Giant Football Blog

Giants' Spagnuolo knows Eagles' coaches well

When he was hired in January, Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said the thought of facing the Eagles, the only NFL team he'd ever worked for, was an exciting prospect. Now that the first meeting is arriving tonight, Spagnuolo doesn't feel any different. "I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a little [something extra], but in a good way," Spagnuolo said. "It's like playing a pickup basketball game with your brother. Sometimes you try harder to beat them than in a real [game]."

The feeling is mutual, at least as far as Spagnuolo's mentors go. Eagles coach Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, Spagnuolo's bosses for the previous eight seasons, don't really see any ratcheting up of the rivalry with their old charge running the Giants' defense. Continue

Derrick Ward goes from movie gofer to Giant attraction

Dan Fogelman has a movie debuting this Christmas called "Fred Claus" starring Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti and Kevin Spacey. The Hollywood comedic writer who penned the screenplay for the animated hit "Cars" is also working on a pilot for Fox. Yet Fogelman can't contain his enthusiasm for his latest "claim to fame" - Derrick Ward.

Long before Ward took handoffs from Eli Manning this season, he spent a couple of months as Fogelman's production assistant answering phones, writing contracts and even stocking his fridge on the Warner Brothers studio lot during a one-year sabbatical from football after dropping out of Fresno State in 2002. Continue

Not in any rush

There were plenty of reasons the Giants' pass rush was not going to hit the ground running this season and immediately put a scare into opposing quarterbacks. There was a new scheme, rust on holdout Michael Strahan, and a knee problem for Osi Umenyiora after six snaps.

Sure enough, the front four got off to a slow start in the first two games, and one of the prominent sack-masters wasn't the least bit surprised. "It takes a while; we've never, ever since I've been here, started fast as far as pass rushing goes," Umenyiora said. "I don't know why. We'd like for it to change but it just never has. I think it turned the corner last week." Continue

Brandon Jacobs will likely sit out against Eagles

Brandon Jacobs is ready to rejoin the Giants. But he probably is going to have to wait another week. Though his sprained right knee made it through two days of practice with no additional problems, the Giants are choosing the cautious approach with their injured running back. Conceding "it's not my week to jump out there," Jacobs said he won't be playing against the Philadelphia Eagles tomorrow night. His focus is on returning on Oct. 7, when the Giants play host to the Jets. Continue

Brandon Jacobs practices, Plaxico Burress will play

After participating yesterday in his first practice since spraining his right medial collateral ligament in the season opener, Brandon Jacobs said he wants to play against the Eagles on Sunday. But the Giants running back reluctantly admits it won't be his decision to make, but rather the Giants' coaching and medical staffs.

"Right now I feel good," Jacobs said. "I practiced today for the first time and no problems. I feel like I can get out on Sunday but I don't have that decision so I do what they tell me to do. "I did a little running and cutting, I got a little burst out in the field," he added. "I stopped toward the end because it got kind of stiff on me. But I did what I had to do and showed people I can go, and it is out of my hands." Continue

Giants' Spagnuolo eager to face his former team

Steve Spagnuolo doesn't have much room in his hectic schedule, but after practice yesterday, he said he's been putting in extra hours this week. The Giants' defensive coordinator will face the Eagles, with whom he spent the previous eight years. He said he'd be lying if he said this game doesn't have a little bit of a different feeling. "It's like playing a pick-up basketball game outside with your brother. Sometimes you try harder to beat them," Spagnuolo said. "I'm looking forward to it."  Continue

Jacobs optimistic, but his knee is not

Running back Brandon Jacobs (knee) is still out, but he has begun running on the side and is hopeful of practicing later this week. He also added, "I would love to play this weekend. I'm getting very close." That, however, still seems like a longshot. "It's most definitely killing me (not to play)," Jacobs said. "But I don't want to go out and ruin my opportunity to be the guy in the future. "It's a knee injury and it'll only get worse if you don't let it heal." (Daily News)

Tiki says Strahan's break OK

Tiki Barber can sympathize with Michael Strahan. Strahan sat out this summer's training camp with the Giants, claiming he was mulling retirement. Some criticized the 15-year veteran, saying he was using the issue as an excuse to avoid participating in camp in Albany. Strahan did little to stifle those rumors, reporting to the Giants six days before the start of the season, missing the entire camp and preseason.

Barber said he agrees his former teammate may have been trying to avoid two-a-days in August, but sees no fault in the defensive captain's actions. "I am sure that was part of it," said Barber, who now works for NBC. "You tell yourself, 'Do I really want to play this game?' You have this buffer period, this training camp. That was his thing. Continue

Race an issue for Giants GM Reese

Let's rewind Jerry Reese's amazing story. Not all the way back to the beginning. Not all the way back to his dirt-poor childhood in Western Tennessee, when he gutted hogs and cows and picked cotton to help his mother put food on the table for he and his seven brothers and sisters. Not all the way back to his college days at Tennessee-Martin, when the 5-9 runt of a safety twice earned All-Gulf South Conference honors and led his team in tackles as a senior.

