Guess you can stop holding your breath on Plaxico Burress’ status. He said he’s good to go despite having added a left knee injury to his sprained right ankle.

Burress continued to sit out practice, but coach Tom Coughlin said he should make it Sunday. Not like the Giants have any great options there. If he has some sort of major setback between now and then, they’ll be down to Sinorice Moss as their deep threat.

“He didn’t work, but we expect he’ll play,” Coughlin said.

“It’s a little sore,” Burress said, referring to his knee injury. “It’s been hurt, so I’ll just go out and keep playing through it. It just goes along with everything else I’ve had. It’s nothing real serious.”

Running back Derrick Ward took his third full day of practice and proclaimed himself ready to return after sitting with groin and ankle injuries the last four weeks. He is expected to start in Chicago, since Brandon Jacobs is doubtful at best with a strained hamstring.

Linebacker Antonio Pierce practiced and is expected to start, but cornerback Aaron Ross, dealing with a hamstring injury, will not play. Kevin Dockery will replace him at left cornerback.

WR Steve Smith worked a full practice today, but he’s probably a week away from actually playing. S Gibril Wilson sat, and could be limited in the game. That’s not great news right there, since the talent behind James Butler and Wilson is inexperienced Michael Johnson and unused Craig Dahl.

Ciao for now.

The good news is that RB Derrick Ward and LB Antonio Pierce continued to practice today. Ward, who has practiced fully the last two days, was out there running plays again, while Pierce at least lined up with the first team defense during non—contact drills. Looks like both will play against the Bears.

The bad news is that Aaron Ross remained on the sidelines for a third straight day with a hamstring strain. He probably won’t make it, which means Kevin Dockery will start at left corner. And, of course, Plaxico Burress remained on the sidelines with a knee problem to go along with his sprained ankle.

More bad news. They’re expecting rain and snow in Chicago tomorrow night, and that could leave Soldier Field a mess. That could impact just how much, or even if, they play Burress. And with Ward coming back from a groin injury, the staff may be careful in how much they use him. A sloppy field, the likes of which Monday Night viewers saw in Pittsburgh this week, could favor the Bears.

I’ll be back with more after we talk with Tom Coughlin.

Ciao for now.

My main man, Brian Heyman, was out at the stadium today and came back with a few notes for us.

Looks like the boys are circlin’ the wagons around quarterback Eli Manning. Jeremy Shockey indicated the team had a players-only meeting, which generally means something in losing two of the last three games touched a raw nerve. He didn’t report any furniture moving or shoutdowns, just some routine stuff about needing to get things cleaned up—pronto!

No word on whether they gave Manning a group hug, but he probably didn’t get blasted out, either.

In injury news, Plaxico Burress’ sore knee wasn’t much better as he continued to miss practice. Tom Coughlin wasn’t sure he’d play, saying only that he was “hopeful.” That’s not great, considering he’s always been firm on Burress playing while he just sat with the sprained right ankle.

MLB Antonio Pierce ran on the side with his sprained ankle and could get back to practice tomorrow. But it doesn’t look like Aaron Ross is going to make it back from a hamstring pull this week. Expect Kevin Dockery to start at left corner.

Brandon Jacobs continued to take limited practice, as did WR Steve Smith. Don’t expect either of them in the lineup. But do expect RB Derrick Ward if he can make it through a third straight day of full practice tomorrow.

Also, S Gibril Wilson was held out of practice with a sore knee, but should make it Sunday.
——————————————Just a thought here. Everybody seems to be making a big deal out of Jerry Reese’s “skittish” comment about Manning that was buried in another newspaper’s column. A bit overblown, I’d say. Most quarterbacks get a little uncomfortable when they have 300-pound guys chasing them all afternoon. Don’t worry too much about that. If he gets protection and the running game works for him, Manning can win.

Ciao for now.

I don’t believe Antonio Pierce has joined a gun-toting lunatic fringe element of society, even though his comments about guns in relation to the shooting death of Redskins safety Sean Taylor are disturbing. I just think they’re the function of a man dealing with the loss of a former Redskins teammate he’d just talked to three weeks ago, searching for a solution.

I’m going to offer the questions and his quotes verbatum for your perusal, and then you can tell me what you think.

How difficult has it been for you with the Sean Taylor incident since he was a teammate of yours?

“It is frustrating. I just talked to the guy three weeks ago to make sure he was alright. You hear about stuff like that and initially you hear he is shot in the leg and you think it is something simple and then you hear more details of it. I think it is just a sad case in general where I think athletes in general are being put in a more vulnerable situation.

“What I am saying by that is you are talking about athletes
anytime they get accused of having a gun or something it is for negative reasons. We are just like everybody else in this world. We don’t go around shooting, killing, and robbing people with a gun. You have it for your protection and when you see a situation like this it is very frustrating and I am disappointed about it. I hope the league does something about it to protect athletes.”

