minutes later.

“They were pretty hyped for me when I was coming in. A lot of the folks around the building started calling me Paul Pierce,” he said. “They said I pulled a Paul Pierce. But it’s all good. I know there is very genuine love around the building and I’m happy to be here, for real.”

Tracy had five carries for 26 yards against the Lions and is set to play on Saturday against the New York Jets.