Giants Nicks and Tuck Expect to Play on Monday Night

The New York Giants got good news on the medical conditions of DE Justin Tuck and WR Hakeem Nicks on Tuesday.  Although the pair probably won't be on the practice field this week, as the team prepares for its Monday night home opener against the St. Louis Rams,  both players remain optimistic they will be ready for the game.

Tuck (neck)says he will be ready to play on Monday and claims his injury is muscular and not disc-related.  He said he is aware that you can't be too careful with neck injuries, but said it was just responding more slowly to treatment than he first expected.

The defensive end suffered a stinger in the preseason game against the New York Jets and sat out the opening game loss to the Washington Redskins.

"Honestly, talk to me right now, I don't see how I will not play on Monday," said Tuck.  "And that's me.  Obviously, you've got to go through the process of doctors, coaches, general manager owner and going through what's most important for me and what's most important for this football team."

Neck injuries are something to be nervous about in light of Peyton Mannings' surgery and, closer to home, the cervical disc herniation which kept defensive teammate Mathias Kiwanuka out of the final 13 games last year and threatened his football  career.

Tuck could only watch Sunday as the depleted Giants defense was undressed, 28-14, by the Redskins.

"If I was given the choice, I would have played Sunday," said Tuck.  "I understand, you don't want to go out and cost yourself a year, maybe a career, just trying to be tough and trying to go out there for your football team.  Was it frustrating?  Absolutely."

Things aren't so cut and dry for Nicks.

On the positive side, doctors are almost certain his injured knee is just a bone bruise. According to the New York Daily News, they will monitor the swelling, keep him out of practice and make a decision later in the week.  If the inflammation doesn't subside, he could miss the game.  Doctors added that it seems doubtful the speedster would miss more than that.

The Giants could definitely use both players.  The Giants defense made Rex Grossman look sexy again and the offense had quarterback Eli Manning looking like well... the old Eli.

Giants and Jets Staying Sort of Calm Before Saturday Night's Storm

In New Jersey, the two biggest forces of wind which are beyond control come from two sources-- Mother Nature and Governor Christie.  This weekend, one of those hurricanes is expected to pound the Jersey shore and the other will be hunkered down trying to keep surfers and "bennies" off the same beaches.

There is one more storm headed to the Meadowlands and its name isn't Irene.  Its tropical storm Rex.

Jets head coach Rex Ryan has looked like a comparative summer breeze to Irene in the days leading up to the Jets-Giants game at MetLife Stadium this Saturday.  The normally brash Ryan has just been downgraded to a Category-1 storm.  Call the National Weather Service for a sound bite.

Even Ryan's offseason remarks that the Jets (1-1) are no longer the little brothers of New York football have done nothing to turn this game into anything more than it is-- an exhibition game.  The two teams meet in a regular season game on Dec. 24.

It's not to say that the outspoken Jets head coach is going be welcomed with open arms by the "home" team-- the Giants.

Ryan still resents the Jets being considered squatters in the new MetLife Stadium and living under the shadow of the Giants (1-1) for the past three decades.

After two straight AFC championship games, Ryan believes the Jets are the superior team and he is ready to paint the two-year old stadium Jets-green.

In his book Play Like You Mean It, Ryan stressed that the Jets are now the "big brother" in New York and "are going to remain the better team for the next ten years."

"When people ask me what it's like to share New York with the Giants," Ryan wrote.  " My response is always 'I'm not sharing it with them-- they are sharing it with me.'"

Even the new name at the old New Meadowlands Stadium has a Giants' tint-- literally.  The MetLife logo is the same color as Giants blue.

This whole stadium brouhaha  has been a thorn in the Jets side since they took residence there in 1984. It came to a head last year after the teams argued who would get to host the first game in their shared home field.  It didn't help when NFL commissioner Roger Goodall allegedly had a "secret' coin toss-- with out any team representatives-- before awarding the first game at the $1.7 billion stadium to the Giants.

Jets fans claim the toss was rigged.

Giants fans gave their little brother a nougie and said quit bawling.

"I'm glad MetLife came forward as a sponsor," Giants captain Justin Tuck said yesterday.  "But to me it'll always be Giants Stadium."

To Tuck and any fan over the age of seventeen who grew up in the area.

It seems like revenge ought to be more of a theme for this week's game than city supremacy-- even though the players say it isn't so or they just won't admit it.

Plaxico Burress, the former Giants Super Bowl hero who snubbed the G-Men and signed with the Jets after a 20-month prison stay, blew off the notion he was seeking the Big R.