Rewind it to a decade after that. Rewind it to 1994. Reese, who had worked his way up the coaching ladder at his alma mater, had just been promoted to assistant head coach. He was in hog heaven. Tennessee-Martin wasn't the big leagues, but it was big enough. For a 29-year-old guy who was just 13 years removed from a house with no indoor plumbing, life didn't get much better than that. Then an old friend stopped by and complicated the hell out of Reese's life. Jeremiah Davis, a former Tennessee-Martin assistant, who now was an NFL scout with the Giants, told Reese of a scouting opening with the NFC East team. "I wasn't really interested,'' Reese said. Continue

Burress visits N.C. ankle specialist

The Giants released their pre-practice injury report and atop it is WR Plaxico Burress, who won't practice today. Burress and trainer Ronnie Barnes are in Charlotte, N.C., for an appointment today with renowned foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Anderson. Burress' ankle keeps giving him problems and the hope is Anderson will give him advice on how to handle the injury. No word yet if surgery is an option but this bears watching. Continue

Eli's able to answer call

ANYONE who saw Eli Manning pound his fist to the FedEx Field grass in frustration after throwing his second interception on an ill-conceived deep ball should realize even smart quarterbacks do dumb things. Manning, though, is so sharp that at times his teammates are taken aback, and that acumen more than anything else is the reason for great optimism with this still-young Giants franchise cornerstone.

Early in the fourth quarter Sunday, trailing 17-10, the Giants faced third-and-5 on the Redskins' 11-yard line. Manning had two plays to choose from: a pass to Derrick Ward, or a draw to Ward. At the line of scrimmage, Eli pulled a Peyton, waiting, waiting, gesturing, twice going with the hitch leg kick, scanning the Washington defense for a clue. The play clock was draining and his offensive linemen were glancing backward, wondering if Manning was ever going to call for the snap. Continue

Plaxico Burress ready for Giant role at receiver

When Tiki Barber left the field for the broadcast booth, the Giants were left without their best clutch performer. They needed a leader capable of turning in huge performances in the biggest games. They needed an artist, with a flair for saving his best plays for just the right moment.

Enter Plaxico Burress. Although he may seem to be an odd choice for a leader, due to his occasional arm-flailing and sometimes indifference to team rules, the 30-year-old Burress has emerged as one on the field in the first three games. Just witness what he did last Sunday, shaking off an admittedly disappointing first half and recovering with five catches for 86 yards in the Giants' 21-point second-half comeback. Continue

Giants must play Tuck as much as possible

Tom Coughlin loves rules, right? Here's one for the old coach, the guy who everyone said couldn't learn any new tricks. It's the Tuck Rule. And it's simple: Justin Tuck has to be on the field as often as possible.

Yes, during the second half Sunday, we all saw what the Giants' defense can do when its collective head is in the game. We saw Michael Strahan forcing the Redskins to use Chris Cooley as a blocking tight end rather than a pass-catching Giants killer. We saw Osi Umenyiora slowly getting his health and his speed back, and we saw Mathias Kiwanuka, mostly as a tackle but occasionally out in space as a linebacker, play with abandon, not with hesitation. Continue

Aaron Ross may corner starting job from Corey Webster

Corey Webster may have lost his job as one of the Giants' starting cornerbacks, but Sam Madison thinks it's only a matter of time until Webster wins the job back. "Corey has some extraordinary talent," Madison said. "I just have to work with him on some little things. I think he's going to be an exceptional player in this league and I think he's going to do it for a long time. But the bottom line is: When are you going to do it?"

Webster hasn't done it yet, which is why after 15 starts over two-plus seasons (and only one interception) he was benched in the second quarter on Sunday in favor of first-round pick Aaron Ross. Tom Coughlin would not commit to Ross as the starter this Sunday against the Eagles, but he sounded like he was leaning in that direction. Continue

Game ball to Iraq vet

After Plaxico Burress scored the game-winning touchdown Sunday night, he seemed ready to unleash an emphatic spike but instead ran to the Giants sideline and presented the ball to a man sitting in a wheelchair near the team's bench.

Burress made sure the ball got to U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Greg Gadson, who on Saturday night delivered an emotional talk to the Giants at their team hotel. A double-amputee, Gadson was wounded last May in Iraq when his vehicle was hit by an explosive that cost him both of his legs. Gadson was a three-year starting linebacker at West Point, where he was a classmate (Class of 1989) of Mike Sullivan, the Giants receivers coach. Continue

Giants' defense survives Washington by Skin of teeth

Giants defensive end Justin Tuck could not bear to go out in public last week. The Giants' defense had taken a flogging from the media, and the abuse had made him a recluse. "I didn't even go out to dinner," he said. "I stayed at home and ate soup."

