Giant Football Blog

Jacobs cooks Rice

Brandon Jacobs remained defiant, refusing to let his latest detractor ruffle his feathers.

Even if it is his childhood hero, Jerry Rice.

A day after the Hall of Fame wide receiver called out Jacobs for being "soft" and further questioned the running back's toughness in an interview with Newsday, Jacobs maintained he's still good at what he does.

"Every week I think I can come out and set a tone if the chance is given," said the 6-4, 264-pound running back, who will face the 49ers' top-ranked run defense in Sunday's NFC Championship Game. "I'm not afraid of them, I'm not afraid of anybody on their team, I'm not afraid of anybody in their organization. I'm ready to play football."

Jacobs apparently isn't afraid of Rice, either.

He initially took the high road when responding to the former 49er's criticisms, but Jacobs -- who said he grew up a Niners fan -- ultimately couldn't resist taking a shot of his own. "I give him a lot of credit for the game being the way it is today. I have nothing negative to say about Jerry," he said of Rice, now an ESPN analyst. "If he feels that way, he feels that way."

But before stepping away from the lectern, he added: "I bet you he won't tackle me." (continue)

 

Jacobs stays consistent with feelings towards fans

Brandon Jacobs is sticking by his words. In an radio interview on WFAN Wednesday morning, Jacobs said he doesn't regret commenting about Giants fans following Sunday's loss to the Eagles.

"I don’t take nothing back I said about the fans," Jacobs said. "I don’t think I said anything bad about them."

"We go out there and we play hard and do whatever we got to do. It’s up to them whether or not that they want to boo. And that’s what they do. So that’s what we got cheering for us. No, I don’t take anything back I said about not caring because at the end of the day, we’re out there as a team and it seems like we are playing at home and we’re out there by ourselves as well versus playing on the road. We just gotta stick together as a team and whatever comes with the territory as far as boos and that’s what they wanna do, that’s what they do." (continue)

Jacobs running for his job

Brandon Jacobs knows what he is up against. He knows that he will face the NFL’s best run defense on Sunday, a San Francisco 49ers unit that allows just 70.8 yards on the ground. He knows that linebacker Patrick Willis will be lying in wait for him on nearly every play. And he knows he will likely be shouldering the Giants’ rushing load alone.

And Jacobs can’t wait.

“I want to get out there to get my opportunity to do my best to help this team win,” he said Thursday.

For Jacobs, the game could serve as another chance to prove that he is still a full-time tailback. The 29-year-old has spent most of the last two years as Ahmad Bradshaw’s backup, and late last month, he complained about his lack of touches. But with Bradshaw still fighting to return from a fractured right foot, Jacobs once again finds himself in the spotlight. He made his first start of the season in last week’s win over the Patriots, racking up 100 total yards.

Jacobs knows he needs more performances such as that one, especially since he says he wants to play three more years. The Giants have him signed through 2012, but they could very easily cut him in March, before he receives his $500,000 roster bonus. That’s a fact that Jacobs is well aware of, and he has vowed to “play hard until they ax me.” (continue)

Somebody tell Brandon Jacobs that Bradshaw is better than him

Flanked by pom-pom-waving students, Brandon Jacobs walked down the aisle of the auditorium at Brooklyn’s Essence school this morning to the screeching cheers of a roomful of middle-schoolers.

It was a far different reception than the one he received from the fans at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

For the first time in his career, the Giants’ running back was repeatedly booed as he fumbled a handoff exchange with Eli Manning, dropped a pass and found very little running room as he picked up only 10 yards on four carries. All of that, of course, came after he said last week he wasn't getting as much work as he expected.

“As long as the players I'm playing (with), my teammates, my brothers (understand), that's what I care about,” Jacobs said today after speaking to, and participating in a few exercises with, the students at the NFL’s “Play 60” event. “I don't care about being booed, I don't care about anybody else, to be honest with you. I don't care if they cheer for me another day. They could boo me every day. (continue)

 

Brandon Jacobs has some more complaining

Brandon Jacobs walked around the Giants locker room today in disguise, perhaps just trying to hide in plain sight as he wore a jabbowackeez mask over his face and a hood over his head. Maybe it was because he knew all eyes would be on him after his comments to Men's Fitness magizine.