"There's nothing extra, no added incentive, juice or whatever you call it," Burress said.  " I'm more concerned about me going out, playing better, getting better."

Maybe Giants quarterback Eli Manning will go the eye-for-an-eye route.  After all, he was the one who wobbled off the field during last year's pre-season meeting sporting a gash on his forehead that required 12 stitches to close up.

The second quarter hit by Jets linebacker Calvin Pace sent Manning's helmet flying and his exposed mug into safety Jim Leonhard's facemask.  Manning's Y.A. Tittle moment was the result of a clean hit, miscommunication with Brandon Jacobs and looked worse than it was.

"I don't think about it to bring back good times," joked Manning yesterday.  "I can deal with it...it didn't hurt too badly."

Okay, no animosity there either.  I guess we'll leave it up to Mother nature to wreak some kind of havoc.

The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST and Irene is expected to bring wind gusts of up to 70 mph.  In the Meadowlands that's a light breeze.  Com' on Irene.

The Giants VP of Communications, Pat Hanlon, said the game will go on as scheduled.

"Based on everything we've seen and heard, it sounds like the brunt of the hurricane isn't expected to hit our area until Sunday," he said.

"I go about it just like I would any other game," said Tuck of the exhibition game.  "Is it more intense than what the rivalry was with the Jets before Rex got here?  In a preseason game, no.  But come that game right before Christmas, that might be a different story."

No hurricane until Sunday, no Rex Ryan bombast and no revenge.

Can't wait for the regular season.

Tony Dungy and Justin Tuck Think Giants Would Be Good Fit For Plaxico

It looks like Plaxico Burress' two former teams, the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, are the front runners for the talented wideout's services this season.  Former Colts head coach, Tony Dungy,  said New York would be a " great home" for Burress' new start.

The New York Daily News reported that Dungy believes, if Burress and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin can put aside their past differences, New York would be the ideal fit for the 33 year-old Burress second go-round in the NFL.

Dungy, acting as Burress' mentor, said his charge needs a "good support system" to get back on track and the troubled wideout already has built a strong foundation with the team owners, Steve Tisch and John Mara.

"I think Mr. Tisch, Mr. Mara, he has a good relationship with them," said Dungy.  And he has a great, great relationship with a lot of the other players that are still there."

Giants defensive captain Justin Tuck agrees. He believes the two men can hammer out their differences.

"Anytime you have a dispute between two people, both people need to talk it out like men," said Tuck.  I think that's what we have on schedule, so we'll see what happens."

It looks like Burress' affection for Rex Ryan and the Jets has faded and now Burress is set to meet with the Giants tomorrow night before heading to Pittsburgh for a meeting with Mike Tomlin and the Steelers.

"I think [the Giants] would be a great kind of family organization for him," said Dungy.

The Giants have already reached out to Burress, even after he was let go by the team for his 2008 arrest for gun possession, subsequent conviction and stint in prison.

Mara drove up to the upstate New York correctional center to pay Burress a visit behind bars and quarterback Eli Manning was one of the first players to welcome his former-favorite target back after his release this spring.

Manning must be drooling at the prospect of throwing to Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and possibly Burress.  Can you say Air Eli?

Now Burress has to bury the hatchet with his former coach and antagonist, the disciplinarian Coughlin.

I can only imagine how Friday's night meeting will go.  It's hard to imagine how Burress, just released from almost two years in stir, is going to thrive under the strict Coughlin.  It's like going from life under one prison warden to a head coach who is sometimes called one.

Forget the steak and potatoes, the real main dish on Friday night's dinner table is the thousands of dollars in fines, benching and two-week suspension for a rules violation handed down to Plax by Coughlin in the past.

Can Burress abide by Coughlin's tough love rules and avoid the suspensions and fines he accrued in the past?  Until last week, there was a perception that Coughlin didn't even want Burress back, now they are breaking bread together.

The "mellower" Coughlin just signed a one year extension to his contract and the Giants are notorious for not releasing a coach during the final year of a deal so, if this relationship gets stormy again, the old man isn't going anywhere.

The post NFL lockout has left teams scrambling for stability.  The Giants are familiar with Burress and Burress still has a veteran's knowledge of the Giants playbook. 

To Dungy, familiarity will be important to Burress' comeback.

"People need to understand that it is a little bit different," said Dungy.  "It's not just kind of like a free-agent coming into your team.  He has to regrow and redevelop.  You just want that support there, and I think the Giants would be one of the good teams for that."

