Looks like Michael Strahan has decided to play football afterall.

His agent, Tony Agnone, said he’s headed to the area tonight and will report to the team by Monday.

“He’s coming back because he wants to keep playing,� Agnone said today. “He’s going to put off his TV career until he decides to retire.�

So the 36-day dance with retirement—if it ever really was about that—appears to be coming to an end. Just when even some of his staunchest supporters on the team was starting to doubt that he’d ever come back.

Anyway, now Tom Coughlin can make his cuts with having Strahan in mind. He’ll get a full week of work in before Dallas, but he’ll still have to prove that Lisfranc foot injury can hold up.

I’ll keep you posted on developments. For now, though, it looks like that rotation with Justin Tuck just might happen.

Ciao for now.

You—know—who still isn’t here. That’s 36 days and $514,368 in fines.

So what’s he waiting for, an engraved invitation?

Ciao for now.

Caught last night’s game on TV because of various, already—documented financial constraints at the newspaper. I did come away with some impressions, however.

I have no doubt that, if Wade Phillips cooperates next week, the Giants will start the season 1—0 soley because Eli Manning and his starting bad will dominate the Dallas defense as they did the Patriots’.

Oh, wait. You don’t think Phillips will start his backups? Well then, forget about it.

Change that to the Giants having a decent chance to beat the Cowboys. Manning looked great (again, against the backups). And he did look good against the Jets starters last week. So there’s hope. Plenty of it.

Just pray Manning doesn’t go down injured. Jared Lorenzen did not look great, and it wasn’t just because of the seven sacks the Patriots laid on him. Even when he had time to throw, his passes didn’t have any authority behind them. The 10—for—16 completion rate was surprising, but keep in mind most of those were dumpoffs. And he did fumble. If Tom Coughlin had any thoughts of going with two quarterbacks because of roster numbers, he should think again. I’m not sure Lorenzen is quite there yet to handle the offense long—term if Manning goes down.

That leaves us with a discussion about Anthony Wright and Tim Hasselbeck for the third spot. I give them a push for last night. Both did some good things. Both got the offense moving a bit in limited opportunities.

And both scored points, Hasselbeck producing a field goal and Wright engineering a touchdown drive.

Ryan Grant looked good on special teams and could find a way onto the final roster. Guy Whimper had a horrendous night, save for a good block on Brandon Jacobs’ touchdown run, and then sprained an ankle. But he makes the team, anyway, just because there is no one else to back up at tackle. You don’t really want to see Todd Londot there, right?

Also looks like first—rounder Aaron Ross has a lot to learn about defending passes near the goal line. But he’ll get the hang of it. He’d better. He may be starting by midseason.

Both kickers did okay, but I’ll give Josh Huston the edge now because he puts his kickoffs into the end zone.

More to come.

Ciao for now.

The Giants had their Welcome Home luncheon in Manhattan, and guess who didn’t show.

That’s right. His eminence, No. 92. Reports are he’s rather miffed at Jerry Reese for telling the world he’d make his decision over the next two days. One even said he’d delay it longer out of spite. That would be kind of childish.

As for anything concrete, there is nothing except that his absence has now reached 34 days. One person close to Strahan told me today he has no idea when he’ll make his decision, or report if he does opt to continue playing.

“You know Stray,” he said. “It could be gametime next Sunday.”

Make for a heck of a story.

Comments?

Ciao for now.

Here’s a short clip of Eli Manning talking about wanting to get Plaxico Burress back after a bout with a bad back. Remember, Burress has missed every preseason game, meaning he’ll probably head into the opener in Dallas without benefit of a single preseason snap. Not good.

Download:

Ciao for now.

Thanks to blog responder Darryl for reminding me about that one last body the Giants had to dispose of to get to the 75-man limit. Sadly, it turned out to be steady veteran long-snapper Ryan Kuehl, who was placed on injured reserve.

That was kind of a no-brainer, actually. Kuehl tore up his calf and Achilles the fourth day of training camp and, though he progressed in his rehab, wasn’t going anywhere fast enough to be ready for the season. Tom Coughlin never did give optimistic answers to Kuehl’s condition, so you just knew this was coming.

That officially leaves the long-snapping in the hands of Zak DeOssie for punts and Jay Alford for field goals. While it’s always a challenge to put rookies in those positions, it appears at least DeOssie is doing well with his duties. Alford has had some issues getting the snaps back on target, with the laces up. But if he doesn’t work out, at least the Giants have other options in Shaun O’Hara and Grey Ruegamer.

