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« July 2006 | Main | September 2006 »
It is one of those statements uttered as a matter of fact when, in reality, it is pure conjecture. Educated conjecture, perhaps, but nothing more. It goes like this: If anything were to happen to Eli Manning, the Giants season would capsize and sink like a rock. Jared Lorenzen, who should take umbrage to that remark, actually does not. "It's natural," he said. "Whenever you have the starting quarterback get hurt you're going to say, 'There it goes.' " Continue
Eli Manning will make a cameo appearance tonight. Maybe Tiki Barber and Michael Strahan will get a play or two, too. The rest of the starters won't see more than 10 or 12 plays. Then again, tonight's preseason finale against the New England Patriots at Giants Stadium isn't about them.
With the Giants returning almost everybody from last year's NFC East-winning team, this game is about the other end of the roster. Only one starting spot is up for grabs - nose tackle - and rookie Barry Cofield seems to have secured that. So what Tom Coughlin will be watching most is the bottom third of his depth chart, knowing he has just two more days to trim his 75-man roster down to 53. Continue
An intense burst of rain, resembling an extended drum roll, pounded the curved roof of the Giants' practice bubble yesterday. As if on cue, Eli Manning, wearing a distinctive red jersey, dropped back in the pocket, looked short and lofted a sweet spiral about 40 yards down the left sideline toward a streaking Tim Carter.Inches ahead of a defender, Carter gathered in the throw and crossed the goal line.
In a mini-celebration, Carter, who is becoming another threat in a crew of playmakers, flung the ball high off the side of the bubble, caught it again and trotted back toward the huddle. Before long, Manning had zipped a pass to Plaxico Burress on the right side, connected over the middle with tight end Jeremy Shockey and found Amani Toomer open in a gap downfield. Continue
Tom Coughlin spoke often during his first two seasons about the "restoration of Giants pride" and returning the franchise to the playoffs. Last year that mission was accomplished. Tiki Barber says it wasn't enough.
Those goals, Barber said, were set way too low by the coaching staff, which is why he believes the Giants were pounded, 23-0, by Carolina in the first round of last year's playoffs. He said his 11-5 team relaxed after winning the NFC East for the first time since 2000. Continue
Opening up a season with a rookie anchoring down a key spot on the defensive line is not the usual course of action for a team considered to be a Super Bowl contender. That is the way the Giants are headed, though, with Barry Cofield making his claim for the starting nose tackle job.
Most players dream of this, even fourth-round draft picks out of Northwestern, which is what former Giants GM George Young used to call "a reading and writing school" as opposed to a football factory. Cofield had visions of grandeur, only not this quickly. Continue
E.J. Underwood was one of the best kept secrets at Giants training camp - a rookie free agent who was almost certainly going to make the team. That's why Tom Coughlin sounded so down yesterday after he reluctantly put the cornerback on season-ending injured reserve.
"He had a really good camp," Coughlin said. "We were kind of closed-mouthed about how well he had been playing and how much information he was able to handle. He had been playing in those nickel packages and dime packages on the inside. In reality, he learned a couple of positions for us, plus special teams." Continue
After Carlos Emmons returned to the practice field Sunday for the first time since early in the month, Tom Coughlin cautioned that the status of the oft-injured linebacker wouldn't be known until Emmons reported to work yesterday morning. Now it's known, and it's just what Coughlin and the Giants have been waiting to hear since Emmons suffered a pinched nerve in his neck during training camp in Albany on Aug. 1: He declared himself 100% healthy.
Emmons, who is supposed to start at weakside linebacker for Big Blue's highly touted defense, has not played in a preseason game, but said he needs only to "get a good sweat in" during Thursday's finale against the Patriots at the Meadowlands. He sees no reason why he shouldn't be fully prepared to help the Giants try to shut down Peyton Manning in the season opener on Sept. 10. Continue
Before Sinorice Moss can even think about getting into a game, the rookie has to figure out a way to get onto the practice field. "I'd like to have him practicing," head coach Tom Coughlin said when asked when the wide receiver might be able to play. "That's the first thing."
Moss is out for Thursday's preseason finale against the Patriots, still bothered by the quad injury that hampered him throughout the preseason. The 5-foot-8 second-round pick is trying to stay positive, but it hasn't been easy. Continue
The Giants got closer to determining who would replace Eli Manning in the event of an injury when they apparently cut veteran backup Rob Johnson yesterday. The team did not announce any moves - rosters have to be trimmed down to 75 by tomorrow - but Johnson's nameplate was not above his locker and he was not at practice.