Thanks to a heart-stopping goal-line stand against the Redskins in the final minute that preserved the Giants' 24-17 victory yesterday, it is now safe for Tuck and his unit to show their faces in public again. It is now safe for the defensive players to return to the locker room when the media arrives. It is now safe for linebacker Antonio Pierce to retire his air horn, which he blasted last week whenever a question about the unit's poor performance came up. Continue

Plaxico's glass is half-full

As he sat on his stool at halftime, Plaxico Burress last night knew he was not getting the job done. Burress in the first half had dropped three passes, caught none, and was a prime reason the Giants trailed the Redskins 17-3 at FedEx Field.

"I came out, I had some bad plays, I don't think I ever started off a game like that," Burress said. "I came in at halftime, there was nobody more disappointed than myself. Those are just things I don't do. I felt bad because I was letting my team down. The defense was playing great and I was out there just stinking it up, basically. "It was just one thing after another. It seemed I really couldn't get a handle on the ball early. I came in, sat in that chair over there, I was telling myself, 'I got to go make plays, my team's counting on me to go out and play well.' " Continue

Thanks to defense, Giants rally for 24-17 victory

After 10 quarters of going-nowhere football, the New York Giants finally rediscovered the secret to winning in the NFL: Play defense, take control of third down, make sure Plaxico Burress catches the ball, and make a harrowing goal line stand at the end of the game. A Giants defense that had allowed 80 points in its first two games allowed only 83 yards after halftime, and stopped the Washington Redskins on four plays from first-and-goal at the 1 in the final minute to preserve a 24-17 victory Sunday. New York scored the game's final 21 points and rallied from a two-touchdown deficit.

Burress, who had three drops and no catches in the first half, had five receptions for 86 yards in the second. The ankle injury that caused him to miss two practices last week didn't seem to affect him on the game-winning score - a 33-yard catch-and-run in which he received the ball in the left flat and put a move on Carlos Rogers before outrunning Sean Taylor to the end zone with 5:32 remaining. Continue

Giants already in a must win against Redskins

The Giants last started a season 0-2 in 1996. One of the two remaining players from that team recognized the importance of winning today's game here against the Redskins right from the start of this week. "We're 0-2 and we definitely need to find a way to win," Amani Toomer said.

"It's as close to a must win as you can get in the third week of the season. It's very important for our team to get on the right track. We have a better team than we've shown on the field. If we come out and play the type of game we're capable of and not constantly hurting our own cause, we'll be a much better team." Continue

Tiki Barber, Shannon Sharpe rip Pierce's behavior on radio

Antonio Pierce joined an exclusive, but growing club on Thursday night: Giants who have been ripped by Tiki Barber. Pierce became the latest target of the ex-running back-turned-media star when Barber took shots at the Giants' linebacker for his odd behavior toward the media this week following the Giants' 35-13 loss to the Packers on Sunday. At first, Pierce refused to speak to the press for four days, a partial violation of the NFL's new media policy.

Then, when Pierce finally broke his silence on Thursday, he blew an air horn any time a reporter tried to ask him a question about a Giants defense that has given up 80 points in its first two games. Barber called that behavior "completely disrespectful" on his radio show Thursday night. Then yesterday, former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe concurred, calling Pierce's actions "childish." Continue

Plax problem

Just as Eli Manning was last weekend, more and more it’s looking as though Plaxico Burress will be a game-time decision for the Giants tomorrow in Washington.

The receiver returned to practice yesterday on a limited basis after missingthe previous three days with a right ankle injury. He’s listed as questionable, and neither Burress nor the Giants would shed any light on his status. “He was limited,” Tom Coughlin said. “He did some things. He didn’t complete the full practice, but he did a few things and we’ll see. It’s going to be one of those deals depending on how he feels on game day.” Continue

Antonio Pierce, Michael Strahan get testy with media

Antonio Pierce has no answers for the awful play of the Giants' defense, so he let an air horn do his talking yesterday. The linebacker and defensive leader continually cut short questions from a Ch.5 reporter with the annoying blast of an air horn that was hidden under his sweatshirt in his first appearance in the locker room since before Sunday's loss to the Packers.

