Giant Football Blog

Carson's blitz for ex-players

You won't find any obscenity-laced comments from Harry Carson in this space. No sound bites that will find their way to your nearest newspaper or "SportsCenter." No threats to break someone's neck.But in his own quiet and even-tempered way, Carson is doing as much to help the plight of former NFL players as all the protagonists in the mudslinging smackdown that the subject has spawned in recent months.

While former Bears coach Mike Ditka, NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw and Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure trade threats and grab headlines about who's to blame for the struggles of many former players, Carson chooses to remain above the fray and address the situation the way he once did as a Hall of Fame linebacker with the Giants: by speaking softly, by working hard, by being a leader. Continue

NY Giants Training Camp to Start July 28th

For the second consecutive year, Giants training camp will feature eight evening practices. The first night practice is slated for Tuesday, July 31, at 6:10 p.m. All eight sessions are preceded by a morning workout at 8:40 a.m. The other day-night workouts are scheduled for August 2, 4, 6, 8, 14, 16 and 22. Training camp opens with morning and afternoon practices on July 28 and 29.

As has been the routine in previous camps, the Giants will not practice on the days following preseason games. On the day before a preseason game, the team will hold a one-hour jog-thru session. The Giants will practice 21 days on campus, including 11 double sessions. Continue

Arrington hurt in cycle crash

Lavar Arrington suffered broken bones in his arm and leg after crashing his motorcycle on a highway ramp in Maryland yesterday.

The former Giants linebacker was hospitalized for nonlife-threatening injuries and reportedly was in stable condition at a Maryland hospital. According to ESPN.com, Arrington, who was wearing a helmet, suffered a broken bone in his arm and three broken bones in his leg after losing control of the motorcycle and hitting a guardrail. Police issued two citations to Arrington, for the accident and for not having a proper motorcycle license, and said alcohol was not involved in the crash, which did not involve other vehicles. Continue

'Standup' guy Kiwanuka is eager to learn nuances of LB

Before Mathias Kiwanuka could answer the first question of the interview, Giants defensive line coach Mike Waufle stepped in with one command. "Just make sure you tell 'em you're a linebacker-slash-defensive end," Waufle said with a pat on the back of his former pupil. "I know that, coach," Kiwanuka said with a laugh. "Just call me 'Slash.'"

Then, with a straight face, Kiwanuka explained how he feels like a linebacker and nothing else for the first time in his football career. From his first workout at his new position in March until Friday, when he and the rest of the Giants wrapped up minicamp and their off-season program, Kiwanuka said there's no comparison. "It's not even close," he said. "The way things open up once you start understanding stuff ... it's like when you're young and you're trying to learn algebra. You're staring at all these numbers and letters and you have no idea what they mean. Continue

Giants defense in step under new coordinator

It's too early to tell exactly what personality the Giants' defense will adopt under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, but it's clear players are hopeful the atmosphere is more upbeat than it was last season under Tim Lewis. For the first three years of Tom Coughlin's regime, Lewis ran the defense. Lewis, fired after last season, now is the Panthers' defensive backs coach; Spagnuolo was hired by the Giants after serving eight years as an Eagles assistant.

"He picked his spots, he wasn't just all negative," defensive end Osi Umenyiora said of Lewis during the minicamp that ended yesterday. "I liked Tim. A lot of guys didn't like him. I'm not going to say I was in love with Tim Lewis, but I didn't have the disdain for him that a lot of people obviously did." Mostly, players in the secondary had issues with Lewis for his schemes (zones vs. press coverage) and for what they believe was a tendency toward negative reinforcement. Spagnuolo never has been a coordinator in the NFL and thus has no body of work to fall back on, but early returns are positive. Continue

Changes leave offense in the dark

If you're looking for a sense of where the Giants are after they ended their three-day minicamp, here's a telling snapshot: Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo showed his players a video of all the things they did right over the five practices and was extremely enthused by the unit's ability to pick up the first-year coordinator's system.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, speaking to reporters a few minutes before Spagnuolo on Friday, just sounded concerned: about Eli Manning's need to be consistent, about what direction the running game will go without Tiki Barber, about who would play fullback or left tackle and about how much Manning's top targets, Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress, will be able to grasp at the start of training camp after they both missed much of the video-room time. Continue

Strahan: I'm the best

After missing half of last season with a right foot sprain, Michael Strahan doesn't believe he will come back and be his same old self this season. He believes he'll be better.

"I feel like I can have my best year this year," Strahan said during the Giants' three-day minicamp that concludes today. "I feel great. When I hurt my pec (in 2004), I came back, made the Pro Bowl, played great, and I wasn't anywhere near as strong as I am now and probably wasn't in the shape I'm in now. And I have two years more experience added under my belt." Continue

'D' embraces new attitude

It seems like a simple thing, maybe even an insult to make professionals do in practice. But one of the first things new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo told his players has become a small symbol of how much has changed already for a Giants defense that didn't live up to expectations the past few seasons.

When the football hits the ground for any reason before the play is called, all 11 defenders have to run to it. So it can look a bit silly to onlookers when Sam Madison bats away a pass, scurries to his feet and runs away with the ball, followed by 10 other guys in the dark-blue jerseys the defense wears. Continue

Coughlin: Shut up & play!

