Giant Football Blog

Flowers in fold

Stocking up for training camp, the Giants yesterday signed Little John Flowers, a running back from Michigan State who for the past four years was with the Jets in camp. The 6-foot, 215-pound Flowers played this spring for the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe, gaining 283 yards and catching 10 passes. He spent the entire 2002 season on the Jets practice squad and was with the Jets again for part of the 2003 season. As for his colorful name, he was named for the character Little John from Robin Hood. (NY Post)

'Just not me'

Fast-forward five years from now. Eli Manning is 30 years old, an established star quarterback, owner of many Giants passing records and on pace to accumulate a bundle more. He is what he was destined to become. Just don't ask him to ever evolve into the charismatic leader some believe the Giants need him to be.

"That's just not me," Manning said this week in a one-on-one interview with The Post. "Maybe I'll be a little different but it's not going to be a full change. I'm not going to be the personality where I make everyone laugh, or the scene where you come in [the locker room] and I'm telling jokes and whatnot to the media or whoever. That's not me." Continue

Not A Full-Speed Start

Before he's shed his first double-team with the Giants, linebacker LaVar Arrington has made it clear he can handle the blitz from the New York media. One of the big stories at last week's minicamp at Giants Stadium had more to do with what Arrington wasn't doing in practice than anything he did on the field.A sore Achilles' tendon convinced coaches and training staff to limit their $49 million free agent to one practice a day. And when Arrington was asked about it, he immediately squelched the storyline.

"I'm not worried about it. Stop [the questions] before you even get started," said Arrington, who turns 28 Tuesday. "I'm just a little sore right now, nothing more, nothing less. I can't remember ever having a problem like this before, but I am an explosive player. Continue

Manning needs to improve accuracy

There's hardly a quarterback competition on the Giants. It's still Eli Manning and a long step down to any of the three men vying to be his backup for 2006, but there are challenges for each of them. Manning's job is to show, in his third season and second as the full-time starter, that his consistency and accuracy can greatly improve. Despite impressive numbers in passing yards (3,762) and touchdown passes (24), Manning completed only 52.8 percent of his passes, among the worst for the 32 starting QBs in the NFL.

"I think we can get that to 60 [percent]," Giants quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride said Friday after the team wrapped up its three-day minicamp. "It's not so much with him that he made poor decisions as far as who he was throwing to. Sometimes we're asking him to throw it to a certain spot downfield and he's about to get hit and he's still trying to make that throw. Sometimes the best move you can make is to take the sack." Continue

Sirius slam: Rice rips Burress

Jerry Rice thinks Plaxico Burress dropped the ball. On the "Afternoon Blitz" on Sirius NFL Radio, the future Hall of Fame wide receiver ripped Burress for saying he did not regret blowing off the exit meeting the day after the Giants' humiliating playoff loss to the Panthers. "How can you say that?" Rice said. "Yes, it was a devastating loss, but you lose as a team. You show up the next day, you show up as a team no matter what to show your loyalty.

How can he not regret that? "After losing a game of that magnitude, for him not to show up at the last team meeting? I'm sorry, Plaxico, that doesn't go that far with me. If you're going to be a complete player you've got to be a leader and, even when things don't go right, you've still got to be a professional. You've got to show up and you've got to let the younger guys know this is the way we do things around here. I don't know where he's coming from, but I was very surprised by that." Continue

Giants defense loaded with weapons

The promise issued by Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis was not standard but certainly was packed with intrigue. He did not vow that his revamped unit will be dominating, but he did provide this prediction: "It's going to be funky," he said.

Lewis is hopeful opposing offenses don't know what hit them. The three-day minicamp that concluded yesterday offered a glimpse of what the Giants plan on unleashing this season, with upgraded athleticism and an immense array of pass-rushing ability allowing Lewis to mix and match and get as creative as his fertile mind allows. Continue

Plax denies Tom, Eli rift

Plaxico Burress' decision to skip the Giants' season-ending meeting in January wasn't a sign of a rift between him and his quarterback or his coach. Instead, the team's top receiver said yesterday, it was just an expression of frustration over the team's "humiliating" season-ending loss. "I just expressed my frustration a little differently," Burress said. "That's all it was."

