Here’s a few other things from the assistants and coordinators that might suit your fancy:

From defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo on keeping things together and not tearing up the entire playbook while the defense was giving up 80 points over the first two games: “Oh, yeah. That’s never easy. But I don’t believe that that is the way you get it solved. If you do that, you are admitting to yourself that you questioned them. And we never questioned them as a staff. We knew what we were doing was—- at least had a chance of being pretty good and if we kept pounding at it, it would turn around.

“But again I really do feel like the credit goes back to the players. In this league it is hard; it is a challenge to go through what they did in those first two games and come around and play some good football. So I really give it right back to them.”

Quarterbacks coach Chris Palmer on Eli Manning making plays with his legs against Miami: “He’s got to continue to work on his game and get better. But the fact that he contributed to the win in London with his legs is very, very encouraging. It’s another weapon he now has at his disposal.

“It’s an awareness of knowing what he can’t get away with. Obviously, we want him to take care of himself and not get hurt.”

Safeties coach David Merritt on the play of rookie Michael Johnson in place of the injured James Butler: “As I was grading the film, I kept rewinding and saying to myself, ‘Am I seeing what I think I am? Michael’s proven, even with one start, that he can go out and make plays for us. He had a lot on his plate and he went out and played a strong, physical game, which is just awesome for us.”

Linebackers coach Bill Sheridan on why playing up front in the four-defensive end pass rush package helped Mathias Kiwanuka become a better strongside linebacker: “It helped from a linebacker standpoint because that’s a comfort level for him, playing down. That’s 20 snaps a game that he didn’t have to worry about dropping in coverage, which has been a new world for him. He’s done a great job. I’m sure it’s very comforting for him, and there’s less thinking involved before the ball is snapped.”

That’s it. And just as a way of self-promotion, you might want to pick up the Journal News tomorrow and read my story on quarterback Chris Palmer’s thoughts on Eli Manning making plays with his legs.

Ciao for now.

That supposed three-headed backfield has at least garned the head head (see what I did there?) an individual honor. Brandon Jacobs, who was no head at all for three games in September as he nursed a sprained right knee, was given the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for his work in October in helping the Giants to a 4-0 mark.

Jacobs netted 424 rushing yards and two touchdowns to become only the third Giants player to receive that award. He set career rushing highs three times with his first three career 100-yard efforts in helping the Giants to a 4-0 record.

The Giants’ previous winners were running back Tiki Barber, who was honored in Nov. 2002, Dec. 2005, and Oct. 2006, and David Meggett, who was honored in Sept. 1994.

“I feel like I really haven’t done that much,” Jacobs said. “I’ve broken a couple of tackles here and there, but as a running back our success is achieved when the offensive line plays well and they’ve done a great job so far this season.”

Jacobs now ranks 19th among NFL rushers with 450 yards on 80 carries, the fewest rushing attempts among the league’s top 24 ground-gainers.

Gotta feel after that month that it won’t be long before Jacobs takes a Tiki Barber-type split of carries, like 23-3, with Derrick Ward and Reuben Droughns standing at the ready if Jacobs goes down again. He averaged 5.7 yards per carry during the month. With those numbers, it’s a wonder Eli Manning even considers throwing the ball.

Opinions?

Ciao for now.

Count Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride as one who can’t wait for Plaxico Burress to start practicing again. Although the wide receiver is putting together a Pro Bowl season on that sprained right ankle that has kept him sidelined during the last six weeks, Gilbride said his weekday absence has now started to affect the offense adversely.

“As much as he’s been a real trooper and hung tough, there’s no question it’s getting to a point where it’s affecting his play,” Gilbride said. “There’s some catches he’d normally make that he isn’t, and his routes aren’t quite as precise.

“He’d be the first one to tell you. If we could get him back, that in itself would be a major factor in upgrading us and giving us a little more consistency.”

Tom Coughlin said Monday that Burress could return to practice next Wednesday after giving the ankle a good rest in this bye week. Indeed, the coaching staff would love to have him back, if only to hone his timing with a quarterback who still struggles with his own consistency in the passing game.

