The Giants had to go back to work today, unfortunately. Below you will find a bunch of notes and reports assembled by a variety of beat writers. The Giants play their first game on Thursday so make sure you watch it.
The Star-Ledger
Since Plaxico Burress has been unable to practice, he is contributing as an adviser to the Giants’ young receivers. Plax is taking on the mentor role even if the young guys don’t ask for it.
Mike Garafolo assembled an in-depth 8/3 morning practice report worth checking out. Below is a sample of the entire report. There’s much more where that came from so go check out the source.
DEs Justin Tuck (foot) and Osi Umenyiora (hip), WRs Plaxico Burress (ankle), Amani Toomer (leg), Mario Manningham (groin) and David Tyree (knee/PUP), LBs Zak DeOssie (back) and Gerris Wilkinson (knee/PUP), CB Sam Madison (sports hernia), RT Shane Olivea and S Craig Dahl (knee) did not practice.
There we go again: first play of team drills was a bomb. Again from QB Eli Manning to WR Domenik Hixon. Great tackle on the play by CB Aaron Ross. Too bad it was way before the ball got there. That’s a 40-yard pass interference penalty on Ross.
QB Anthony Wright and WR Michael Jennings hooked up for deep in.
WR Craphonso Thorpe got the crowd excited with a spinning, toe-tapping catch on a fade to the left side from Wright. Dockery was in coverage on the play.
Hall ran a nice route to catch a hook from QB Andre’ Woodson in front of Webster. Hall later went deep on Pope, but the ball from Wright was overthrown and out of bounds.
Mike Garafolo assembled an in-depth 8/3 evening practice report also worth checking out. Below is a sample of the entire report. There’s much more where that came from so go check out the source.
WRs Plaxico Burress (ankle), Steve Smith (groin), David Tyree (knee/PUP) and Mario Manninghan (groin), LBs Gerris Wilkinson (knee/PUP) and Danny Clark (sports hernia), CB Sam Madison (sports hernia) and OT Shane Olivea (back) did not practice..
CB Corey Webster would have none of WR Domenik Hixon catching a fade on the left side. He stayed all over Hixon and knocked the ball away. Webster also stayed stride for stride on a go from QB David Carr to WR Sinorice Moss. Webster had such good position it almost looked like he was the intended receiver. Webster knocked it away for a PD.
Hixon ran a perfect comeback to get separation from CB R.W. McQuarters and make a diving catch. McQuarters bounced back with a PD a few plays later when WR Craphonso Thorpe ran the same pattern.
LB Chase Blackburn keeps making plays. I mean, this guy couldn’t get a job after the draft a few years ago and now he’s a steady backup in my mind. Tonight, he stayed with Boss on a post into the end zone and wrestled with him to grab a ball from Wright for an INT.
WR Brandon London made his first nice grab in a few days on a skinny post over CB Kevin Dockery. Not a bad ball at all from Woodson. London then did a great job of accelerating to at least get his hands on a deep incompletion from Manning. The ball was overcooked and I didn’t think London had a prayer of getting there, but he dove and almost made the catch after getting past CB Terrell Thomas.
Plaxico Burress did some light running for the first time since training camp.
Big Blue Blog
Paul Schwartz assembled his own morning practice notes. Below is a sample of his notes, but there are not too many more.
On Manning’s second pass, Ross made another aggressive play, storming in to bat away a pass in the flat. Unfortunately for Ross, the ball was picked out of the air by RB Derrick Ward for a completion.
David Carrcould not have thrown a better pass on a deep toss to Sinorice Moss, who had a step on two rookies, S Kenny Phillips and CB Terrell Thomas. The ball floated down perfectly to Moss … who watched as it slid right through his arms and to the grass. Moss looked up to the sky in bewilderment.
TE Kevin Boss, who has caught virtually everything thus far in camp, could not make the grab on a lunging attempt from Manning over the middle.