Is it shocking when this happens to someone in the league?

“No, it isn’t. There have been a lot of opportunities, you see it all the time, and you hear about situations like that where guys are put in situations where they are left defenseless and we are not used to that. We are always on the defensive side; playing football, taking it from the media, everything. We are defensive in that sense. When you are out in public and you are out away from football and in a situation like this where you are at home you are supposed to be safe. You can’t really do too much to protect yourself because if you have something
that somebody thinks you shouldn’t have, it is a negative thing and I think that is the sad part about the situation.”

What do you think the league can do?

“I don’t know, something different than all these worries about guys having guns and stuff like that. I am not saying you need to have a gun at home with you. I am just saying we need protection, too. We are vulnerable. We are the guys that everybody is looking after, we are the guys that most people are coming after. You don’t see athletes going out there trying to rob people, it is not common. I am not going to say it doesn’t happen, but it is not common. With that being said, I think it is just something where don’t just always look at the bad side when you hear that an athlete has a gun or something like that. I have heard stories about it and sometimes it is for a good reason and it is for protection. We have families. Sean Taylor, he had a daughter and a fiance at home, and when a guy has to use a machete instead of other things, I think it is silly, especially when you know something is going on maybe.”

You are saying you think you guys are marked men?

“I think so because you can’t do anything. If somebody comes to your house and you brandish a gun and you are in your house, you are the one that gets all the blame. “Why does he have a gun? He makes all this money, he should have security.’ Well you know what, you can’t have security with you 24/7. Nobody else in this world does most of the time except the President and other people. At the end of the day like I
said we are humans and we have a life and we have family and we deal with the same problems that everybody else deals with. All I am saying is that it is tough because you are so vulnerable that you can’t defend yourself and I think that is what I am upset about.”
——————————————————-

In some injury updates, Brandon Jacobs took some individual work and said he’ll take it day by day. But Derrick Ward took a full practice and could be ready for the Bears, barring any setbacks.

Speaking of setbacks, Plaxico Burress now has a sore knee to go along with the sprained right ankle that has kept him out of practice since the Green Bay game in Week 2. He stayed in the trainer’s room during practice.

Pierce (ankle) and CB Aaron Ross (hamstring) did not practice. Ross sounded like he’s a longshot to play Sunday, which means Kevin Dockery will take his spot at starting left corner. Chase Blackburn took Pierce’s spot at middle linebacker.

Ciao for now.

Looks like Brandon Jacobs is a longshot to play this week, but he’s moving along. Tom Coughlin has the running back scheduled to take individual drills today, but my guess is he’ll go real easy for the week and not play on Sunday in Chicago.

Backup RB Derrick Ward does seem to have a shot, though. He’s scheduled for a full practice. Don’t be surprised if that nasty groin and ankle flare up again at some point this week. For now, assume Reuben Droughns and Ahmad Bradshaw will again be the rushing duo against the Bears.

Even more cloudy are the respective statuses of MLB Antonio Pierce and CB Aaron Ross. Pierce’s ankle sprain and Ross’ hamstring strain kept both out of practice.

Just an interesting note here. The Giants were wrong when they thought they escaped playing against running back Adrian Peterson. They’ll see him this week now that Cedric Benson is on the IR. No, not that Peterson, the Vikings’ rookie sensation. This Peterson is the Bears backup, who has 52 carries for 189 yards and two touchdowns this year. Not quite the numbers his namesake has put up, huh?

Back with you guys later.

Ciao for now.

The Giants released RB Patrick Pass, signed last week, and signed LB Tank Daniels from their practice squad. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Daniels, signed Sept. 1 to the practice squad, spent some time on the Eagles’ kick coverage teams last year, and will have similar responsibilities here.

Ciao for now.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, Redskins safety Sean Taylor died this morning after suffering a severed femoral artery from a gunshot during a break-in at his Florida home Monday.

Taylor wasn’t the cleanest safety around, but there were few who were more aggressive. The league fined him repeatedly for illegal hits, and he once spit in an opponent’s face. He also had some off-field problems.

But this incident is not believed related to his off-field issues which, many believe, he put behind him. His teammates and coaches say he was growing up, becoming more responsible.

Would have liked to see how that maturation process would have turned out. He didn’t deserve an early exit like this.

No one does.

Ciao for now.

Howdy again, folks. Sorry about the absence, but the monkey that runs on the treadmill that powers the electricity that keeps these blogs running ran off for a couple of days, and we were down while the animal warden went to find him.

So what do you expect from somebody who earns peanuts?

Hey, wait a minute. Compared to my paycheck, peanuts sounds pretty good.

But I digress. We’re back now. You all must know about that nasty, ugly 41-17 loss to the Vikings Sunday. No blogs, of course. But what you would have read was this.

Pick, touchdown. Pick, no touchdown, but touchdown a play later. Pick, touchdown. Pick, touchdown.