Manning went into the bye with a 58.2 completion rating, slightly below the 60 percent the staff had projected for him at the beginning of the season. He’s had stretches of good work; in fact entire halves of solid, on-point passing. But that one great game where he dominated beginning to end, with no silly mistakes in between, hasn’t happened yet.

The coaches, however, say that a healthy, working Burress would help all that develop.

“When he gets back, he’s going to be a better football player,” wide receivers coach Mike Sullivan said. “That’s going to help Eli. It’ll mean the difference between a close call and a completion; a controversial, was it or wasn’t it a defensive pass interference and a no-brainer easy completion.

“Like he said, there’s some magic pixie dust that gets him healed up for gameday. But with the bye week, it’s possible we can get him healed up as much as possible and we can get another strong eight weeks out of him.”

Be back later with some snippets from the rest of our session with the assistants.

Ciao for now.

WHAAAAAAA!!!!! WHAAAAAAAAA!!!! WHAAAAAAAAA!!!

In honor of Antonio Pierce, this is an airhorn alert for a new poll. Simply, it’s grade the Giants at the midpoint. Use whatever criteria you wish and give them a grade in the poll on the right. Then, come back here and tell me your rationale for the grade.

It’s just like the first-quarter grading poll, only I’m hoping more will vote now that the Giants have put hope into their season with their first six-game winning streak since the end of the 1994 season. Can’t wait to read the results.

We’ll leave this up until Friday so everyone gets a chance to exercise their rights.

I’m telling ya, you don’t get this stuff at Buckingham Palace!

Ciao for now.

Well, a little tired today but not for lack of sleep. Went to bed early last night and got up late. Bottom line, it takes a couple of days to get over jet lag.

Even the Giants looked a little low in the eyelids today as they broke from their meetings. But don’t feel too sorry for them. They’re off the rest of the week. Just some meetings and a little conditioning today, and it’s ta-ta until Monday, when they’ll reconvene to begin preparations for Dallas.

Meanwhile, if anybody plans to head overseas for their bye week or, heaven forbid, some other week during the football season, here’s a couple of things I learned over there.

The dollar gets you almost nothing. Conversion rate is almost 2 1/2 American dollars to the pound, which builds up enormous mounds of expenses before you can say “Cherrio, old chap!”

The taxi drivers in London are almost as crazy as they are in New York. Pedal to the metal, passenger beware. The fact that you have very little time to get used to driving on the left side of the road makes for an unnerving, if not scary ride.

The people are friendly. Well, the folks I ran into were. Had a wonderful conversation with a guy and his kid who went to the game from Bristol. He’d actually vacationed in Miami and took in a Dolphins game last year. That’s sort of in contrast with the good-natured but suspicious (I thought overly so) fellow with a wife and two daughters who got off at the next Underground stop “for some air” right after I started telling them about our subway system.

If you crossed the ocean with two carry-on bags, expect to check one of them at airport security over there. There I was, in the middle of Heathrow Airport Monday morning, pulling out my laptop bag from my clothing carry-on and inserting my bulky briefcase, transferring papers I needed for working on the plane at the same time. A real mess.

Football games on soccer fields stink. Those things aren’t made for 300-pound lineman pushing on each other, or wide receivers making quick cuts. Soccer is a graceful game, and the grass they use is almost as delicate as some of the ball placements. They just don’t hold up.

That’s it. We’re putting all the London talk to rest now. We get to talk to the coaches tomorrow, so I’ll have some snippets for you.

Ciao for now.

A little news from abroad, thanks to the folks who stayed a few hours longer in Britain than I did.

Looks like Tom Coughlin is sticking with placekicker Lawrence Tynes despite his third missed field goal of the season. He liked where the kickoffs were placed. The fact that Tynes has now missed from 34, 34, and 29 yards didn’t appear that big a deal to Coughlin. Wait until he blows one and it costs the Giants a game.