Whether or not the Giants become Burress' halfway house to resuming a life on the outside remains to be seen.  Maybe the Giants just want to keep Burress' slim chance of hooking up with another "second-chancer," Michael Vick and division rival the Philadelphia Eagles at bay?

It won't be easy for Burress in New York.  You'll probably see more photos of Burress on the street than on the field and night out at a restaurant will be in every gossip page in New York.  Even if people don't hit the floor every time he reaches into his sweatpants pockets, every paparazzi will hit their camera shutter release.

How those scenarios fit into Dungy's theory is speculative at best.  Maybe New York isn't he best place to quietly return to society. 

The Giants team leaders don't think so and have given Burress a vote of confidence.  Manning confirmed speaking with Burress about coming back.

"I don't know what's going to happen with that," said Manning.  "I know he and coach Coughlin might meet sometime.  We'll just see what happens after that."

Tuck says Burress would be welcomed back by everyone.

"I can't speak for Coughlin or Plax," said the defensive end.  "It's well documented they've bumped heads in the past.  Hopefully a little time apart has rekindled the love they share for each other."

Wow.  The words 'Coughlin, Plax and rekindled love' in a quote.  I'm going to tear up.

Eli Manning Finally Speaks Up: Giants Must Man Up Against Packers

Eli Manning did something he has never done in seven years as the New York Giants quarterback.  The usually reserved quarterback asked head coach Tom Coughlin if he could address the team in a players only meeting "before he [Coughlin] came in."  The head coach was more than happy to oblige his offensive leader after the horrendous 38-31 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday.

The five minute speech wasn't a last gasp of desperation.  It was Manning's way getting order back in the Giants' house after all the finger-pointing.

If you totaled up all of the Giants mistakes and misplays of the previous thirteen games, it wouldn't be more than the final seven and a half minutes of Giants futility against the Eagles.  Sunday's epic collapse was so bad Coughlin went home and recounted the game alone "in a room with the lights out for about 2 1/2 hours."

Manning spent his time after the game recounting the game to an empty press room for a while.  Contrary to a video making the rounds, the Giant quarterback was not stood up by the media.  The classy Manning had to wait a few minutes for the press room to fill.  He took the loss like a leader should.

The Giants QB, whose emotional range usually runs from the occasional fist pump to the more common befuddled head shake, took matters into his own hands by being the only speaker in his  attempt to raise the spirits of the fragile team's ego.

Never the outspoken team leader in the mold of a Michael Strahan or even the resident loudmouth safety Antrell Rolle, one can only hope the quiet Manning's rallying cry was in the style of John Belushi's character, Bluto, in "Animal House."  In that scenario, Manning might have began his fist-pounding speech with, "Remember when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor..."  At which the surprised Giant players all stare at their animated QB, then at each other.  Justin Tuck nods his head and says to no one, "Leave him alone, he's rolling," in reaction to Manning's first pep talk.

In reality, Manning matter-of-fact speech boiled down to this, " We're going to write the ending to this story, no one else." When asked to elaborate on what he said, Manning explained, "Just team stuff."

 Most of the veteran players couldn't remember their QB addressing the team like this, but said they will remember what he said in his non-confrontational style.  While Manning was calling a civil meeting of Giant minds, fans were still ranting for punter Matt Dodge's head. 

Manning's mild demeanor was a sharp contrast to Coughlin's public chewing out of the A.J. Burnett wannabe, Dodge, on the sideline the New Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday.  The quarterback knows winning is a team effort and there were ten other players besides Dodge who could have tackled DeSean Jackson before his game-winning punt return. 

"It wasn't necessarily a speech.  He was just very prolific in saying [what] we had to do," said the defensive captain, Tuck.  "He just wanted to make sure we were on the same page, that our minds were set on coming in here on Wednesday and working our butts off," said Tuck.

The Giants (9-5) can take comfort that they are still be in the playoff hunt.  They control their own destiny for a wildcard position, but another December swoon would be two failed seasons in a row and Coughlin's  job could hang in the balance.

The Giants must purge the bad memories of Sunday.  Riding on this week's game against the Green Bay Packers (8-6) is the final wildcard position.  Packers star quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, has already been cleared to play after missing last week's game due to a concussion.  A Giants loss at Lambeau Field would give the Packers the tiebreaker.

In his heart, Manning's message was an attempt to stem the tide of damage from the embarrassing loss and soothe the fractured Giants psyche.  Teammates said he put on stoic face, but could tell he just wants to win.  Now they head to the frozen turf in Green Bay and try to put all the bad memories of blowing a 31-10 lead behind them. 