Inside the Giants
Tom Rock believes that Sinorice Moss is basically playing for his Giants career in this camp so he’s been under the microscope this first week and a half. That means every drop is written about, and to be fair, there have been a lot of them. Moss had a pretty good practice tonight.
Keith Kidd of Scouts Inc. ranked the Wide Receiving Corps for all NFL teams. The New York Football Giants ended up being No. 11 on the list. Here’s Kidd’s analysis…
Plaxico Burress was dominant last season despite struggling with injuries. Burress is a huge, athletic receiver with long arms and physical play strength. He has good hands, can out-jump defenders downfield and is valuable in the red zone. Amani Toomer is a solid possession receiver with outstanding experience. He is a good route-runner with good catching skills and can be effective in the short and intermediate areas. Steve Smith displayed good receiving skills late in 2007 after dealing with injuries throughout his rookie season. Sinorice Moss has been disappointing in his development but David Tyree was amazing in the Super Bowl. Tyree is a solid No. 4/5 receiver with tremendous value on special teams coverage units. Incoming rookie Mario Manningham could be a steal as a third-round pick, depending on how he matures and learns the Giants’ complicated offense.
I consider that to be one of the most accurate analyses that I’ve read in a while.
Ralph Vacchiano of The Blue Screen is keeping us up-to-date with all of the Giants’ post-Super Bowl books…
Giant: The Road to the Super Bowl by Plaxico Burress (with Jason Cole) - It is available in stores now. Also, Burress will be at Book Revue in Huntington, NY for a book signing on Wednesday, July 9 at 7 p.m. if you live nearby and want to stop by.
Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback - It won’t be available for another few weeks, but you can pre-order it.
More Than Just The Catch by David Tyree (with Kim Daniels) - Due out this fall.
A Team to Believe In: Our Journey to the Super Bowl Championship by Tom Coughlin (with Brian Curtis) - Due out this fall.
Inside the Helmet: Hard Knocks, Pulling Together and Triumph as a Sunday Afternoon Warrior by Michael Strahan (with Jay Glazer) - Was released in 2007 and is being re-released with new sub titles and additional chapters.
The GM: A Football Life, a Final Season, and a Last Laugh by Tom Callahan (written with Ernie Accorsi’s help) - Was released in 2007 and is being re-released with new sub titles and additional chapters.
That’s quite a list. Hopefully all of the writing has no effect on my boys when the season comes around. Definitely check out some of those books, and feel free to let us know how they are.
According to Giants.com, you can go see the helmet against which New York Giants’ wide receiver David Tyree pinned the ball making “the catch”, and the helmet of quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning at the Sports Museum of America (SmA) (www.sportsmuseum.com) located in historic Lower Manhattan. The Sports Museum of America will display the helmets, which are on loan from the New York Giants through the summer before they permanently move to The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH this fall.
Jonathan Tisch said, “David Tyree’s catch and the Cinderella story of the New York Giants have already become the stuff of Super Bowl legend. We are thrilled to be able to share with our fans an intimate look at the fabled helmets right here in New York City at the Sports Museum of America.”
The Founder and CEO of Sports Museum of America, Phillip Schwalb, had this to say, “This exhibit is exactly what we’ve set out to do – bring sports history directly, and personally, to the fans as it’s happening. There are great new moments in sports being made every week, and we are proud that thousands of visitors from around the world can view these artifacts and celebrate the magical, historic moment they represent.”
If you would like to purchase tickets to see the helmets at the Sports Museum of America (SmA), click on this link: www.sportsmuseum.com.
Giants.com just revealed that the New York Giants were nominated for six ESPYs in this year’s sixteenth annual ESPN awards show. The Giants nominations came in for:
Best Upset - Giants-Patriots
Best Team
Best Game - Super Bowl XLII
Best Play -David Tyree’s Catch
Best Coach-Manager - Tom Coughlin
Best NFL Player - Eli Manning
I agree with the Best Upset, Best Team, Best Game, and Best Play. I’m a little confused about the Best Coach and the Best NFL Player. It seems strange that the Best Coach would be a coach that pulled off the Best Upset, right? Same thing with Eli. ESPN also contradicts themselves about the Giants being the Best Team because they put them 6th in their Power Rankings. Go figure. If Coughlin is the best coach then why did Tiki retire?