In the interview he bemoaned his lack of carries and predicted that he would not be with the Giants after his contract is over. His contract was restructured this summer with a $500,000 roster bonus coming in March that could quickly determine if he will be with the team next year to earn a $4.4 million base salary.

He did not back away from those comments.

"It all depends on how this year ends," he said after practice. "How this year ends will make that decision clear or not clear." (continue)

 

Brandon Jacobs restructures contract for Giants

Brandon Jacobs was open to a reasonable restructuring of his contract.

Jacobs got it, and he accepted it.

The veteran running back agreed to rework his 2010 salary, someone informed of the transaction said,confirming the original report by the Daily News. The move gives the Giants a bit of flexibility as they attempt to re-sign Ahmad Bradshaw.

The person informed of the restructuring, who requested anonymity because the terms were not to be discussed publicly, said Jacobs took a hit to his $4.65-million base salary but can earn back all of that money through incentives. The incentives don't count against the Giants' salary cap until they're reached. (continue)

 

Will Jacobs restructure for Bradshaw?

Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs spent last season splitting carries. If they hope to do so this year, they may have to split some money.

While the Giants pursue Bradshaw, an unrestricted free agent coming off a well-timed career season, they have spent time the last two days talking to Jacobs about restructuring his contract. Jacobs has two years remaining and is due $4.65 million in base salary in 2011. He has said in the past he would be agreeable to a slight reduction in that number.

The Giants might need it if they hope to retain Bradshaw. With DeAngelo Williamsagreeing to return to the Panthers Wednesday on a deal that will reportedly pay him $21 million in guaranteed money, the price tag for a 1,000-yard rusher was established. (continue)

Plaxico to Eagles?

It’s seemed unlikely Plaxico Burress would return to the Giants next season — his first since accidentally shooting himself in the leg in November 2008.

For Brandon Jacobs, it’s more than unlikely the soon-to-be-released Burress will be a Giant. It’s downright impossible.

“No, he ain’t coming to the Giants. That’s out of the question,” Jacobs said tonight on his way into Justin Tuck’s charity billiards tournament at Manhattan’s Slate Billiards. “He’s got options and it’s good he can weigh his options. I would love him to be a part of the Giants, but I don’t think that’s even on his plate.”

Jacobs speaks to his former teammate on a weekly basis and has helped care for his wife, Tiffany, and children during Burress’ prison term, which will end on Monday. He knows better than anyone the situation the 33-year-old Burress will face when he attempts to resume his career.

And in Jacobs’ opinion that situation doesn’t involve a return to the Giants. He said so tonight — twice — and with plenty of emphasis.

“There is no chance Plaxico Burress is a New York Giant after he comes out,” Jacobs said. “None.”

So where will he wind up? Well, the leading candidate in Jacobs’ mind is a hated rival — the Eagles, whose quarterback, Michael Vick, is a fellow Virginia native who recently served a prison sentence as well. (Continue)

 

Jacobs leaves with class (not really)

In what might be one of the most colorful exits in team history,Brandon Jacobs walked out of the Giants' locker room with his belongings in a black garbage bag, stopping only to scowl at photographers who were clicking away.

"You're all getting pictures of Brandon Jacobs leaving, wondering if he'll ever return," the running back said before uttering an obscenity.

After losing his starting job and then regaining it, Jacobs heads into an offseason of uncertainty, but he has two years remaining on his contract. Imagine the others whose futures with the Giants - or in the NFL - remain nebulous while the team figures out who it wants to keep and the league tries to settle on a collective-bargaining agreement that will set the rules within which those players can be signed. (Newsday)

 

Would anyone take Jacobs?

If Brandon Jacobs is serious about demanding a trade, before he talks to Giants general manager Jerry Reese he might want to speak to any one of about 10,000 Fantasy Football GMs who drafted him.

They’d no doubt tell him the same thing. “We’ve tried to unload you — and it can’t be done!”

What the Giants have on their hands is a classic case of a player overrating his value. Jacobs is an overpaid backup running back who, despite his 265-pound frame, has developed a maddening tendency to try to run around defenders instead of right over them.

He is, in a word, expendable.

Jacobs better figure that out in a hurry, because he is not nearly worth the helmet-hurling headache he is becoming to this team, not with the team facing the first test of its resolve after getting crushed on Sunday night in Indianapolis. (Ledger)