Not a good pattern. Not good? It was the worst display ever by a Giants quarterback. Of course, it raised all the same issues with Eli Manning whenever he takes a loss, including the public ruckus he caused when he refused to run a hari-kari blade across his abdomen in his postgame press conference. Too nonchalante about things, they said.

The callers and writers and talking heads said a lot of other things about him, too. Typical lack of leadership stuff, and the Giants will never win with this guy.

I’ll tell you what I think. We learned long ago from Trent Dilfer that any quarterback can win a Super Bowl. And I believe that Eli Manning is capable of winning one, too. What I’m starting to believe he’ll never do, though, is hoist a team on his back and will it to victory.

Phil Simms could do that. Joe Montana did it many times. Manning’s brother Peyton can do it, and so can Tom Brady and Brett Favre. They’re a rare breed, though. Eli is not one of those.

For him to win, everything has to be working. The line has to block, the defense has to keep the opponent to respectable levels, and the running game has to be effective. Do that, and Manning can generally manage a game well enough to win. That may never make him an elite quarterback, but it could make him a Super Bowl winner at some point.

Which brings us to a question. Do you guys feel comfortable with Manning at the controls? If you had your choice of quarterbacks outside of Brady, Favre, Peyton Manning, and Tony Romo, who would you put in there. And no fair saying Rex Grossman. We want to be analytical, not cruel.

Okay, that’s it. It’s my turn to give the monkey his lunch.

Union labor. Gotta love it.

Ciao for now.

The Giants have a chance to assure themselves of their third straight non-losing season tomorrow against the Vikings.

Think they’ll take advantage of Minnesota’s up-and-down ways? They’ve played down to the competition before. Could be interesting, even though the Vikings are a totally uninteresting team to watch.

Here’s the five questions.

1) What kind of defense will the Giants play?

Look for a lot of eight-in-the-box stuff, since the Vikings are a run-first, almost run-always team. It’ll be interesting to see whether Vikings coach Brad Childress will actually use rookie phenom Adrian Peterson, or if he was just playing with everybody’s heads by listing the NFL’s leading rusher as questionable with a knee sprain. Even if Peterson sits, the Vikings still have a strong run game with Chester Taylor and a massive, not to mention expensive, offensive line blocking for him.

2) But what about Tarvaris Jackson?

What about him? He doesn’t exactly scare the wits out of anybody with the passing game. The Giants will play lots of single coverage on Troy Williamson and Bobby Wade, who have exactly 43 catches and a touchdown between them. If the Vikings are going to do anything, they’ll do it on the ground.

3) How’s the Giants’ long passing game coming?

Not good. Plaxico Burress remains hobbled. Even though Sinorice Moss showed signs of life last week, don’t expect him to suddenly burst into a downfield danger, even against the worst pass defense in the league. That means small chunks again, which is fine if Eli Manning continues to avoid mistakes and Jeremy Shockey can provide those catches in the middle. Ordinarily, you’d want to get some decent ground work going, too. But Reuben Droughns will be in for a tough time against the league’s best run defense. They need to run away from monster tackles Kevin and Pat Williams.

4) How many fumbles will Ahmad Bradshaw have if he gets significant work behind Droughns?

He’s had fumbling problems this year on kickoffs, but has solved them to get back into Tom Coughlin’s good graces. Who knows if he’ll hang onto the ball in the backfield, though, since his next carry will be his first. Bradshaw has promised he’s working on the old high-and-tight. Fans should hope he’s kept that promise, since the Vikings in the past have taken advantage of Giants mistakes to beat them.

5) Are the Vikings on the same level as the Giants?

Nah. They’re a lesser team, to paraphrase the eminent Jon Kitna’s evaluation of the Giants after they beat him last week. And not just because of the 4-6 record. The secondary is hurting and can’t cover. They don’t pressure the passer. The offense is nothing if the running game slows down. The quarterback is more flash than substance. They’re exactly the type of team the Giants would lose to in another year. This year, they’ve taken care of business against those teams, but they still need to proceed cautiously to keep from falling into that big, old lion’s trap.

Prediction: Resign yourself to it now; by no means will this be a work of art. But with all the running the Vikings do, it could be over in less than three hours, and that’s always good news. The offense will take their little chunks, the Vikings will stay in the game until the end, but the Giants will do just enough to win, 14-10, with the Vikings scoring a late touchdown.

Enjoy the game.

Ciao for now.

Pfffft. Guess Derrick Ward didn’t do enough in practice this week to make Tom Coughlin think he’d be useful against the Vikings. He’s listed as doubtful, which means there’ll be some ‘splainin’ to do if he does suit up Sunday.

Don’t think that’ll happen, though. Coughlin said he did just a little bit in practice this week. He’s got to be able to take a whole workload before he gets back on the field.

As expected, Brandon Jacobs and Steve Smith are out.

Ciao for now.