It is a message that Tom Coughlin tried to deliver late last season, but his players never really got it. So yesterday, in the relative calmness of a spring minicamp, he delivered it again. Enough with all the talking. Just shut up and play.

"I think basically we talk too much," Coughlin said after the first practice of the Giants' mandatory three-day minicamp. "We need to play the game and let our performance do the talking for us. We are in the media capital of the world, I understand that. But performance is the key. "We need to get back to playing the game and let our play do the talking." As Coughlin remembers all too well, the Giants did little of that last year as they endured a season of back-page headlines and soap opera-like drama. It led to a perception of chaos in the locker room during a meandering 8-8 season, and nearly helped push Coughlin right out of a job. Continue

Jim's season is Finn-ished

The Giants this offseason tried to upgrade their fullback position but were unsuccessful. Now, they truly have to locate a replacement for Jim Finn, who yesterday was placed on the season-ending injured reserve list following shoulder surgery. Finn this past Monday underwent surgery to repair a torn right labrum. It is the third time his right shoulder has been operated on and he also suffers from arthritis in that shoulder. Continue

Giants work before break

For the next three days, Giants young and old, rookie and veteran, will gather for a mandatory mini-camp that serves as the final tuneup before the July 27 start of training camp in Albany. After this camp, it's vacation time for the Giants.

"A lot of times we're not allowed to bring our playbook with us," Eli Manning said of the five-week respite. "I know the offense and what we're doing. You think about it, you reflect, you come in here and watch film and watch some of these practices. Maybe a week before, you kind of go back and review it, just get your mind fresh with some new things you're doing."

Manning has been one of the many regulars at the offseason workout program at Giants Stadium, while two of his most important offensive targets, Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress, have been scarce. Every healthy player is expected to participate in this camp - after all, attendance is no longer voluntary. Continue

Armstead comes back to retire

He hasn't played a down in nearly four years, so a return to the field wasn't a reality. Jessie Armstead will do the next best thing today. Newsday has learned that Armstead will sign with the Giants so he can retire as a member of the team for whom he played nine of his 12 NFL seasons."It's a perfect opportunity," Armstead told Newsday. "You see certain guys get to do this, like Emmitt Smith with Dallas. You always remember Emmitt as a Cowboy, and that's what I wanted to do with the Giants."

Armstead was an eighth-round pick out of Miami in 1993 and played outside linebacker with a chip on his shoulder through nine Giants seasons, five consecutive Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl. That 34-7 loss to the Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV stands as "the best time and worst time" of his career. Continue

Where is the love?

Harry Carson had not played a game in nearly two decades when he stood at the podium at his Hall of Fame induction in Canton last summer and displayed the leadership skills that made him one of the all-time great Giants.

He used the powerful forum to bring the plight of the retired player from whispers into the public consciousness. He pleaded for the league and the union not to forget retired players in need, not to leave behind those who had helped construct the foundation of what is now a $7 billion-a-year industry. "If we made the league what it is, you have to take better care of your own," Carson said that day. Continue

Shockey tackles workout critics

Jeremy Shockey returned to the Giants' offseason program this week and said it's "a slap in the face" when people question his motives for working out on his own in Miami. The unrepentant tight end joined his teammates on Thursday for the sixth of their nine Organized Team Activity (OTA) sessions. Yesterday, in what has become an annual ritual, he defended his decision to skip the voluntary workout program that began in March by saying he gets a better workout on his own.

"If you don't like me because I don't work out here or you think I'm not doing this to help the team, so be it," Shockey said. "I (work out in Miami) because it's on natural surfaces, it's not below 40 degrees, and I work with college kids that really want to make it to the next level, (instead of) the people in this locker room that have to be here to receive a $25,000 bonus or something." Continue

Piller joins Giants

Losing veteran depth on their offensive line with the expected move of Rich Seubert into the starting left guard spot, the NY Giants yesterday took a step to reclaim some of that experience with the signing of guard Zach Piller.

With eight years in the NFL - all with the Titans - Piller has played in 87 games, with 58 starts. He managed to get on the field for only three starts last season before suffering an ankle injury and spent the bulk of the year on injured reserve. The 6-foot-5, 315-pounder was waived by the Titans on Feb. 21. Continue

Smith grows on Moss

The day after the NFL Draft, Sinorice Moss picked up the phone and called to congratulate Steve Smith, which is interesting, considering the selection of Smith can be viewed as a real threat to Moss.

After all, Smith is a smallish receiver from a big-time program (USC) selected by the Giants in the second round. Moss is an even smaller receiver from a major program (Miami) also taken by the Giants in the second round, one year earlier. One could argue that the Giants felt greater urgency to grab up Smith at least partly because Moss endured an injury-ravaged rookie year.

“I don’t think that was a reflection of me at all, them drafting Steve,” Moss said yesterday after an Organized Team Activity practice. “They’re looking more for the long run, not about that I didn’t perform last year.” Continue

No-shows get pass from Eli

The Giants held their third team workout of the spring yesterday, but they are still waiting for Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress to participate in their first.

Both arrived in New Jersey several weeks ago, played a few days of catch with quarterback Eli Manning and promised to stay for even more. But neither has participated in any of the first three days of organized team activities. Even though the drills are voluntary, 84 of the 88 players on the roster attended yesterday's session. Shockey, Burress, defensive end Michael Strahan and fullback Jim Finn were the only ones who did not. Continue