"I am not going to comment on the cuts until they become cuts," Tom Coughlin said. "It's not even a done deal at this time." That leaves Tim Hasselbeck and Jared Lorenzen as the remaining candidates to back up Manning at quarterback. And based on recent events, it seems Lorenzen - the second-year lefthander out of Kentucky - has the inside track. Continue
Carlos Emmons, who has been bothered by a pinched nerve since Aug. 1, returned to practice yesterday. "I feel great," the linebacker said before practice at Giants Stadium. "I'm looking forward to getting back out there. If everything goes right, I will be. Why rush it for a preseason game?" Tom Coughlin liked what he saw from Emmons, but is curious to see how his body reacts to being back on the field. Continue
At first, Jared Lorenzen was a novelty - a 300-pound quarterback with a couple of funny nicknames. J-Load. The Hefty Lefty. The Pillsbury Throwboy. Lorenzen admits he's heard, and laughed at, them all. Yet two years after the Giants nearly took back his XXXL jersey when he mysteriously was a no-show for his first NFL camp, Lorenzen no longer is a joke to the Giants.
He may look like an offensive lineman wearing a quarterback's number, but his left arm is a cannon. And the way he's playing, he might be Eli Manning's backup before long. "Jared has played well when he's had the opportunity to play," Tom Coughlin said yesterday. "And I think he certainly has earned that consideration." Continue
It was not a performance that spurred any of the Giants who play on the offensive side of the ball to sing their own praises. Not after Eli Manning failed to get the passing game untracked and not after he had great difficulty navigating into the end zone. Yet immediately following the Giants' 13-7 preseason victory over the Jets Friday night, linebacker LaVar Arrington could not contain himself when assessing the state of his new team.
"Talent never really won Super Bowls, it's well-coached [teams] and guys who want it," Arrington said. "You got hungry guys who have talent, you're ahead of the game, and it's a strong possibility that's what we have." Continue
Rookie Barry Cofield is in the running for the Giants' starting nose tackle spot, and he did not hurt his cause with his performance Friday night in a 13-7 win over the Jets. Cofield started and, according to Tom Coughlin, "got better as he went along."
Cofield is a solidly built 6-3 and 303 pounder from Northwestern who admitted his very first series was not up to par until he got his feet under him and settled down. He finished with two tackles. Continue
Jared Lorenzen got more than a quarter and a half last night to convince Tom Coughlin that he is capable of being the Giants backup quarterback and, given the nature of the competition, probably did enough to do just that. Lorenzen replaced Eli Manning with 8:37 left in the third quarter of the Giants 13-7 preseason victory over the Jets and showed the field presence that Coughlin wants to see out of him. Continue
Just 15 days before opening night, the Giants' offense was in the middle of a not-ready-for-prime-time performance. But all it took was one look around the huddle for Plaxico Burress to know everything would be all right. "We've got a lot of weapons on this offense," Burress said. "All we had to do was settle down and make plays, and when we do that, we can pretty much do whatever we want to do."
Maybe he's right, but last night it was a surprising struggle in the Giants' 13-7 preseason win over the Jets at the Meadowlands. Against a rebuilding Jets defense, the Giants managed only one penalty-aided touchdown and a 39-yard field goal out of eight first-team drives. And their first four drives went nowhere at all. Continue
When the Giants traveled to New England to face the Patriots in last year's preseason finale, Bill Belichick decided he'd risk only 38 players in uniform. Of those 38, the only one remotely close to a starter was the kicker.
Tom Coughlin didn't go to that extreme as far as protecting his marquee players, but it was close. That's what preseason game No. 4 has evolved - or devolved - into, a glorified scrimmage featuring players who will soon be cut or assume their roles as backups. The prevailing attitude is it's a necessary evil; get in, get out, get moving toward the start of the real season. Continue
Amani Toomer sounded playful and serious at the same time when he said one goal tonight is to remind the Jets their annual preseason tussle with the Giants is played in a building called Giants Stadium.
Sure, the Jets refer to this game - and all of their home games - as being played at the Meadowlands, despite the big, bold letters stating the true name of the stadium. Tonight's game is a Jets home game, meaning the green bunting will be covering anything blue and the Jets get to position themselves on the north (home) sideline and play in front of their own season ticket holders. The Giants will wear their road whites. Continue
The first week of training camp wasn't a good one for the Giants' revamped secondary. From the very first play, it was being torched by the offense. None of the players - new or old - looked very good. But when the tide turned, it turned quickly, and a strange thing started to happen. The Giants' secondary was coming up with interceptions in bunches. That's something the old secondary was never able to do.
