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.