The 2008 ESPYs co-presented by HUMMER and Under Armour, hosted by Justin Timberlake, will be televised Sunday, July 20 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN HD. For the fifth consecutive year, fans will determine the winners in 37 categories (excluding special awards) by voting online at www.espys.tv and, for the first time, via mobile phone at www.espn.mobi. This process will run between July 1 and July 12 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
Yesterday, Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News wrote an article for the newspaper titled, ‘After Super Bowl grab, David Tyree is hoping to hang on with Giants‘. In the article, Vacchiano explained how David Tyree just went down in Giants lure a few months ago with The Catch. Then he asked this question, “But should that guarantee him a spot on the 2008 team?” After that, Ralph explained that the G-MEN have about 6-8 receiveres ahead of him on the depth chart. He’s also coming off of arthroscopic knee surgery, and if something goes wrong then he might not make the team. On the plus side, he argues that Tyree is still much better on Special Teams than the competition which may keep him around. David had this to say about the situation,
You look at this game for what it is. They’re going to make decisions based on what they feel is best for the football team. Whether I’m on the roster, off the roster, the fifth receiver or the third receiver, they’re going to make decisions based on what’s best for the team. My job is to go out there and make the plays when I’m given the opportunity. When you look back at what I’ve done when given the opportunity, I’ve showed up. I can’t do any more than that.
As you can see by Tyree’s answer, he’s a class act all the way. He never has been one of the top receivers on the team anyway. Even when they’ve used him as the third or fourth receiver in a formation, he never was that good. However, he was really good on Special Teams. He was a Pro Bowler. I do know that he struggled the last two seasons, but he came through when it mattered most and as a receiver to boot.
Today, Vacchiano followed up on yesterday’s article on his Giants blog called The Blue Screen which is also on the New York Daily News website. It’s titled, ‘If Tyree’s healthy, Giant loyalty will help keep him around‘. Here, he raises questions like,
But how much will The Catch factor in? If they don’t put him on PUP, could the Giants really cut him, just months after he saved their championship? Wouldn’t that be heartless and mean, or would it just be a reality of the business of football? Would the Giants - sometimes loyal to a fault to their players - really do something like that? Or should they factor out his status as a Super Bowl hero if they believe cutting him was in the best interests of the team?
At the end of all his questions, he wrote that he believes that David will end up on the team because of his skills on Special Teams. I agree with Vacchiano here. I believe that Tyree would have to really suck to not make the team. And I thought loyalty didn’t exist in sports anymore.
NFL.com put together a list of the ‘Top 10 pass rushers in NFL history’. Before I opened it, I thought about how many Giants were on the list. Obviously, I thought of LT and Michael Strahan. I wasn’t sure of how many there could be before my time, which isn’t long ago. When I opened up the list, there weren’t any more Jints than the two I assumed. Taylor was 3rd which doesn’t make sense to me, and Strahan was 7th. They have Deacon Jones 1st, but I’ve never seen him play. The late Reggie White is 2nd, and I always though LT was better than White. Plus, LT has 2 rings and White has 1. At the same time, I’m comparing a LB to a DE. The article contains three videos for each member of the Top 10 list if you want to check them out.
Giants.com:
Mailbag for June 4 - Michael Eisen fields questions posed by Giants‘ fans. Here’s a good question because the last thing I want to watch this year is the Super Bowl hangover:
Michael,
Tom Coughlin was on the staff the last time the Giants won the Super Bowl. They didn’t make the playoffs after the 1991 season. What will he do, and how will keep the team focused, and not have the team letdown during this upcoming season?