"It's a better secondary," cornerback Corey Webster said. "And I just think it's important for all of us to step up because everybody wants to prove themselves. Nobody wants to have a bad feeling about the secondary. We don't want to be the weak link. So we're going to be fighting, doing whatever it takes so we can be one of the strongest parts of our defense." Continue
Mathias Kiwanuka gets another chance tonight to validate the work of Ernie Accorsi and the rest of the Giants' front office. The first-round pick out of Boston College has been a terror at defensive end his first two games, with 2 1/2 sacks and an ease at reaching the quarterback that is making fans believers in adding another end to an already outstanding group. However, the real validation of Accorsi and Co. may come from a third-round pick in the 2005 draft. Continue
This will be remembered as the golden era for running backs in New York, the all-time leading rushers for the Giants and Jets playing at the same time, setting standards for their teams that will be difficult for any future generation to reach.
But, with the Jets facing the Giants tomorrow night, it's just about over on their sideline. Curtis Martin is likely done, his bone-on-bone knee problem expected to end his career. And on the other side, Tiki Barber, who has so many other things he wants to do, plans on retiring after the 2007 season. "No more than two more seasons, maybe three on the outside," Barber said as the Giants finished up training camp. "It's within two, I believe." Continue
At the start of Giants training camp, defensive coordinator Tim Lewis offered up a fairly detailed wish-list of what he wanted to see in the month ahead. Asked, specifically, if Corey Webster in his second season was ready to emerge as a top-flight cornerback, Lewis' response was immediate and succinct.
"He better be," Lewis said. "He's tall, he's fast, he's explosive, he's quick, instinctive. When we rank defensive backs, there's a list of criteria we're looking for and he's got all of those." Continue
With one final practice, cars packed up and running, the Giants yesterday bid adieu to training camp, coming out of the month-long stay relatively unscathed in terms of health. The Giants were able to endure one- and two-a-day practice sessions without having any player go down with an injury that unquestionably will force him out of the Sept. 10 regular-season opener against the Colts.
The most serious injury for a starting player is center Shaun O'Hara's strained knee ligaments, but he is expected to be able to recover in time to face Indianapolis. Linebacker Carlos Emmons has been sidelined since he sustained a pinched nerve in his neck on Aug. 1 and his status is undetermined. Emmons was sent back early to New York to get his neck checked out at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Continue
All those missed practices and games in Tim Carter's first four seasons never took a toll on his ego. Others may have questioned whether he would ever stay healthy enough to make it as a receiver. He never doubted he would eventually be one of the best.
"Despite the challenges I've had as far as injuries, I never gave up on myself," Carter said. "I'm not too worried about what other people are thinking. I know I'm going to come up on top and be the dominant receiver that everyone around me knows I can be." Continue
Jared Lorenzen will take his shot at the Giants' backup quarterback job when he replaces Eli Manning sometime in the second half of Friday night's preseason game against the Jets. The 6-4, 285-pound Lorenzen has had a terrific training camp in his second season with the Giants. Known more in his first NFL season for his weight than for his ability, he's surprised many by mounting a challenge to Tim Hasselbeck and Rob Johnson for the backup job.
Manning and Lorenzen will be the only two quarterbacks to have appeared in all three preseason games for the Giants. Lorenzen has completed seven of 12 passes for 58 yards and in Baltimore led the Giants on a game-winning field-goal drive. Hasselbeck will follow Lorenzen in the game, if there is time, Tom Coughlin said. Johnson is not expected to play. Asked if Lorenzen had earned the chance to be the backup on Friday, Coughlin said, "It's his turn." Continue
News flash: David Diehl practiced last night. He's expected to do so again today. At a time when every ache and pain is documented, when players take a day off with this strain and miss a portion of a workout with that muscle pull, Diehl's name never appears on the wounded list.
As training camp wound down, Diehl's presence on the field was not a story. Not ever. He came, he worked, and he's set to leave today when the Giants - luxury SUVs and Mercedes sedans gassed and ready - speed off the University at Albany campus this afternoon after a late-morning practice and a quick lunch. Diehl will join the caravan after another summer of perfect attendance. Continue
When the Giants chose Mathias Kiwanuka in the first round of the draft in April, even a few defensive players raised their eyebrows at the choice. With Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck on the roster, what was the point of taking another defensive end? "Of course, when that comes across you wonder what they were thinking and what was the purpose behind it," linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "But obviously it looks like they made the right decision. The guy can flat-out play."
All it took was one training camp and two preseason games for the players to see what the Giants' scouts and front office saw in the 6-5, 262-pounder out of Boston College. His speed and tenacity make him difficult to block. And he is already way ahead of where most of his new teammates expected him to be. Continue
When Giants veteran cornerback Sam Madison strained his hamstring last week, he anticipated he'd be nudged - gently or not-so-gently - to get back on the field as quickly as possible. Madison, though, missed the preseason game with the Chiefs on Thursday and has slowly returned to practice.
