We had our access time at the Giants’ Organized Team Activity today, and guess who didn’t show up.

That’s right. Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey.

So what else is new?

Burress, who only a few weeks ago said he was here to stay, decided to absent himself from the first OTA that included team drills. Shockey, who in a published story blasted Eli Manning for revealing the contents of their text messages, also flew out of here some days before the team ran its first of the three OTAs that started last week.

Michael Strahan and Jim Finn were also among the missing. And it should be noted that these OTAs, aside from the upcoming mandatory veterans minicamp June 13—15, are voluntary. But the absence of the four, especially Shockey and Burress, were enough to bring out the bristles in Tom Coughlin and Manning.

"I’m only going to talk about the guys that are here," Coughlin said twice when pressed about his wayward tight end and wide receiver.

"You’ve just got to accept it," Manning said, sounding resigned to the fact that he’s never going to get real quality time with Shockey or Burress before they’re contractually obligated to work with him. "I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do. You make the best out of it. Whoever comes to practice, I’ll try to get the best out of them."

Maybe Shockey and Burress are just waiting for their quarterback to sharpen up his passing before they go blowing good routes on him. Manning didn’t look particularly sharp in the team drills. He missed rookie receiver Steve Smith by a yard, though he did find undrafted rookie Brandon London on a post pattern.

And fifth—round tight end Kevin Boss did look like an enticingly large target when he went split left on one of Jared Lorenzen’s reps.

Defensive end Osi Umenyiora was there, but did not participate, though Coughlin wouldn’t elaborate why. And defensive end Justin Tuck, who probably won’t do much until training camp as he recovers from Lisfranc ligament surgery, also stood on the sidelines. Wide receiver Amani Toomer, recovering from knee reconstruction, looked comfortable jogging around the field. He also won’t be ready until training camp.

Nobody seems truly worried about this Burress—Shockey thing from a purely football standpoint. From this end, it seems to be more of a leadership issues. Manning is supposed to be the nominal leader of the offense, and yet he repeatedly can’t get his two major targets to work with him. And one, Shockey, always seems to be mad about something Manning said or did.

Have to wonder how this will all eventually play out. Probably in more hand—waving when the ball doesn’t come Shockey’s way.

Will have a few more tidbits later.

Ciao for now.