Just got in from our little segment of practice and can report that you shouldn’t count on either Derrick Ward or James Butler for Sunday. Both spent their time on the bikes, Ward with an aggravation of his sprained left ankle and Butler with injuries to the hamstring and ankle.

Ahmad Bradshaw took Ward’s snaps on offense, and Michael Johnson was in at strong safety next to Gibril Wilson.

Be back with more later.

Ciao for now.

Osi Umenyiora had a nice week. First he dumps Trent Dilfer and returns his fumble 75 yards for a touchdown. Today, he became only the second Giant since Michael Strahan to win the NFC Defensive Player of the Week twice in one season. Strahan did it in 2001 for Weeks 3 and 5. Umenyiora was previously honored for his six—sack effort against Philadelphia in Week 4.

He’s also the first NFL player to win any kind of Player of the Week award twice within a four—week period, following San Diego running back Ladainian Tomlinson in Weeks 15 and 16 last season. The last defensive player to do it was Miami defensive end Jason Taylor in Weeks 9 and 11 last year.

Ciao for now.

The boys in blue are ready to head for the land of queens and dukes and earls. And you know what? They’re not all that excited about it.

Plain truth is that the Giants aren’t going to have a lot of time to tool around the streets of London—town once they get there Friday morning. Tom Coughlin plans to get them working right away, with minimal free time. So it really will be a working trip for the players. No double—decker sight—seeing buses rented, no audience with Queen Liz. Just as well. Can’t really imagine Tom Coughlin making small talk with Her Majesty.

The biggest worry this week may be the health of a couple of players. RB Derrick Ward (ankle) and S James Butler both sat out practice today, respectively with an aggravation of a sprained left ankle and a strained hamstring. There’s a good chance Butler might not make it at all, since hammys tend to be funny things. Even if Butler plays, expect to see the fast Johnson out there quite a bit. He did well in the second half.

The best news is that Brandon Jacobs isn’t even on the injury report, which means he should be in good shape for Sunday.

Here’s a question, though. Since the Giants’ plans for their free time are totally open—ended, what should they do with their free hours in London? Give me some suggestions for specific players, and maybe I’ll even pass them along.

Ciao for now.

Tom Coughlin appears as committed to Lawrence Tynes as any coach could be to a kicker. At least for now.

Maybe it’s because Tynes has his passport in order, and getting a new kicker now would create a clerical nightmare of red tape as they try to smuggle a new body to London. Or maybe Coughlin still believes Tynes gives them the best chance to win.

Either way, he’s not going to make a kicking change yet, even after Tynes missed his third PAT of the season.

Though the first of his muffs was blocked against Dallas in the opener, his other two were obvious misses. That has Coughlin worried, and even moved him to hold kicker tryouts after his second miss against Philadelphia.

When asked if he was still committed to Tynes, Coughlin responded with a firm “Yes.�But that didn’t mean Tynes problems were far from his mind.

“Obviously I’m concerned about that,” Coughlin said. “You don’t ever want to deal with that part of it. The extra point part of it should be automatic.”

Tynes did hit two field goals from 29 and 39 yards yesterday, though the 29-yarder was a low liner that barely cleared the left upright. His 39-yarder went through just inside the right upright.

“I’m concerned about that,” Coughlin said. “We certainly have got to fight the best we can to establish some consistency there that seems to come and go.”

In injury news, James Butler’s mild hamstring strain could keep him out of practice tomorrow. Coughlin also said Brandon Jacobs’ sprained right ankle came out of the game “no worse than usual” and probably won’t affect his availability for Sunday.

Ciao for now.

All this hysteria over Osi Umenyiora’s speed on his 75-yard touchdown return. I’ll be a good, fast receiver could have beat him downfield in a footrace.

But seriously, folks, perhaps the best part of this team is that they’re putting away the lesser competition they’re facing. They easily could have played down to the 49ers. Instead, they came out with a nice, long, methodical opening touchdown drive and kept controlling the ball for the first half. And when they didn’t control it in the second half, the defense rose up in a huge way.

Six sacks on Trent Dilfer to avoid another Super Bowl-type catastrophe. Eight other hits on him to leave him a bruised and rattled mess. And remember, the Niners were never really in this game.

I’m left wondering a couple of things. Wonder if Lawrence Tynes is going to make it to London after legitimately missing his second extra point of the season (a third was blocked). And I’m wondering about this aggravating habit Tom Coughlin has of watching Brandon Jacobs pick up six yards a carry, and then suddenly pulling him for Reuben Droughns on third-and-1. Nothing against Droughns, but if a guy’s churning it up out there, leave him alone. He might just break one on third-and-short for you. Also can ‘t say enough about Jacobs’ career-high 107 yards and a touchdown. He’s the goods when he’s healthy, all right.

Bad work by Derrick Ward on dropping two uncontested passes, one of which probably would have gone for a touchdown.

Gotta love the “D” for turning over the Niners’ offense four times, though Antonio Pierce should have had another score for them on that return where Dilfer plowed him under at the 5. I’m with Strahan when he said Pierce will hear about that for a week. Dilfer should have been road-kill. Maybe AP just felt sorry for him after hitting him late twice for major penalties.

And, hey, guys, let’s not get too into the Giants proving nothing because they’re beating bad teams. Have you looked at the upcoming schedule? Miami next week, then later on Detroit, Minnesota, and Chicago. Those guys alone could get them to nine wins if they keep playing the way they’re playing. The good teams beat the guys they’re supposed to beat and steal a game or two from the big boys. That second part hasn’t happened yet, but the schedule breaks the way the schedule breaks.

