T-Rock's Take on the Giants

First bit of business today is to answer Alex's comment from yesterday -- why is LaVar Arrington at the SAM and Carlos Emmons at the WIL? According to defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, strong-side (SAM) and weak-side (WIL) mean little; the Giants simply want Arrington closer to the opposing quarterback, and that means on the line of scrimmage, where the Giants' scheme sometimes has the SAM line up.

Since today was also one of our three days of access to Tom Coughlin's assistants, it was good to get some insight from Arrington's position coach, LB coach Bill Sheridan. He acknowledged that the Giants haven't had a talent like Arrington and have adjusted their defensive scheme accordingly.

"Tim coaches the personnel we have and calls the game plan according to the players' strengths," Sheridan said. "Because we have LaVar, we're definitely looking at things differently."

That means looking for ways to get Arrington into the backfield and into a QB's grille -- though Sheridan noted that he's been impressed by Arrington's ability in pass coverage as well.

Among the other highlights of assistants' day:

-- Lewis made it clear that a starting CB's job is Corey Webster's to lose. "He's got all the tools," Lewis said, "and now we need to see them." Webster and Sam Madison worked first-unit all five mini-camp workouts. Lewis also wants to see a big jump in poise and leadership from S Gibril Wilson, who will be starting alongside Will Demps.

-- QB coach Kevin Gilbride, who fills notebooks like no one else on this staff, flat out stated that Jared Lorenzen has played his way into the backup QB conversation. "He hasn't earned the job, he's not there yet, but we have to consider him as a possibility," Gilbride said. Lorenzen was the best and most accurate of the five QBs over the first two days, but struggled yesterday morning, getting picked off by Jason Shivers in the 1st-and-goal drill. Still, Coughlin noted Lorenzen's progress too.

-- Coughlin and Gilbride were intrigued by Rob Johnson's progress, and certainly the 33-year-old vet has a leg up because both of those coaches drafted Johnson in Jacksonville. Johnson's arm strength is the key, having been away 20 months since "Tommy John" surgery on his right elbow. "It's probably going to be a last-minute decision until the end of training camp," Gilbride said. That means they're giving Johnson plenty of time to prove himself, which doesn't bode well for incumbent backup Tim Hasselbeck, despite his closeness with Eli Manning.

-- New secondary coach Peter Giunta noted that last year, his fifth and final season as the DBs coach in Kansas City, he had two new veterans, Patrick Surtain and Sammy Knight, with two longtime Chiefs, Greg Wesley and Eric Warfield. "And we got off to a strong start, so you never know how the new faces are going to mix in," he said of his new secondary, which has two new vets (Madison and Demps) and two younger Giants (Wilson and Webster).

Catch of the day in the final workout was made by Jeremy Shockey, who dove across the middle to snare a TD pass from Manning. Shockey was pumped after the catch, pumped in the locker room and certainly pumped to be on a six-week vacation like the rest of his teammates, who are off until they need to show up in Albany on July 27.

Yours truly will be off for a bit too, but if there's Giants news or questions from all 10 of you out there reading, I'll check in.

When I wrote yesterday that the linebacking corps could be one of the league's best if healthy, I truly meant down the road, not now. But LaVar Arrington's sore Achilles tendon is only minor, he said, and the fact that he's limited to one practice a day in this three-day event is even more minor.

"I don't worry, bro," he said with his trademark toothy smile.  "It's one thing for people to get nervous that I'm not running around, but it's another for me to injure myself and not be ready for training camp."

Arrington said he knew all along that he was going to be the Giants' strong-side LB if and when he signed, with Carlos Emmons moving to the weak side (which he played part of last season). So far, so good, according to Tom Coughlin, who likes the enthusiasm Arrington brings and likes what he sees from Emmons, who ended last season very steamed that he went on IR with a partially torn pectoral muscle while the team was signing linebackers off the set of "Pros vs. Joes."

"Last year's over," Emmons said. As for playing weak side, he's philosophical. "If we get to the Super Bowl, I don't care if they put me at nose guard."

Speaking of last year... Plaxico Burress spoke to us for the first time since his final-day disappearing act, saying that he has no problems with Eli Manning -- though he suggested that his QB might have gotten tired and/or confused by adjusting defenses late last season -- or with the coaching staff.

His no-show on the last day was simply his way of expressing his frustration with the "humiliating" 23-0 playoff loss to the Panthers. "I don't feel I have to explain myself to anybody," he said. "The best way for me to do that is to catch touchdowns and catch passes on the field."

He hasn't gotten many chances through three workouts here, but this is still the basics. Sinorice Moss made a terrific catch on a deep ball from Jared Lorenzen in a 7-on-7 drill, beating CB Brandon Williams down the sideline. Moss worked mostly second- and third-unit yesterday morning but still impressed -- he did muff a punt, though.

Rob Johnson hasn't gotten many reps among the five-man QB rotation, but he showed speed when he scrambled for a first down on a third-and-5 situational drill.  "The guy's got wheels!" a player yelled out.

Will Demps (knee), Brandon Short (knee) and James Butler (kidney) all sat at least one of the workouts. Coughlin said Butler's condition is not serious and he should be ready for training camp.

We're back on the clock and back in the painted corner of the Giants practice field where the media is penned, watching nearly 100 players go through drills. Everyone was on the field yesterday morning, including the wayward Giants -- Jeremy Shockey (sporting a shiner on his left eye), Plaxico Burress (who declined to speak to reporters) and William Joseph, who never speaks to reporters and worked as the second-unit DT with newcomer Junior Ioane, behind Jonas Seawright and Fred Robbins. See, William, that's what you get for being mean to us.

Shockey said the shiner came from a "weight-room accident" on Friday in Miami, where he works out with the University of Miami strength coach, Andrew Swasey, though not at the University of Miami, where Giants rookie WR Sinorice Moss spent his pre-draft time. Burress also has a personal trainer and stayed away from UM, which really begs the question: Why can't these guys bring their personal trainers to Jersey and spend some time catching balls with Eli Manning?

In any event, the on-field attraction yesterday morning was Moss, who showed where he'll fit into the offense. He caught a few "go screens" from Manning, the sort of short passes that the Panthers' Steve Smith excelled at turning into big gains last season, and Moss also ran a few reverses. He's the speed demon the Giants wanted Tim Carter or Jamaar Taylor to be.

The first-unit defense included a linebacker trio of Carlos Emmons, Antonio Pierce and LaVar Arrington -- if they stay healthy (big if), that's a fearsome group, with Reggie Torbor and Brandon Short waiting in the wings. Short didn't practice yesterday; neither did safeties Will Demps (knee) or James Butler, leaving sixth-round pick Charles Peprah working with the first unit.

And the quote of the day comes from Corey Webster. Plenty of players and Tom Coughlin were asked yesterday about Ben Roethlisberger's motorcycle accident and they delivered the usual supportive comments for the Steelers QB. But Webster was almost the one in everyone's prayers -- the projected starting CB was in a car accident in Gramercy, La., on May 28, his car hit by another car that ran a red light early in the morning. Webster was unhurt, but two passengers in the other car were hospitalized.

"Something like that puts a lot of things in perspective," he said. "You can't just watch out for yourself, you've got to watch out around you too."