One day, he was kept out because the fields were slick from rain. More recently, he participated in certain drills and pulled out when more running was required. "They're kind of like babying me right now," Madison said yesterday. "I feel I can go out there and do things, but they're giving me that pacifier." Continue
The Giants chart every one of the hundreds of Eli Manning passes and break down the success or failure of each throw into one of four quadrants on the field. If, for example, Manning is missing on too many throws to his left middle, that means he's not properly opening up his body for a more effective motion.
Manning yesterday was asked about the data, about what the quadrant study revealed, but after a moment or two actually appeared amused by the analysis. "You all are looking into it more than I've been," he said, smiling. "It's very simple, really." Continue
A few weeks ago, Plaxico Burress lamented that he wished he had a better relationship with Tom Coughlin, and added that he might if only Coughlin would learn to lighten up. Yesterday, Coughlin said that if Burress - or any player - wants a relationship, "the door's open. Come on in. Sit down."
Addressing his tenuous relationship with his star receiver during a wide-ranging, 39-minute interview with beat writers, Coughlin insisted, "I'm just as approachable as anybody else for a good story or a laugh or anything like that. I'm no different than anybody else that way." He also said he does not purposely try to keep his players at arm's length. And even if his style bothers some, his intentions are only to win. Continue
Linebacker LaVar Arrington had to leave the Giants' practice on Monday because of swelling in one of his knees. Coach Tom Coughlin did not say which knee was bothering the three-time Pro Bowl linebacker, who signed with the Giants in the spring, but Arrington missed the opening game of the preseason because of problems with his right knee. He made a short appearance against the Chiefs on Thursday. His status for Friday's game against the Jets is uncertain.
Arrington, who was signed for $49 million, has had two surgeries on the knee in recent years. He was not available for comment after practice.Coughlin had said earlier in the day that Arrington impressed him last year playing for the Redskins, providing a physical presence and playing with a swagger that he liked. Continue
The longer Carlos Emmons stands on the sidelines watching practice, the more his spot on the roster looks as if it might be in jeopardy. But the 32-year-old linebacker doesn't expect to be standing and watching for very long.
Emmons, out since early August with a pinched nerve in his neck, said yesterday he believes he's just days away from returning to practice. He also said he absolutely will be ready for the start of the Giants' season opener on Sept. 10. "There's not a chance I won't be ready for that," he said. "That's not even in the picture, not being ready." Continue
Following his first game action in 2 1/2 years after elbow surgery, Rob Johnson was hard on himself in the aftermath of last Friday's 17-0 preseason victory over the Chiefs. Yesterday, Tom Coughlin was not as harsh.
"You saw the athleticism, you saw all of the maneuverability, you saw the competitive nature," Coughlin said. "You saw him make the completion on fourth down to keep the drive going. He thought he had a touchdown on the ball that was tipped on third down, down close. It's inconsistent, but he did gain a lot by playing. He hadn't played in a long time. It definitely helped him." Continue
The word "soft" didn't sit well with Fred Robbins when Tom Coughlin tossed it at the Giants' defensive line, because it was pretty clear it was thrown in the direction of the defensive tackles. And it took only two plays into Thursday night's preseason game for Robbins to make his feelings clear.
That's when the 6-4, 325-pounder stuffed Chiefs running back Larry Johnson for a four-yard loss. And that was the first signal that the 29-year-old Robbins wasn't ready to give up his job without a fight. Continue
Carlos Emmons is in his 11th NFL training camp. Losing his job, losing his roster spot - those aren't things on the veteran linebacker's radar. "I never worry about that," he said.But Emmons, who missed practice yesterday as he continues to recover from a neck burner, is not exempt from his coach's wrath for missing valuable training camp time. The Giants needed all linebacker hands on deck last season, right from the opening of camp. Last season, Barrett Green was where Emmons is now, a veteran penciled into the starting weak-side linebacker spot but unable to stay healthy for long. Continue
Rookie receiver Sinorice Moss said his strained left quad is getting better, and that he hopes to be back at Giants practice before camp breaks Wednesday afternoon. How likely that is, though, is unclear. Out since July 29, Moss hasn't been cleared to begin running yet. All he's been able to do is get treatment and "stare at my books every night and make sure I pay attention in the meetings."
Moss said yesterday he first suffered the injury while running the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis in late February, but "I just didn't expect it to come back up again." Continue
When anyone asks E.J. Underwood where he was last year, he says, "in a coalmining town in the mid dle of nowhere in eastern Kentucky." More precisely, he was at Pikeville College, which in football terms might as well be considered exile. "It was out in the mid dle of nowhere," Under wood said yesterday, "and that was where I felt I needed to be."