Also, cornerback Kevin Dockery was indeed the only one to come out of the game with a significant injury. He hurt his shoulder and didn’t play the second half. And Plaxico Burress, now afforded a whole week of rest on that sprained right ankle, could return to practice next week, God willing and the creek don’t rise.

Ciao for now.

from this place and time that American football should never touch European soil again. And let us hope the British stand in the forefront of the movement.

Those folks who paid for their seats got to see a muddy mess that should have the Wembley Stadium groundskeepers on strike for the next year and a half. That’s what the NFL gets for putting a football game on a soccer field. It’s not a durable grass, and it showed as soon as the rain started falling, which it did in varying degrees for most of the game.

Which brings us to another point. What in the world was Tom Coughlin doing calling pass plays for Eli Manning? It was obvious early on that he was not going to adapt to the conditions, but the plays kept coming in. A good arguement could be made that Manning should not have thrown even 17 or 18 times in weather like that. Reuben Droughns should have gotten more than eight carries for 27 yards, especially in that he was running fairly well. Brandon Jacobs did a super job, though, in rushing for a career-high 131 yards on 23 carries.

Lawrence Tynes’ job should be squarely on the line now after missing a 29-yard field goal that would have all but iced the game. And Manning nearly cost the Giants points with some major gaffes in a perfectly horrible passing game. He did look good, though, as he ran one scramble in for a touchdown from the 10, and took another 18 yards. He was the three of the three-headed monster this week.

Cornerback Kevin Dockery was the only major injury to come out of the game, as he injured his shoulder in the second quarter. Michael Strahan was also seen getting what looked like a cramp stretched out on the sideline, but he continued playing.

As for the concept of playing overseas, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It wreaks of arrogance, pure and simple. Just another chance for an empire to grow richer through sale of jerseys. Let the rest of the world have soccer and rugby, and leave American football where it belongs—in America.

I will now descend from the soapbox.

Ciao for now.

Remember that one big play we talked about in the first half summary. It very nearly happened in the third quarter when Eli Manning was sacked and fumbled. But the defense held once the Dolphins got to the 2, and Miami had to settle for a 29-yard Jay Feely field goal.

Eli is 5-for-17 for 28 yards, which is exactly how many rushing yards he has now on two scrambles, one for a touchdown. They’d be better served keeping it on the ground from here on out

Ciao for now.

Nice 10-yard scramble by Eli Manning. Plaxico Burress was running open right in his view, but Manning smartly kept the ball to himself on a rainy day and ran in his second career rushing touchdown for a 10-0 lead.

Giants really should be running away with this thing, but a couple of deep shots to Burress didn’t pan out. On days like this, you’re better off just running the ball and taking the short, safe routes.

Super play by Jesse Chatman on knocking a screen back to himself and going for a 9-yard gain for a Miami first down. Then Cleo Lemon handed the Giants the ball when he went back to pass and had the ball come out, untouched, as he went to pass. Strahan recovered with 26 seconds left, and Lawrence Tynes hit a 41-yard field goal for a 13-0 lead.

You get the idea the Dolphins are out of this game, but it’s really wet and the ball is slippery. A tripup here or there, and the Giants could be in trouble. We’ll see.

Can’t say enough about the Brits, though. They’re enthusiastic and sound pretty football educated. No inappropriate cheering as yet, and they applauded appreciatevely as the half came to an end.

Ciao for now.

End of the first quarter, Giants up 3-0 and getting somewhat hurt by the Dolphins’ running game. They got a big break, though, when WR Marty Booker fumbled a direct snap that Gibril Wilson recovered at the Dollphins’ 48. Giants didn’t do anything with it, though.

We’re getting a steady rain here, making the field a mess between the hashes. Gonna be a lot of slipping and sliding come the second half.

Jay Feely missed a 48-yard shot, and Lawrence Tynes hit a 20-yarder. That’s plus-one for the team’s resident Scot, the only native Scottish player in the NFL.

Ciao for now.