Next stop, final cuts on Saturday. Wonder who else is headed for IR? That hospital list is turning into a rather long roll call.

Ciao for now.

Michael Strahan’s decision on whether or not to continue his football career could come in the next day or two, according to the Giants.

General manager Jerry Reese said through a press release that he has spoken to Strahan twice in the last 24 hours, once last night and again this morning, and had constructive and positive talks with him. This morning’s conversation ended with Strahan telling him he’ll make his decision in the next day or two.

It’s unlikely Strahan will show up tomorrow, since the team will attend the annual Kickoff Luncheon in Manhattan, a public event where he might not be greeted too warmly. And it’s even more unlikely he’ll show up to root his team on from the sidelines in New England Thursday.

So the most likely time of arrival would be Friday when the team returns to the Meadowlands, or Monday, when they begin work for the season opener in Dallas.

Ciao for now.

Plaxico Burress issues with his lower back could keep him out of Thursday’s preseason finale in New England. But then again, it might now.

Burress missed practice again, staying inside to get his back iced. But Tom Coughlin said he could return if he feels better.

"We’re working with him," Coughlin said. "Anytime a player misses practice, it’s a concern. But he may feel better by tomorrow, so we’ll see."

Guess Plax is learning a lesson here —— never to assume anything. As he sat out the offseason program while recovering from left ankle cleanup surgery, he didn’t appear too worried about missed opportunities to work with Eli Manning. Plenty of time, he said. Training camp will be enough.

Then came the sprained right ankle incurred Aug. 2 that kept him out until Aug. 21. Then he had the flu for the Jets game. And now the back.

So here’s Plaxico, heading into the season potentially without a single preseason snap in game conditions from his quarterback.

Nice.

Manning was the good soldier, though, refusing to criticize his No. 1 target.

"I’m not concerned," Manning said. "I think he’ll be fine. I think we’ll get our timing back pretty quickly. We’ve been together three years, and we’ll get some reps together next week."

Hmmmm. Yeah. They’ll synch up real fast. Maybe by Week 15, perhaps?

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Massive Manny Wright, signed last week at defensive tackle and looking like at least a discussion for the final roster, had to come out of practice when he dehydrated trying to make weight this morning. Wright is listed at a healthy 345 pounds and has had weight problems in the past.

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Nicest play of practice was Jeremy Shockey hauling in a deflection of Manning’s pass off Zak DeOssie. Lots of second—team scout work. Starters are expected to play as long as a quarter which, as far as I’m concerned, is playing with fire in terms of potential injuries. Give the starting O and D a series each and get them the heck out. You can bet Belichick won’t let most of his starters near the Gillette Stadium field Thursday night.

Ciao for now.

Looks like David Tyree does have a fracture. He’ll undergo surgery tonight to have a pin placed in his broken left navicular bone in his wrist and should be out four to six weeks.

That’s a slow—healing injury, which is why the pin goes in. But don’t expect him to go on IR. Not right now, anyway. He’s much too valuable as a kick coverage specialist not to wait at least a couple of games to see if the wrist will allow him to play.

The Giants made seven of their eight required cuts, placing free agent defensive tackle Marcus Bell on the IR with a knee injury he incurred the first preseason game. He was the biggest name of a bunch that also included LB Karibi Dede (gonna miss him because we liked the name. Kind of exotic, you know), C Nick Jones, OL Myniya Smith, S Richard Yancy, and WR Will Buchanon.

FB Robert Douglas is going in for a scope on a torn meniscus, and WR Plaxico Burress missed practice to get a back problem checked out in Manhattan.

Interesting development: Reuben Droughns was working at fullback, and Coughlin said he will see work there in New England. He’s taking a good look at Droughns there, since the fullback isn’t going to be a huge part of this offense. Droughns, who worked some fullback in Denver, could free up a roster spot if he can handle the double—duty as fullback and Brandon Jacobs’ backup. If he can’t, there’s always the Michael Matthews option, especially in that he’s a 270—pound tight end perfectly capable of blocking in the backfield.

Any thoughts? Concerns? Advice for the injured and love—lorn?

Ciao for now.

I’ll have more on this later, but it looks like David Tyree has a fractured wrist and will miss a month or more.

Tough break for Tyree, who had an up—and—down season last year as he battled through an ankle sprain. He’s still the best kick coverage guy they have, even though he didn’t repeat his Pro Bowl performance of 2005. So it might be a good idea to keep him on the active roster until he heals.

As for Michael Strahan, no sign of the wayward defensive end yet. Watch him stroll in at the beginning of next week, just in time to play against Dallas.

Be back after practice.

Ciao for now.