At present, Under wood is out of isolation and making a strong bid to stick with the Giants as a rookie cornerback. He would be the greatest longshot to survive on the roster if his background were taken at face value. Prior to Pikeville, Underwood was a decorated high school star in the Cincinnati area and he played three years at Ohio State, at times starting as a freshman on the Buckeyes' 2002 National Champion ship team. Continue
Tom Coughlin ticked off the names of a few younger players he liked from Thursday's 17-0 win over the Chiefs: Michael Jennings, the speedy punt returner and wide receiver; Mike Jemison, last on the running back depth chart; and Guy Whimper, a rookie tackle who shook off a sore hip to play well late.
Those are not players who will have a huge impact on the 2006 Giants.One young player who can, Brandon Jacobs, has been showing Coughlin some new maturity over the first two preseason games. And it's not just about barreling over opponents with the ball in his hands. Continue
Giants center Shaun O'Hara suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee Thursday night that could put his status for the Giants' regular-season opener in doubt. O'Hara, 29, was injured late in the first quarter of the Giants' 17-0 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, and yesterday Tom Coughlin listed him as "doubtful" for Friday's game against the Jets.
Asked specifically about the season opener, Coughlin was noncommittal. "I'm not going to go that far, just yet," he said. "From what I understand he should be back by then, hopefully before." Continue
All the Giants' offensive pieces were back in place last night, and that's all it took for them to look like their old selves again. With Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey back in the lineup, the Giants' first-team offense lit up the Kansas City Chiefs, scoring two touchdowns on its three first-half possessions. It was a vast improvement over the Giants' shaky start a week ago and sparked a 17-0 preseason win, spoiling Herm Edwards' return to the Meadowlands.
From the moment the Giants opened the game with a 20-yard end-around to receiver Tim Carter, it was clear their offense had already found its groove. Eli Manning completed 11 of his 14 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, Barber ran five times for 22 yards, and Shockey (one catch, 10 yards), Plaxico Burress (2-22) and Amani Toomer (2-14, TD) combined for five catches and 46 yards. Continue
William Joseph and Fred Robbins started again last night at the two defensive tackle spots for the Giants, knowing they needed to greatly improve on last week's poor showing in Baltimore. Tom Coughlin made it clear he was not satisfied with the play of the interior of the defensive line in last week's 17-16 victory over the Ravens, and demanded a better performance against the Chiefs. Continue
Michael Strahan looks good. It's hard to look bad behind the wheel of a Bentley or an Aston Martin, the cars Strahan has been driving to training camp. On the practice field, it's harder to tell.
At 34, Strahan doesn't need to kill himself on every play, and Tom Coughlin held him out of last Friday's preseason opener in Baltimore for preservation. Strahan will play tonight against the Chiefs, but even 20 or so plays may give little indication of how prepared the seven-time Pro Bowler is for his 14th season. Continue
There's this vision that keeps dancing around the head of Plaxico Burress, an exciting vision he's anxious to transport from his mind to the football field. What the towering receiver envisions is dominance from the Giants offense, a systematic bludgeoning of the opposing defense, a forceful display he'd like to see unveiled tonight in a preseason meeting with the Chiefs at Giants Stadium.
"For the first time, all 11 of our guys will be on the football field," Burress said. "We can run it, we can throw it, we can do all the things we want to do; we just got to focus on what we want to do. We can pitch and catch and run and do all exciting things, but we got to go do it and stop talking about it. Continue
One of the anticipated moves when Giants training camp started was that before long, rookie Sinorice Moss would supplant Tim Carter as the No. 3 receiver. That hasn't happened. Moss strained a quadriceps muscle and hasn't practiced since July 29. Oft-injured Carter fought through tendinitis in his knee and has been a fixture on the field, attracting praise from Tom Coughlin for his durability.
"Tim has hung in there," Coughlin said. "He's been on the field. The guys that are out practicing and playing, they might not be a stellar player every day, but they are out there." Continue
Eleven years ago, Rob Johnson was a promising, young USC star with a golden arm and what Tom Coughlin described as "that look in his eye." He was smart, talented, athletic and had his whole career in front of him. Tonight at Giants Stadium, the 33-year-old QB will be taking one last shot at prolonging that career.
Sometime in the second quarter of tonight's preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Johnson will lead the Giant offense and take his shot at the backup quarterback job. It will be his first game action since Dec. 22, 2003 when he was with the Oakland Raiders. A few months later he underwent Tommy John elbow surgery to repair that once-golden arm. Continue
Plaxico Burress came to the Giants last year and prepared himself physically for a great season. He had one of the best of his six NFL seasons and one of the best ever for a Giants receiver. Mentally, he was a bit unprepared for Tom Coughlin, and the laid-back Burress and the intense Coughlin never meshed well. Burress was fined for lateness, benched for a quarter in San Diego, then took a powder for the exit meeting with his coach after the playoff loss to the Panthers.