Dear Russell:
The Coach is well aware of the pitfalls that claim the repeat aspirations of most recent Super Bowl champions. He has reminded the players that the hard work they put in last offseason led to their championship and the importance of not letting up this year. In fact, as he handed each player his Super Bowl ring last week, Coughlin said, “Let’s get back to work so we can do this again.” The coach is not letting up one inch or ounce. He is demanding the same dedication to effort and detail that proved so successful last season. The ring ceremony was the last event of the 2007 season. Everyone’s energy is now committed to making 2008 a successful year.
Fan’s Take - A Giants fan wrote their perspective on the improbable 2007 season.
OTA Report: O-Line (Video) - Giants.com takes a closer look at the Giants O-Line during the OTA workouts.
OTA Report: D-Line (Video) - Giants.com takes a closer look at the Giants D-Line during the OTA workouts.
DE Renaldo Wynn (Video) - Giants.com interviews their newest player Renaldo Wynn.
DT Jay Alford (Video) - Giants.com interviews Jay Alford about the OTAs and about his rookie season. Part of his rookie season included sacking Tom Brady in the Super Bowl so they touch on that as well.
Giants to see Jeremy Shockey soon - Ralph Vacchiano stated that Jeremy Shockey is actually supposed to make it up to New York next week.
The enigmatic tight end is expected to participate in the Giants’ mandatory mini-camp next week, according to a team source. He is due in the New York area later this week for a promotional appearance on Saturday afternoon.
According to an advertisement on the Internet, Shockey is scheduled to appear at the Powerade Pro Challenge at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, although his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, could not be reached to confirm his client’s plans. If Shockey shows up, it will be his first public appearance since he was stuck watching Super Bowl XLII from a luxury box because of his broken leg.
NFL.com had a poll where over 200,000 fans ranked all 32 teams for the 2008 season. Here are the results:
Patriots - Core of team returns to avenge Super Bowl loss after perfect regular season.
Colts - Core of Super Bowl XLI team is still intact. Dwight Freeney should be ready for season.
Cowboys - Talented squad only got better during offseason with Pacman Jones, Zach Thomas.
Giants - Competition in NFC East should be tough as Super Bowl champs look to go back-to-back.
Who knows how this stuff works? Big Blue is obviously the team to beat. If you want your team to be No. 1 then beat the Champs.
According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, ”Cowboys cornerback Pacman Jones has received permission from the NFL to participate in offseason workouts, training camp, and the preseason. However, he has not yet been reinstated to participate in regular-season games.” It seems like Pacman may make it back into the NFL which is a shame.
Florio also reported that Terrell Owens will remain as a Cowboy because, “Owens, we’re told, will receive a signing bonus of nearly $13 million. In all, he’s under contract for four years, and he’ll earn $34 million.” Now we have to face this moron twice a year for four more years.
Giants.com:
Tuesday’s OTA Report - Michael Eisen pointed out that Amani Toomer was one of the more visible players on the field today.
Giants Bolster D-Line - Michael Eisen announced that the Giants signed DE Renaldo Wynn which other media outlets reported yesterday. Eisen included a whole bunch of information about Wynn.
Michael also reported that the Giants placed linebacker Keith O’Neil on their reserve/retired list.
Jeremy Shockey, Plaxico Burress, Osi Umenyiora, Antonio Pierce and Michael Strahan did not attend. AP is still on his honeymoon, and who knows where the rest of them were…
David Tyree did not participate, though he was inside Giants Stadium doing rehab work for his knee. “Tyree said his knee feels good and his rehab is right on schedule. He expects to be ready for the start of training camp.”
Derrick Ward “said he’s 90-95% healed from his broken fibula and isn’t limited at all in what he can do on the field.”
Mathias Kiwanuka “said he’s getting closer to 100% too and didn’t seem limited on the field.”
Giants announce Wynn signing - Mike Garafolo included Jerry Reese’s and Tom Coughlin’s thoughts on the signing of Renaldo.
More on the Wynn signing - Mike Garafolo explains why the Giants didn’t sign Wynn until June 1 when Wynn first visited the Giants in mid-May. Garafolo’s conclusion is, “Wynn’s signing on June 1 means he won’t impact the Giants’ chances for compensatory picks in next year’s draft.”