The calculated stunt was designed to deflect criticism of his unit's historically bad play by playing the clown. He thought he was being clever, but just like the Giants' first two blowout losses, it wasn't very funny. Three times, Pierce interrupted questions with a blast until Reischea Canidate, the Ch. 5 reporter, said, "That's not necessary." "I want to talk about the Redskins. I don't want to talk about our defense," Pierce said, as if the two were mutually exclusive. And Pierce wasn't the only Giant who got defensive about the defense. Continue

Shockey: 0-2 Giants not panicking

Jeremy Shockey was at a loss. Not for words, of course. The outspoken tight end, who committed a drive-killing delay of game penalty during Sunday's loss to the Packers and dropped a couple of passes, was asked yesterday if he had been able to discern anything positive from the first two games."I'm more of a negative kind of guy," Shockey said. "I don't like to lose. This league's very hard. I hate to lose. I hate dropping balls. I always like to do as well as I can." Continue

Jim Fassel returns Tom Coughlin's rip

It took nearly four years, but Jim Fassel finally fired back at Tom Coughlin for insisting at his first press conference as the Giants' head coach that the injuries suffered under the Fassel regime were "a cancer" and "as much a mental thing as anything else." "I took offense to it and I know players had to take offense to it and medical staff had to take offense to it," Fassel, the Giants coach from 1997-2003, said on WFAN yesterday morning. "When you go in as a coach, you don't try to say something in the past about somebody. Because the whole thing that came out about me running a country club came from those opening comments. And that's offensive to me."

Coughlin's comments came during his introductory press conference on Jan. 7, 2004, during which he vowed to fix all the problems that had occurred in Fassel's last season with the Giants. The most infamous comment was about the 12 Giants who ended the 2003 season on injured reserve (three others sat out the last few games). "I'm aware of the injury factor, the number of IRs, which is a cancer, let's face it," Coughlin said. "It's something that has to be corrected. It's a mental thing, I believe, as much as anything else." Continue

Seriously, folks

The first utterance yesterday out of Tom Coughlin's mouth consisted of one word. "Serious," he stated, when asked about the mindset of the Giants.

Serious also would be an apt characterization of the Giants' condition as they lug their 0-2 record into Washington to face the 2-0 Redskins on Sunday. The health of the Giants certainly cannot be described as stable, but they are not yet critical, either. Still, sickly is no way to go through a season and that's all the Giants have to go by after allowing 80 points in two losses. Continue

Giants bring in ex-Patriot DB Artrell Hawkins for tryout

Apparently unsatisfied with the play of their secondary, the Giants brought in veteran CB/S Artrell Hawkins for a visit on Monday.

Hawkins was cut by the Patriots in mid-August, in part because of an undisclosed injury that he said "I've managed before." He started 12 games at safety for New England last season. Before joining the Pats (2005-06), he spent seven years playing cornerback for the Bengals (1998-2003) and Panthers (2004). The 30-year-old Hawkins (5-10, 195) has made 92 starts and has 11 interceptions. Continue

New defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo not to blame, yet

Steve Spagnuolo was the cult hero of the summer, as far as the Giants were concerned. He was the savior of the defense, and its biggest reason for hope. The little defensive coordinator with the fiery attitude was going to bring some much-needed aggressiveness to a beleaguered unit. He was going to revive the lost-cause secondary by letting it play press coverage and the man-to-man scheme the players prefer. Continue

Wildly erratic Shockey is still a keeper

So often in the Giants' locker room, one hears this phrase: "That's just Shockey being Shockey." Jeremy Shockey can be a bit of a puzzler at times. He's in his sixth season now and at each of the last few training camps, stories have been written (in this paper as well as others) that say Shockey has matured, that he's made efforts to keep himself from being in the limelight - OK, the gossip pages - for his off-field antics rather than for his play.

But his play has become almost as much of a puzzle as his personality. Shockey is capable of great moments, exceptional catches and runs after catches - a touchdown reception in Seattle in 2005 when he had his collarbone broken, the extra half-dozen yards he picked up after his helmet came off in the playoff game in Philly last season - and also capable of some truly dumb ones. Continue

Giants defense has been terrible first two games

While viewing the horror film that was the Giants' defensive game tape yesterday morning, Tom Coughlin didn't exactly leave the room screaming. He watched intently as his defense got ripped to shreds again, and somehow managed to find a few a positive things.

"Well, the first- and second-down run defense obviously got better during the game," said the straight-faced coach, one day after the Giants fell to 0-2 with a 35-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers. "They ran to our right side and we did do a better job there as the game progressed. I think there's continuous technical advancement in trying to get better in those areas." Continue

Big Blue seek giant fix

Tom Coughlin said he is not worried about the morale of his team, because everyone around the Giants is being very open and honest about the reasons why they are 0-2. That may be fine for now, but soon enough, if the Giants keep losing Coughlin might be powerless to do anything about a deterioration in the morale of the fans and, more importantly, the owners.