Anyway, off to beddy-by. London next week. Me? I’m having tea with the Queen. She told me to bring my bookie; may want to place a few quid on the Giants.

Ciao for now.

Nice Osi Umenyiora pickup of a fumble caused by his sack of Dilfer for a touchdown. Bad special teams work on getting Jeff Feagles’ punt blocked in the end zone for a safety, his first block since he had two in 2004.

But don’t expect any big comebacks from the Niners. I think they’re cooked. Unless I’m horribly wrong, Giants got their fifth straight win.

By the way, I need the Giants to get a’ safety to hit my exact prediction, 28-9.

Ciao for now.

Giants haven’t done badly despite the negatives of a missed PAT and an interception. The defense got two turnovers on a Frank Gore fumble and a Sam Madison pick and turned them into 10 points. Eli Manning ran a nice 2-minute drill from the 11 that turned into a 39-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes and a 19-7 lead with 0:17 left.

Giants offense has been generally dominant with Brandon Jacobs (you know, the guy ESPN’s been saying is out since Friday) gaining 86 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

Bad news. Plaxico Burress limped off. Waiting for an injury update. But if the offense keeps this up, they’ll have a laugher going into London.

Ciao for now.

Some bad things happening to counteract all the good things the offense is doing. Lawrence Tynes missed an extra point after a nice, long drive to start the game, and Eli Manning threw a tipped interception as the Giants were driving deep for a second time. Still, the offense is dominating, so we’ll see if the defense can keep things stable.

Ciao for now.

ESPN’s wrong again. Brandon Jacobs is active. So what does that make them, 0-for-12 on the season? Don’t worry guys, maybe somebody will break a leg down the line and you’ll finally get one right.

Anyway, here’s the inactives. As expected Steve Smith is down. Expect him back next week, since he’ll have two solid weeks of practice under his belt.

Giants:
WR Steve Smith
S Craig Dahl
RB Ahmad Bradshaw
T Adam Koets
DE Dave Tollefson
DT Manny Wright
G Kevin Boothe
Jared Lorenzen is the third quarterback

Niners:
WR LeRon McCoy
CB Tarrell Brown
S Keith Lewis
G Tony Wragge
T Kwame Harris
DE Atiyyah Ellison
WR Jason Hill
Alex Smith is the third quarterback

Ciao for now.

The Giants go for five wins in a row today and a 5-2 record against the 49ers. So how appropriate is it that we ask five questions about the game? See, it doesn’t work out like that every year. Maybe this season really is special.

Or, maybe I’m just stretching things.

Here’s your five for today.

1) Will Brandon Jacobs start?

Don’t know yet. ESPN apparently reported he won’t play, which means he’ll not only start but rush for 100 yards and score three touchdowns. He took limited practice on a sprained ankle this week, but insisted throughout that he’ll play. He’s questionable, so let’s call him a gametime decision. My guess? ESPN’s been so wrong so often that I’m almost dead sure he’ll play at least a bit. And if he doesn’t, then the Giants still have an able two-headed attack with Derrick Ward and Reuben Droughns.

2) How should the defense control Frank Gore?

By staying home. With the eminent Trent Dilfer starting at quarterback, Mike Nolan is going to want to run, run, run. So the Giants should keep the blitzing to a minimum and keep their linebackers in position to cut off the corners where the fast, sturdy Gore can do so much damage. Meanwhile, the cornerbacks need to get their hands on the San Francisco receivers so Dilfer can’t complete those one or two critical passes he’s usually good for. Dilfer won’t really need to be pressured through a heavy blitz if the base front four can rattle him a bit. Don’t expect to see a lot of the four-defensive end front today. My guess is they’ll keep Mathias Kiwanuka in a traditional linebacker spot for the flexibility factor.

3) Will Nate Clement and Walt Harris have a big impact on Eli Manning’s passing game?

Well, DeAngelo Hall didn’t keep him from throwing for 300 yards and going right after the Atlanta cornerback in the fourth quarter. But Clement, the league’s highest-paid corner, and Harris are awfully good. That means Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer could have reduced roles, with an increased look going to Jeremy Shockey. Still, look for Toomer on those sideline throws.

4) Is Sinorice Moss a viable receiver at this point?

Not really. The only reason he’s getting so much business is because good-looking rookie Steve Smith has been out with a fractured shoulder blade. I’m not expecting Smith to play this week, even after his first full week of practice since the Green Bay game. But as soon as he is ready, probably next week in London, he’ll step right back into the No. 3 wideout spot. They’ve tried to give Moss a good chance, but he’s shown he has suspect hands and can’t fight for extra yardage after the catch. They don’t often send him long, so he’s not a complementary downfield threat with Plaxico Burress, and his short patterns aren’t great. Once Smith does come back, the offense will be that much better.

5) Are the Giants too comfortable after four straight wins?

I don’t think so. The defense has bought into Steve Spagnuolo’s system completely and has been productive with it the last four games. The offense finally got off to the fast start they’d been searching for throughout the first month of the season. They’re clicking, a game behind Dallas for the NFC East lead, and there’s no reason to think they’ll let up. If Dilfer beats them this time—remember, he was the winning quarterback against them in Super Bowl XXXV—it’ll mean the Giants took a big step backward.

Prediction: The Giants would love to come out of the first half the same way they did last year, at 6-2, so they’ll need this one to set up next week’s game against the Dolphins, arguably the worst team in football. Giants 28-9.

Ciao for now.