The 6-5, 225-pound Burress knows now what to expect, so he's prepared himself physically and mentally for this season. He admitted to "breaking down a little" at the end of last season after starting with five touchdown catches in six games, so he tried to build stamina this offseason for the seasonlong grind of double-teams. Continue
When Chris Snee went down with an injury to his right knee that at first appeared fairly serious, teammates expressed concern but predicted a quick recovery, based mainly on Snee's toughness. Sure enough, a week later, he was back on the field.
"That's part of the game of football, especially being a lineman where you're going to get nicked up and you have to be able to play through certain things," Snee said yesterday. He expects to play tomorrow night, making his preseason debut against the Chiefs at Giants Stadium. That would keep him on schedule to reach the stardom - as much as any right guard can ascend to such heights - the entire organization anticipates for him. Continue
The Giants offense that looked so out of sync last Friday in Baltimore was missing several key components. But all of them are expected to be in the lineup tomorrow night. RB Tiki Barber, TE Jeremy Shockey (concussion) and G Chris Snee (knee) are all expected to play at Giants Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs. And they should be joined by WR Amani Toomer, who had been nursing a strained hamstring at camp this week. Continue
Joe Morris, the legendary Giants running back, says Tiki Barber isn't getting too old to carry the load for Big Blue anymore. But Morris did say that when the Giants begin to transition to a new running back, something they'll eventually need to do, that Brandon Jacobs is the man for the job.
"Tiki needs a lot of work; that's what makes him most effective," Morris said yesterday at the ESPN Zone in Times Square, shrugging off the idea that Barber may be getting too old to be the Big Blue workhorse. Continue
LB Antonio Pierce (ankle), LT Luke Petitgout (back) and CB Sam Madison (hamstring) joined the list of injured Giants for the afternoon workout. Madison said his hamstring pull "happens to me every year." DE Osi Umenyiora (hamstring), WR David Tyree (ankle), G Rich Seubert (toe), WR Amani Toomer (hamstring) and WR Sinorice Moss (quad) missed both sessions. Tom Coughlin is hoping Toomer will return today.. . . DE Michael Strahan did not do much in the morning. With Umenyiora out, Adrian Awasom and Justin Tuck were the first team DEs. . . . QB Rob Johnson is scheduled to follow Eli Manning into the game Thursday night, but Coughlin would not say whether Jared Lorenzen or Tim Hasselbeck would come in third. (Daily News)
Tiki Barber will play Thursday night against the Chiefs. So will Michael Strahan. Those two veteran stars were given the night off last week in Baltimore for the preseason opener. It was coach Tom Coughlin's way of easing the physical load on older players.
That's the juggling act every NFL coach must consider as training camp wears on and four preseason games fill the calendar before the start of the regular season. Do the veterans play? If so, how much? Injuries are inevitable during any games; can they be avoided in the preseason? Continue
After their "soft" performance Friday night, it's possible that at least one of the Giants' starting defensive tackles on opening night will be someone who is not yet on the roster. Rookie Barry Cofield hopes the Giants look inside first.
"That's what I think deep inside: Why can't I step up and be that guy?" the fourth-round pick said yesterday. "But I understand the coaches when they want a guy with experience. I haven't been through a season this long in all my life, so to put all that on my shoulders, I can understand their apprehension. But I'm trying to show them I can do it." Continue
Two days after what Tom Coughlin called a "soft" performance in Baltimore by the defensive line, yesterday's morning meeting wasn't a pleasant one for DE Osi Umenyiora. "Obviously, I'm the worst defensive end in all of football after hearing the comments that were made in there," he said. "At this point in my career I feel like I know when I made a mistake. There's nothing a coach can say to me that I haven't said to myself 10 times already. As soon as I mess up, I know. So you don't have to do that to me." (Daily News)
Chris Snee backed up his positive feeling about his injured right knee yesterday, returning to practice after missing only one day of camp and Friday's preseason game with the Ravens. The starting guard worked into a little more than half the team drills.
"I'm definitely happy it wasn't anything serious or long term," he said. Snee might not be quite ready for Thursday's game with the Chiefs, but missing less practice time is what Tom Coughlin wants.The same is true for LB Carlos Emmons, who returned to limited practice work after missing a week with a neck burner. "He's smart. He knows how to play," Coughlin said. "Hopefully, he can put himself in positions now where he won't have physical contact right away, and I think it becomes a day-to-day thing." Continue
He'd be strolling around Boston, a striking figure at 6-5 and 260 pounds, tall and statuesque. Surely, Mathias Kiwanuka looked like an athlete. "My whole entire career at B.C., I'd be walking around the street and people would be like, 'Oh, what are you, a receiver?' " Kiwanuka said yesterday. "People always think defensive ends are bigger than what they are."