Nothing but the stench of two rotten defeats hovers over the Giants, because nothing substantial ever gets decided two games into a long season. Still, anyone who has seen how egregiously the Giants have butchered the basics of defense and been blown out of two games must realize this is no normal waiting game when it comes to cashing out on a year gone bad. Continue

Tom Coughlin's job may soon be in doubt with slow start

This year's Tom Coughlin Watch can officially start now that the Giants are off to their first 0-2 start in more than 10 years and the defense has given up the second-most points in the first two games of the season in their 83-year history. It's only mid-September, but the playoffs aren't looking so good.

This is not the way for Coughlin to go about saving his job. It's never good when two games into the season the coach is already saying everybody is "embarrassed."

He was handed a mandate by ownership when he was given a modest one-year extension in January to eliminate the chaos that ruined last season and get the Giants back into the playoffs. He has changed his ways, has lightened up, become more player-friendly and has yet to explode, which may be the most astounding development of the young season. Continue

No defense for Big Blue mess

The Giants all know the tradition, because it stares them in the face every day. A shrine to Lawrence Taylor, with his gold nameplate (#56, 1981-93) sits between the lockers of Steve Smith and Craig Dahl. Harry Carson's nameplate (#53, 1976-88) rests above Dahl's corner locker by the entrance to the locker room. George Martin's nameplate (#75, 1975-88) is not far to the left of where Michael Strahan dresses.

There is no defense for the New York Giants today. Who would have thought Eli Manning would become the least of the franchise's problems this quickly? Continue

Brett Favre rallies Packers past Giants, 35-13

Brett Favre picked a near-perfect way to become the winningest quarterback in NFL history. Favre hit his first 14 passes of the second half and threw three touchdown passes to rally the Green Bay Packers to a 35-13 victory over Eli Manning and the New York Giants on Sunday. The victory was the 149th of Favre's 17-year career and gave him one more than Hall of Famer John Elway. It also gave the Packers their first 2-0 start since they won their first three in 2001.

The loss was the second straight for the undisciplined and error-prone Giants, something that hasn't happened at the start of a season since 1996 - the year Dan Reeves got fired. Tom Coughlin, who came into the season under pressure to do more than make the playoffs, may now be really under the gun. Continue

Eli Manning likely to start for Giants vs. Packers

When Eli Manning injured his right shoulder last Sunday night in Dallas and went right back in to complete 4-of-4 passes including a perfect, 10-yard touchdown strike, his backup quarterback, Jared Lorenzen, was amazed by his toughness. Imagine, then, how amazed he's going to be today.

Because it looks like, just seven days after suffering a second-degree sprain of the AC joint in his right shoulder, Manning will take the field at some point in the Giants' home opener against the Green Bay Packers and might even start his 43rd consecutive game (including playoffs). His presence undoubtedly will be a huge lift to his teammates, still reeling from their opening-night loss to the Cowboys, and his display of toughness should ignite the Giants Stadium crowd. Continue

Healthy or not, Here they come

The second week of the season is not supposed to feel as harrowing as it does for the Giants.

It is not that they dropped their opener, because exactly half of the teams in the NFL did just that. The Giants lost more than a game in Dallas, as halfback Brandon Jacobs won't suit up in the Giants Stadium opener against the Packers. Quarterback Eli Manning and defensive end Osi Umenyiora also left the Dallas game, and although both appear set to give it a go today, there's no telling how long they'll last or how effective they'll be. If you drew up a list of the five most indispensable players on the roster, those three would be on the list. Continue

Eli Manning passes test, may play against Packers

Eli Manning returned to practice yesterday and took a huge step toward starting tomorrow's game. In fact, a lot of people in the Giants organization will be surprised if he doesn't.

Multiple team sources and several of Manning's teammates said yesterday they expect him to start in the Giants' home opener against the Green Bay Packers, although the final decision belongs to Tom Coughlin and it likely won't be made until just before kickoff. It also will depend on how Manning's injured right shoulder feels tomorrow morning. Yesterday, however, all the news about the quarterback seemed to be good. Continue

Suddenly, Ward is Giants' feature back

Although the Giants' quarterback situation for Sunday is undetermined, there is no uncertainty about to whom the quarterback of choice will be handing off. Derrick Ward replaced the injured Brandon Jacobs last week at Dallas and led the Giants with 89 yards on 13 carries. He added four catches for 27 yards and a TD and will start for Jacobs, who is expected to miss three to five weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Ward, a seventh-round pick by the Jets in 2004, was signed off the Jets' practice squad that October. He was a backup running back and special- teamer in 2005, appearing in 14 games. The compact 5-11, 228-pound Ward did not have a rushing attempt in 2006 but found himself in the spotlight Sunday. Continue

Manning to play

WFAN in NY is reporting that the NFL Network has reported that Eli will start on Sunday. I think that might be called hearsay but I am not a lawyer.