 If Manning was trying to rally the troops by stirring up ghosts of Super Bowl seasons past, he has a tough road ahead.  If they can't win at home with a three touchdown lead, how can they expect to win three straight playoff road games.  They haven't even won a playoff game since the '07 Super bowl victory.

All and all, the Giants are still in the playoffs today.  It's up to the team to react positively to last week's collapse.  Maybe this veteran team will recall that '07 team of road warriors, but all the 'Win one for the Gipper' speeches in the world won't mean a thing if the Giants team can't make one loud statement on the field--together.

Justin Tuck: Giants Will Not Sink in Second Half of Season

By Tony Mangia

It was all in the cards for a Giants last week.  The team was being called the best in the NFL, they were two touchdown favorites over a reeling Dallas Cowboys squad and it was the first game of the second half of the season.  It was the perfect storm for a let-down and the Giants didn't disappoint.  In what has become an annual occurrence under the realm of Tom Coughlin, the Giants began their end-of-season meltdown.

Quick what's 16-31 and blue all over.  If you said the Giants second half record since 2004 you win a prize.  With the exception of 2005, the finish the season with a .500 or worse--usually worse. This year will be different, the players say.

It's too easy to use last Sunday's blackout in the New Meadowlands Stadium on as a game summary.  Sure, the offense had a power failure...the Cowboys played lights out...but I think the fans, themselves, felt like passengers on that cruise ship drifting off the coast of Mexico--plied with leftover liquor for a wonderful while, then getting fed Spam.

Justin Tuck is all too aware of the team's second-half failures.  Except for the Super Bowl championship season in 2007, the Giants (6-3) have either not made the playoffs or lost in the first round since Coughlin became head coach.  He is adamant it will not happen this year.

Tuck said, " This team is different.  I think we learned our lesson.  Guys understand how it felt last year to have the debacle that we had."  Funny, I think he said that last year too.  "I think we're poised to make sure that doesn't happen again.  I think as a whole , we were completely sick to our stomach by how we finished the season last year."  The fans know that feeling too.

Then he used that old standard excuse that is supposed to knock a team out of their complacency.  Here it comes, "I'm kinda glad that the things happened to us [Sunday] night, because it puts us back on alert, it puts us back to thinking," the defensive end said.  I hope that Eagles quarterback, Michael Vick gets the message.

Vick, who is having his game jersey sent to Canton for his rampage over the Redskins Monday night, will be waiting for Tuck's defense this Sunday. Jon Kitna (?), who lit up the Giants last Sunday, is one thing, but Vick is a totally different animal.  I won't use the phrase "pit bull" like Vick's teammate, DeSean Jackson,  used last week to describe his team's demeanor, but he has a dog-like tenacity.

Quick, what has wings, is red hot and is green all over.  Sounds like a nacho plate but no it is Vick.  The Eagles QB, who is less than two years away from 3-squares-and-a-bed, is on his way to an MVP caliber season.  He has yet thrown an interception this year and was the first player in NFL history to throw for 300 yards, run for 50 yards and score two TDs on the ground and throw for four more in NFL history.  All this after coming off a cracked sternum--one of the most painful injuries-- after getting sandwiched between two 300 pound men just a few weeks ago.

With Vick calling the signals, the Eagles (6-3) look invincible.  Their total devastation of Washington on Monday night should leave Giant fans feeling more seasick than the passengers on that stranded ship.  Even Donovan McNabb's new $78 million contract couldn't rally the Redskins.

Now Big Blue will be traveling into hostile Philly, with their rowdy fans, for the biggest game of the season and first place in the NFC East up for grabs. The Eagles soar in with momentum and a hot signal caller.  The Giants limp in with a depleted receiving corps and a busted up offensive line.  A consecutive division loss could be the beginning of another second-half swoon.

Are the Giant players cognizant of the collapses?  "It's a new season, " said Eli Manning, "Play this year.  Why don't we talk about '07 then?" None of the veteran players really want to talk about the past--and it is the past--but it has been the team's history. 

The Giants hope to return to being the team that plowed over Seattle, 41-7,  two weeks ago and made the Texans wish they were the Oilers again. There have been flashes of brilliance by Eli and Company in their victories, but penalties and stupid turnovers have cost them games and deservedly so. 

The Giants hope they shake off the ugly defeat to Dallas.  "You prepare.  You play Philly," said Manning, "You prepare for your next game. It's all you can do.  It's all you think about."

The G-Men were flying high at 6-2 until that loss to the rudderless Cowboys.  Will their second half history repeat itself?  The past is hard to ignore and so will be Michael Vick.