Rashad Jennings apologizes for admitting he was told not to score

New York Giants running back Rashad Jennings wrote an apology to quarterback Eli Manning and coach Tom Coughlin on Wednesday, saying he was sorry for publicly admitting that he was told not to score a touchdown late in Sunday night's loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

"I hope that those who have come to know me over the years will readily see that this is something that is uncharacteristic of me," Jennings wrote in a guest column for the New York Post. "I take full ownership of the fact that I didn't handle things as I should have. And for that, again, I truly apologize to my quarterback, to my coach, to my team, and to our fans."

Manning confirmed Monday that he purposely told Jennings not to score on first- and second-down run plays in the Giants' 27-26 loss with the sole intent of running more time off the clock to deprive Dallas of a chance at a comeback.

It did not work. Manning ended up throwing a clock-stopping incomplete pass on third down, the Giants settled for a field goal, and the Cowboys marched down the field to score the winning touchdown with seven seconds left. Manning later said he lost track of the number of timeouts the Cowboys had left.

After realizing his comments were making headlines, Jennings said he immediately called Manning to let him know that he had "no ill will stating what I did" and to apologize.

"I want to apologize from my heart for the negative light that I unintentionally cast my quarterback and friend Eli Manning in. I continue to have the utmost respect for him, and I have complete trust in his leadership," Jennings wrote in the Post. "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."

Jennings said Manning expressed his understanding and "wanted to put this fiasco behind us with no hard feelings."

"As professional competitors, our deep-rooted desire to win is usually our best friend. It can drive us to leave everything out there on the field," Jennings wrote in the Post. "But sometimes, if we are not careful, it can consume us enough to lead us, in the heat of a moment, to say things that only our souls should hear.

"We all just want to win. And I truly believe that I have learned a very valuable lesson about just how delicate a balance we must maintain in keeping ourselves and our team focused on the preeminent goal of winning games."

Coughlin declined to address the topic Wednesday, saying, "We've had the conversations, and we're on to Atlanta."

New York hosts the Falcons on Sunday.

ESPN Staff Writer Dan Graziano contributed to this report.