Eli Manning's 'light' tosses gives Giants heavy choice

Optimists can take what Eli Manning said yesterday and believe his shoulder is improving enough to give him a real chance of playing Sunday. But ... not so fast. As backup Jared Lorenzen continues his crash course on the Packers, Manning works only on the side, doing what offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride calls "light throwing" and making one think that such an early return may be a bit too ambitious.

The bottom line is there is still no definitive word on Manning's availability against the Packers, still no physical evidence he can play and still no clearance from the medical staff. Continue

Jared's ready to carry the J-Load

Eli Manning didn't practice or take snaps or test his injured right shoulder yesterday, still listed as day to day and possibly a game-day decision for Sunday against the Packers. If he can't play, Jared Lorenzen will - the 6-foot-4, 285-pound lefty known as "J-Load" getting his first NFL start. "You just wait and see how he feels," Lorenzen said of Manning. "This is his deal. If he can play at all, I firmly believe he's going to get out there. He's one of the toughest guys I know. "I told him, 'If you know, I'd like to know something.' He said, 'I'll tell you when I know.' "

Coach Tom Coughlin said he doesn't have to determine a starter until 90 minutes before kickoff - and could take all of that time. "That's being a backup," Lorenzen said. "That's the way it is. That's the life I've chosen, the life I'm happy with. If I can go out and start, it'd be great." Continue

Giant Defense

To all of you Giants fans, please do not overreact about the defense. It is a new coordinator working with limited linebacker and secondary talent. It is going to take time for the defense to gel. It is imperative that Jerry Reese improves the talent level on defense through free agency and the draft. I do not know if it will improve fast enough for Tom Coughlin. Maybe Reese is getting Tom's seat ready for John Fox. Stay tuned.

A lefty turn

Eli Manning is in denial. "He refuses to even think he is hurt," Tom Coughlin said yesterday. If mind over matter counts for anything, Manning will make his 43rd consecutive start Sunday, lining up at quarterback for the Giants against the Packers at Giants Stadium. He is preparing to play, though he hasn't cranked up his arm to see if his injured right shoulder can withstand the pain.

Instead of Manning at the helm during practice, it was Jared Lorenzen who worked with the starting offense in his first real extended work with the first unit in his three years on the scene. Despite an intense desire to play, there's a good chance Manning's right shoulder will not be healed sufficiently and it will be up to Lorenzen to try to help find a way to navigate the Giants to their first victory of the season. Continue

Umenyiora, Jacobs swear they'll be ready soon

Osi Umenyiora and Brandon Jacobs both read the reports that they'd be sidelined for at least a month, but both said yesterday that they expect to be back much sooner than that. In fact, Umenyiora, who suffered an irritation of the lateral meniscus in his left knee on Sunday night - an injury that a source close to the defensive end said could keep him out up to four weeks - wouldn't rule out returning for the Giants' home opener this Sunday.

"I'm not going to completely rule it out, but I'm not going to say I am definitely going to be back either," said Umenyiora, who will be reevaluated today by Dr. Russell Warren, the Giants' team physician. "It's somewhere in between." Tom Coughlin said Umenyiora remains day-to-day, but he added, "I have to tell you, I'm encouraged by (his progress)." Continue

Second opinion says Eli Manning can play with pain

A second opinion on Eli Manning's shoulder confirmed the initial diagnosis: If he can take the pain, he can play. Dr. James Andrews, the noted orthopedic surgeon from Birmingham, Ala., concurred with the Giants' doctors yesterday that the quarterback has nothing more than a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. He reviewed Manning's MRI results yesterday and confirmed no structural damage.

All the doctors seem to agree that Manning will not risk further damage by playing, even as early as this Sunday against the Packers. The only remaining issues are how much it hurts and how much pain he can take. Continue

Fat chance

The level of uncertainty swirling around the Giants is remarkable, considering only one game has come off the schedule and the early returns (offense good, defense lousy) were not wholly unexpected. There’s cause for concern whenever the starting quarterback goes down to injury, but in this case substitute panic for alarm and you get the general idea.

Eli Manning’s bruised right shoulder makes it unlikely he’ll play in Sunday’s game against Green Bay in a home opener that suddenly takes on immense urgency. With a healthy Manning showing the form and maturity he did last weekend in Dallas and merely a semblance of a cohesive defense, the Giants were a good bet to handle the Packers. Substitute Jared Lorenzen for Manning and all bets are off as the Giants stare down the barrel of an inglorious 0-2 start. Continue

William Joseph placed on IR, could spell end to Giants' career

William Joseph's disappointing career with the Giants may be over. Joseph, the Giants' first-round pick in 2003, was placed on season-ending injured reserve yesterday with a back injury he apparently suffered in the hours before the Giants' loss in Dallas Sunday night. He was a late addition to the Giants' inactive list, and the team later announced he had back spasms.