In his first public comments since the Giants' 23-0 playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers, Burress insisted he was just so upset after his zero-catch performance in that game that he felt the need to get away. He said he didn't speak to Tom Coughlin about it because "I didn't feel there was a need to." He also said, looking back on his choice, "I don't have no regrets." Continue

Giants keeping eye on Shockey

Given that Jeremy Shockey stays away from Giants Stadium in the offseason, it's always worth noting when he stops by. And when the fun-loving tight end shows up the way he did yesterday, sporting a shiner below his left eye, well, it's worth noting some more. "We're all wondering if coach gave it to him," center Shaun O'Hara said.

No, Tom Coughlin did not pop Shockey in the face for eschewing the offseason workout program. Shockey, displaying a black-and-blue eye that was partially closed, said he hurt himself last Friday during an accident in the weight room while working out in Miami. Continue

Plaxico gets Giant pass

Jeremy Shockey made his first offseason appearance at Giants Stadium yesterday sporting a freshly blackened and slightly swollen left eye. "I think we were all wondering if coach gave it to him," center Shaun O'Hara joked. Actually, according to Shockey, it wasn't anything that exciting. It was the result of "an accident in the weight room" while he was working out in Miami. As for what happened between Tom Coughlin and Plaxico Burress yesterday, when they met face-to-face for the first time since last season, that wasn't entirely clear.

Burress rejoined his team for the first time since his no-catch performance in the Giants' 23-0 playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers in January. The next day, the receiver angered Coughlin by skipping the team's season-ending meeting. And after that, he had no contact with anyone in the organization for months. Continue

Jints jazzed for season to start

For their last segment of a three-month offseason workout program, the Giants today gather for the start of a three-day mandatory mini-camp that will include all veterans and rookies on the roster.

After this, the Giants (other than the rookies, who remain another week) take off until July 27, when all players report to training camp at the University at Albany. After another busy free-agent signing period, coupled with a few interesting - and somewhat eclectic - selections in the NFL Draft, the Giants believe they can improve on their 2005 record of 11-5 and erase the sting of a humiliating first-round ouster from the playoffs. Continue

Giants vet O'Hara not concerned

The Giants begin a mandatory three-day mini-camp next Wednesday, meaning Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress finally will leave the sun of Miami and reunite with their teammates at Giants Stadium. Those two offensive stars, and defensive tackle William Joseph, have been no-shows at the voluntary offseason workout program that most NFL coaches, including Tom Coughlin, consider more a requirement than an option.

"What drives the coaches nuts," center Shaun O'Hara said, "is they are so concerned that the other team is getting a leg up on them." As a veteran, O'Hara's voice is heard in the locker room, and if he had a major problem with three starters staying away while the vast majority of the team has been working together since March 20, his opinion would carry considerable weight. Continue

Giants WR Taylor retires

Given time and hard work, Giants wide receiver Jamaar Taylor finally should be able to shed his injury woes and get on with his NFL career. That's the medical advice Taylor has been given, according to his agent, Raymond Savage. Taylor, though, is so tired of rehabbing his various maladies that he has decided to retire.

The Giants received word that Taylor has filed a letter of retirement with the NFL commissioner's office and have placed him on the reserve/retirement list, retaining his rights in case he changes his mind. Continue

Giant comeback thrills Johnson

Two years out of football is not forever, but it was long enough for Rob Johnson to consider that his career might be finished. So, Johnson enrolled in a junior college back home in southern California and aced a Spanish class, allowing him to complete a degree in history on his way to gaining a teaching certificate.

Two years is how long Johnson wondered if the ulnar collateral ligament operation to his right elbow - better known as Tommy John surgery - would ever allow him to again fire the ball up to NFL standards. Continue