No, he's not a receiver. He's a rookie defensive end for the Giants, a first-round draft pick, selected despite a roster already rich with Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, a pair of Pro Bowl defensive ends, and the presence of Justin Tuck, a promising second-year player at that very same position. Continue
There are moments when William Joseph is a force in the middle of the Giants' defensive line. He has been a dominant run-stuffer and he has put pressure on quarterbacks. Far too often, though, he has just disappered.
That is the mystery of the enigmatic Joseph, one of the defensive tackles the Giants are desperately hoping will respond to Tom Coughlin's criticisim that the defensive line was "soft" in Friday's preseason opener in Baltimore. "He's a good player," defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. "He's got all the talent in the world. He's an explosive player. All he's got to do is put it together and he'll be good." Continue
For the first time in an NFL game, Rich Seubert played center Friday night in Baltimore. "He was nervous about it," quarterback Tim Hasselbeck said. "You can tell. When he vomited before the game, usually that's a pretty good giveaway."
Of course, when Seubert was lined up at guard, he regularly got sick before games. After starting at right guard in place of injured Chris Snee, Seubert moved to center - a new position for him - in the second quarter. There were no incidents on the exchange with Hasselbeck. Continue
Tom Coughlin said at the start of training camp that Fred Robbins was the best option for the vacant nose tackle spot. But after Friday night's preseason opener against the Ravens and the 5.3 yards per rush allowed by the Giants, Coughlin is keeping his options open for the position.
Coughlin called the interior of the first-unit defensive line "soft" after the Giants' 17-16 win and again pulled no punches during a conference call yesterday, saying that Robbins and fellow tackle William Joseph were pushed around too easily by the Ravens. Continue
Jared Lorenzen admitted that his first drive Friday night "scared me a little bit." After all, fumbling on the third play isn't exactly the best way to start. But the hefty lefty (4-for-8, 34 yards) quickly regained his composure and directed an impressive 16-play, 62-yard drive to the game-winning field goal. Not bad for a 25-year-old third-string quarterback who only started practicing the two-minute drill a few days before.
"In practice we go over it every day, but it's either Eli (Manning) or Tim (Hasselbeck) or Rob (Johnson) doing it. Three days ago was my first time doing it. But we've learned about time management, what they're doing, what the defense is trying to do to you. Coach (Tom) Coughlin just drills it into your head. So when I did get out there it wasn't like I was running around with my head cut off." "I thought he was in control of the situation," Coughlin said. "He knew what we wanted to accomplish and he was very aware of the clock." (Daily News)
It was a simple question and it elicited a logical response. What, exactly, does Antonio Pierce want to see from the Giants' defense? Pierce, the thinking-man's middle linebacker, never hesitated. "Not guys getting 5 yards a pop on the run," he said. That is precisely what Pierce saw when the Giants opened their preseason Friday night with a 17-16 victory over the Ravens in Baltimore.
Throughout this past offseason, while the Giants were accumulating players renowned for their pass-rush ability, Pierce made sure to offer a disclaimer whenever talk of dominant defenses arose. We can have as many gaudy sack-artists as we can find, Pierce said in a variety of different ways, but if we don't suffocate the opposing running game it won't do a darn bit of good. Continue
In what stands as his unofficial NFL debut with the Giants, rookie Mathias Kiwanuka made a strong first impression in last night's 17-16 preseason victory over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. On three straight plays in the third quarter, Kiwanuka applied heavy pressure. He sacked Kyle Boller once, got heavy pressure on him on the next play and then teamed with Tyson Smith for another half-sack.
"It felt real good to finally hit another quarterback," said Kiwanuka, the Giants first-round draft pick from Boston College. "It's been a long time since I've been in that position. It felt real good. It's something I've been trained to do. Now it's my living, it's how I make my life. I literally live to sack quarterbacks now." Continue
Tom Coughlin was able to find two good things about last night's preseason opener. The first was that the Giants pulled out a last-second win. The second was that his starters left plenty of things for him to work on at camp during the next few weeks.
Thanks to a 57-yard punt return for a touchdown by Michael Jennings and a 29-yard field goal by Jay Feely as time expired, the Giants beat the Baltimore Ravens, 17-16. But the result had little to do with the starters on either side of the ball. The offense, led by quarterback Eli Manning (4-for-7, 74 yards), looked out of sync against the Ravens' first-team defense. And the defense looked awful against the Ravens' first-team offense and worse, according to Coughlin, it was "soft" up front. Continue
There was no live scrimmage. No other team was brought in for one of those joint-session workouts. Heck, there hasn't even been much as far as full-contact goal-line drills. No one says the Giants aren't getting their work in during training camp at the University of Albany but, two weeks in, they need something more.