In four previous seasons with the Giants, the 28-year-old defensive tackle failed to make an impact worthy of the 25th overall pick. He has seven career sacks, never more than two in a season, bouncing in and out of the starting lineup and between tackle and end. Continue

Manning has sprain; Jacobs, Umenyiora more serious

Eli manning had a feeling that the injury to his shoulder injury wouldn't turn out to be serious. It looks like he was right. But his teammates weren't as lucky.

While Manning holds out hope that he'll be able to play in the Giants' home opener against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday despite a sprained right shoulder, defensive end Osi Umenyiora and running back Brandon Jacobs will be lost for awhile. Jacobs, according to a league source, will miss 3-5 weeks with a sprained MCL in his right knee. Umenyiora has what the Giants are calling irritation to the lateral meniscus in his left knee and, according to a source, is expected to be out a month. Continue

Giants' season rests on Eli Manning's shoulder

Eli Manning was able to brush his teeth, open the door to his car and turn the key on the ignition yesterday, all with his right hand. But he said he decided it would not be a good idea to lift a bed, move a couch, carry anything over his head or throw a football. And there is no indication when he will throw a football, which is what anybody really cares about at the moment. "They really put it in my hands," he said. "It just all depends on how I feel."

It's all about Manning's tolerance for the pain, stiffness and soreness. Whenever a righthanded quarterback falls to the turf on his right shoulder, soon followed by a 257-pound linebacker falling on top of him, the fear is days can turn into weeks and weeks can turn into a month or more. Continue

ESPN says Manning is out a month

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has a slightly separated shoulder which is expected to keep him out at least a month, sources told ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Monday.

Doctors told the team that Manning does not need surgery, but the quarterback will get a second opinion from orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Manning and coach Tom Coughlin denied that the quarterback had a separated shoulder. Continue

MRI results on Giants QB Eli Manning reveal (mostly) good news

The MRI results on Eli Manning are in and the news was about as good as the Giants could have hoped for. He suffered only a sprained right shoulder, according to a league source. No structural damage was detected. Manning's status for the Giants' game against the Green Bay Packers is uncertain, but the hope is that if he does miss any time it will only be a week or two at most.

The length of his absence may all depend Manning's tolerance for pain and he how he progresses as the week goes along. He will likely be very limited in practice this week, and his status for the Packers game is not likely to be known until right before kickoff. (NY Daily News)

Eli Manning's injury ruins good performance

Eli Manning relied on his left hand to tighten the knot on his tie and then he carefully put his right arm into the sleeve of his sports jacket as he stood in front of his locker late last night at Texas Stadium.

He goes for an MRI today on his right shoulder. It was bruised when Cowboys rookie Anthony Spencer threw him to the turf and Manning landed on his shoulder on a failed two-point conversion attempt midway through the fourth quarter of the Giants' wild 45-35 season-opening loss. It forced him out of the game for the Giants' final drive with the game out of reach. Continue

Defense truly rests for Giants

The quarterback's right shoulder is a concern, because the quarterback's shoulder will always be a concern when it leaves a game bruised, when it departs a city a little less healthy than when it arrived. So the Giants will hold their breath with Eli Manning this week, they'll see how the wing responds to ice and to treatment and they'll hope he'll be at full strength next week, when the Packers come to Giants Stadium for the home opener. As well as Manning played last night against the Cowboys, it's enough to make you wonder what the season holds in store for him.

But as poorly as the Giants' defense played last night, it's enough to make you want to shrug your shoulders - even bruised shoulders - and wonder something else: What good will an ascendant Eli Manning be to the Giants if he can throw for 312 yards and four touchdowns and put 35 points on the board on the road . . . and still lose by 10? "The Cowboys," defensive end Justin Tuck said, "definitely put a kink in our plans."  Continue

Eli Manning and Giants pounded by Cowboys

The Giants didn't just lose a game last night. They very nearly lost their season. As it is, they will be holding their breath today awaiting the results on three critical MRIs - one on Osi Umenyiora's knee, another on Brandon Jacobs' knee and the big one on Eli Manning's right shoulder. All three players were casualties last night, in the Giants' otherwise thrilling, season-opening, 45-35 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

They lost Umenyiora on the first defensive series and Jacobs early in the second quarter. But the near-killer came with 7:20 left when, on a failed two-point conversion, Manning was slammed to the ground by rookie defensive end Anthony Spencer. Continue

Jints can rustle up some respect

If the Giants ever can find a way to escape Texas Stadium tonight with a victory over the Cowboys, perceptions will change in a heartbeat.

A team expected to struggle all season instantly would blossom into a team owning a coveted road victory against one of the power clubs in the conference. All the background noise of what Tiki Barber said and how long Michael Strahan stayed away and how tenuous Tom Coughlin's hold on his job is gets swept away, at least for a week. A loss furthers the popular notion that the Giants are in for a long, hard season. Continue

Real Tom Coughlin not always so cheerful

All it will take tonight is Tom Coughlin chasing after Mathias Kiwanuka and getting in his face if he doesn't finish off a sack of Tony Romo, or Coughlin's veins popping out of his neck screaming at an official or a couple of condescending answers at his post-game news conference. Then we'll know the real Tom Coughlin is back after an imposter took over his mind and body this summer.

The Giants open against the Cowboys and the focus tonight and all season will be on Tiki Barber's favorite coach, who he claims all but picked him up in a limo and drove him right out of football and into the television studio. If the Giants have a bad season, Coughlin could be sitting next to Barber next year. He goes into the season with a slim margin for error. Continue

Strahan: I'm ready to play

He knows getting hit and knocked down and double-teamed and smacked around is completely different than what he has put his body through the past six weeks, but Michael Strahan yesterday declared himself ready to play in tomorrow night's season-opener in Dallas.

"I feel good enough right now, yes," Strahan said. Officially, the Giants will wait until today to reveal the plan, but there's no way Strahan won't be on the field at Texas Stadium, lined up at left defensive end. He'll probably even start the game and then share the snaps with Justin Tuck. Continue

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Giants back new defensive coordinator Spagnuolo

When coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's defense took the field for the first time about a month ago, the players felt prepared. They knew the scheme, they knew where to be. But the results were awful. It was only the preseason, but the Giants looked off. The Panthers marched down the field and easily scored on their first series.

It could have become a lot worse than that. Spagnuolo had been positive and instructive in his sessions with the players. If he'd gotten too negative after the poor showing against the Panthers, they could have tuned him out, the way many of them tuned out former defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, whom many Giants thought was condescending and far too negative. Perhaps worse, the starters could have put the blame on Spagnuolo, the untested coordinator. Continue

Amani's back to help out Eli

We all need someone who's got our back when times get difficult. It could be a wife or husband, a best friend, or maybe someone you would least expect. Eli Manning has Amani Toomer.

The media gathered around Toomer on Wednesday wanting to hear his thoughts about his first game back after missing the second half of last season with a torn ACL in his left knee. Toomer turns 33 the day before the Giants open their 2007 season Sunday night in Dallas, approaching ancient for a wide receiver. And when you're returning from major knee surgery, the first live contact is an elephant that must be cleared. Continue

Coughlin's all ears

Tom Coughlin in his three previous seasons as Giants coach insisted the lines of communication between himself and his players were always open. Yet, somewhere along the way, the message too often failed to connect. "Tom said to us his door has been open for a long time," punter Jeff Feagles said, "and nobody walked through it, basically."

Sensing the problem, Coughlin for the first time in his coaching career has assembled a 10-player Leadership Council, designed to create greater harmony within the locker room and better dialogue between Coughlin and his team. Continue

Brandon Jacobs rushes in with Giant boast

The Giants are not the favorites to win the NFC East this season. Brandon Jacobs says they should be. "We're the team to beat," the confident running back said yesterday.

Jacobs, who will be making his first start in place of the retired Tiki Barber on Sunday, said one of the main reasons why the opener is "super important" is because "We don't like Dallas." He nearly provided some more bulletin-board material by vowing to "go to Dallas this Sunday and whoop their (butts)," but he quickly amended that statement. "I just think we'll go play well. I'll say that," Jacobs said. "We're going to play well and hope we can come out with a victory." Continue

Pierce: Cowboys not the team to beat in east

If the Giants are to take seriously the expectations of the outside football world looking in at them, they might as well not even start their season Sunday night in Dallas. The predictions from nearly every NFL-related publication has the Giants finishing no higher than third in the four-team NFC East.

Heading into the opener, linebacker Antonio Pierce yesterday was asked if he saw the first opponent for the Giants - the rival Cowboys - as the team to beat in the division. “I see the Giants,” Pierce immediately shot back. Continue

Two-faced Tiki

Here’s the thing Tiki Barber has yet to understand during his exciting new life as the all-seeing, all-knowing man behind the microphone at NBC: Eventually you have to answer for the things you say, the things you write and the observations you make.

This is what Tiki Barber reportedly has to say in his forthcoming book “Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond”: “If Tom Coughlin had not remained as head coach of the Giants, I might still be in a Giants uniform. [Coughlin] robbed me of what had been one of the most important things I had in my life, which was the joy I felt playing football.