"We need to play," coach Tom Coughlin said. No kidding. There are only so many 7-on-7 passing drills to run and tackling dummies to hit. Enough is enough. The Giants need to up the tempo and raise the stakes, and both will be accomplished tonight when they open up their preseason schedule against the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Continue
Nobody made a bigger first impression than Michael Jennings when the Giants reported to camp. Tonight, the Giants will see if he can make a similar impression on the field. For Jennings, tonight's exhibition opener against the Baltimore Ravens is "the opportunity of a lifetime." The 5-11 former Florida State track star, who never played college football, expects to see plenty of action after the starters finish off their quarter. And he has his eyes focused directly on the Giants' sixth wide receiver spot.
"It's a dream come true," the 26-year-old Jennings said. "You only get a certain amount of chances in life. Sometimes you get the ball and you've just got to make the shot. I'm going to just take the shot, let it go." Continue
After Tiki Barber gets his hands on the ball a few times, after Brandon Jacobs gets to rumble some, Giants fans who invest time watching tonight's preseason opener against the Ravens will get to see a whole lot of James Sims running with the football.
Who? Yes, that's often what these summer games are all about. Sims is an undrafted rookie free agent from Washington. He is a converted safety who last year led the Huskies with 495 rushing yards. With Derrick Ward out with a broken foot, everyone moves up on the depth chart and Ward's misfortune is Sims' reward, as he'll get a chance to open some eyes running against the Ravens' second- and third-string defense at M&T Bank Stadium. Continue
There are two disparate ways Will Demps can view what he left behind in Baltimore. He can curse the Ravens for dumping him after four solid seasons or he can thank them for turning on the ignition of his career.
When he arrives tomorrow night at M&T Bank Stadium for his debut with the Giants, Demps knows he will be hit with a twinge of nostalgia and some strange vibes when the Ravens' defense takes the field without him. He's also fairly certain he will feel happy about where he started and even happier about where he's landed. Continue
The biggest concern the Giants had when they signed LaVar Arrington in late April wasn't his reputation as a freelancer on defense. They worried his surgically repaired right knee would be trouble. Two weeks into camp, it's starting to look like they might have been right.
But the 28-year-old Arrington says not to worry, even though the swelling in his right knee has kept him out of the last four days of practice and will keep him out of tomorrow night's first preseason game. He called the swelling "temporary" and insisted "it wasn't that serious." He also said the Giants' trainers are being cautious in keeping him off the field. Continue
Tim Hasselbeck and Jared Lorenzen will get the first shots at winning the backup quarterback jobs behind Eli Manning. Rob Johnson's Giants debut will have to wait another week. That was the decision announced by Tom Coughlin yesterday, when he revealed his quarterback rotation for tomorrow night's preseason opener in Baltimore. Eli Manning will start, but is unlikely to play more than a quarter. Hasselbeck and then Lorenzen will come in next.
The 33-year-old Johnson, who played for Coughlin in Jacksonville and is attempting to come back from Tommy John surgery, will get his first shot at Giants Stadium on Aug.17 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Continue
Jeremy Shockey yesterday called the way NFL teams run training camps a "debacle" and insists the rugged two-a-day practices serve mainly to get players worn down and injured. Shockey, back to action on a limited basis after suffering a concussion last week, will not be cleared to play in Friday's preseason opener in Baltimore.
The injury came when Shockey lunged to reach an Eli Manning pass, was hit with a glancing blow by safety Will Demps and then crashed head-first to the grass. Shockey maintains that today's players do not need to be put through the rigors that are a part of the annual summer football ritual. Continue
In his record-setting 2005 season, Tiki Barber touched the ball a staggering 427 times, yet his greatest contribution, his single most significant moment, quite possibly was a play in which the ball was not anywhere near his clutches.
It was Barber who, on a thrilling Oct. 23 afternoon at Giants Stadium, correctly deciphered where the Denver pressure was coming from. It was Barber who diagnosed that safety John Lynch would be charging up the middle and linebacker Ian Gold was set to rocket in from the edge. It was Barber who made the determination to move outside and to his right, intent on impeding the onrushing Gold. It was Barber who got the leverage to stand Gold up and push him back, enabling Eli Manning to backpedal just enough to buy the time for his game-winning touchdown toss to Amani Toomer. Continue
There was a time when Rich Seubert looked like he was going to be a fixture on the Giants' offensive line for years. It's hard to believe that was three years ago. But Friday night in Baltimore, the 27-year-old Seubert will be back in the starting lineup, this time at right guard in place of the injured Chris Snee.
Seubert has been back in action for more than a year, but he's mostly been a reserve during his comeback from the frightening leg injury he suffered on Oct. 19, 2003. "I'm just holding Chris' spot down for him," Seubert said. "He'll be back before we know it. Chris is a tough kid." Continue
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