T-Rock's Take on the Giants

Here's a few quick takes from our day with the assistants...

Safeties coach Dave Merritt on Michael Johnson: "As I was grading the film (from the Dolphins game), 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. And he made all the coverage calls, even as the swing guy -- he can play strong or free. He had a lot on his plate and he played a strong, physical game, which is just awesome for us."

On whether James Butler gets his starting job back: "You don't lose your job because of an injury. I like the position we're in now, with a three-headed monster back there. Michael Johnson will continue to play, which I'm happy about. You don't lose your job to an injury. But Michael is right there, at both (Butler and Gibril Wilson's) heels."

WRs coach Mike Sullivan on Sinorice Moss: "He showed some flashes in the Jet game. He only had the one catch, but on the tape, he was consistently winning his battles. In Atlanta, he had a couple opportunities where even he would say he could have done more with the football and used his speed better. I think he could really use a big play to build up his confidence, but with all the other weapons in our offense, those opportunities don't come along very often."

Sullivan on Amani Toomer: "When teams want to double Plax or Shockey, he's proving that he's still one of the best in the game at getting open one on one and controlling his body. It's not a surprise how much the offense fell off when he got hurt last year."

O-line Pat Flaherty on the praise for his group: "It starts with the philosophy of the head coach and the offensive coordinator. I don't know where I stand in that line, but it sure as heck isn't near the top."

On the attitude of the O-linemen: "You have a personality you develop in that room. Where does it come from? From the whole group. The standards they've set aren't necessarily ones that I've set. When we had to replace (Luke Petitgout), it became somebody else's job to get it done. Within that room, we felt we could get it done. So far, it's worked out."

Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride on Burress: "As much as he's been a real trooper to battle through all this, there's no question it's affected his play. He's not able to fight for some balls the way he normally does, his routes are a little different. He'd be the first to tell you that."

Gilbride on Eli: "He makes everybody else better, including the run game. You know he won't take a sack if he sees the blitz coming, so he's making the O-line better with their numbers. He checked into a couple of runs (on Sunday) and he's making that better. I'd say the last game and a half we haven't thrown the ball the way we'd like. Sixty percent (completions) is still a reasonable goal. He's just below it now, but he was just above it up until the last game and a half."

DBs coach Peter Giunta on Sam Madison: "When he came to camp, he just blew us away in the conditioning test. I think being hurt last year, he really dedicated himself to coming here in his best shape this time around. It was a clean slate and he was ready to go."

On Corey Webster: "His confidence has definitely been hurt and he's in a bit of a slump. To get out of it, he's got to have the opportunities to make plays and then go and make them. Since the Washington game, he hasn't had too many opportunities."

On Aaron Ross: "He's got a great knack for making plays, and some people are just born with that. He has great football instincts, when the ball's in the air, or getting to the quarterback. He's made great progress."

That's all for now... Might dig up some more nuggets later. Thanks for the question contributions.

We're meeting with the entire assistant coaching group in 2 hours. Questions, anyone?

And yes, Jonathan (and Simon), I will ask Spags and safeties coach Dave Merritt about Michael Johnson. That's No. 1 on my to-do list today.

That was the overall tone of today's media access... Given that injured guys have to stick around for treatment, it was a good sign that most of the key vets had vacations booked rather than trips to Ronnie Barnes' training room for the remainder of the week.

Chalk Talk has turned into a midseason report card, so I'm happy to see all the opinions about the team's status heading into the bye week. We'll continue it tomorrow, when I'll give my own assessment and prediction for the second half.

Oh, and to get all your engines revved for the next couple days: I'm throwing open the doors to the next FridayList. Starting Thursday night, send in your favorites... Any topic, football or otherwise, long as it's not R-rated. I want to hear from you, people!

Oh, and I'll also be taking T-Dips' advice from a couple weeks back and welcome all questions pertaining to the very awesome job I have. Ask me anything -- again, as long as it's not R-rated.

Get your thinking caps on, gang.

Is it Tuesday already? Players will be available in a couple hours, so we'll see how the pond-crossing flights left them. Today is their only day of work and then they're off until Monday. Rare, but this has been a different season, hasn't it?

Which leads me to the question for a slow week: Why do you feel better about this season's 6-2 than the last two seasons' identical starts? Or do you feel worse? Let me know. This will be the Chalk Talk topic, so I'll chime in later with my own thoughts.

Thanks for keeping the comments board going in my brief absence. No more days off the blog until the end of the season... Oh, wait. Doubt there'll be any posts this weekend.

OK, no more days off the blog until the end of the season, starting Monday.

Winston, it is true that I'm not going to London. Glauber will be there, so check in with him for your Giants updates from across the pond. I'll be back with you on Tuesday.

Might be the first kicker ever asked to participate in the mid-week conference call with reporters... He did his usual fine job with the media, saying he never thought TC would be able to change the way he has and saying Tiki's preseason rip jobs on Eli and TC brought the Giants closer together.

Here are some quotes:

Whether he thought the Giants were cooked at 0-2: "I did. I think a lot of people felt that way because of the way the season ended last year and the fact they weren’t aggressive in free agency and let a lot of players go and didn’t really go out and try to replace those players. So the feeling was they weren’t going to be a great team this year, although I think people who knew about the team like myself knew how much talent there was. But I think, without question, that credit has to go to Coach Coughlin. I’ve talked to a lot of the guys I’m still friends with on the team and to a man, they’ve talked about the changes he’s made. And whether it was because he felt like he didn’t have anything to lose and wanted to try something different, that’s not easy for somebody to do – to change your ways. I think that has really brought that team together.

"And I think the other thing that probably did was Tiki Barber. The comments he made against Eli and against Coach Coughlin really galvanized that team and that locker room to come together."

Whether he thought TC could change: "No, I didn’t. But if you remember at the end of last year, when we talked, you guys asked me what I thought our problem was on our team and why we struggled the last half of the season and in the playoffs and I said I thought as a locker room and as leaders on our team, we talked too much and criticized Coach Coughlin too much and that a head coach needs unquestioned support at least publicly because, otherwise, you undermine his ability to lead. If you have a veteran question the head coach publicly, then those young guys are going to do that and they’re not going to listen to him the way they need to. I said we needed that and then that Coach Coughlin could probably create a more friendly environment where players wanted to play for him more and I think that’s exactly what happened. You’ve had Coach Coughlin, he took them out bowling and did little things like that to try and relate to them on a (personal) level rather than just on a football level. He knows so much about football. There have been many coaches that have coached with him that are now at other places that have told me that he knows way more than their current coach does about football. That says a lot about his knowledge of football. but I think now that he’s trying to relate on a relational level with players now, he gets a different level of commitment from those guys."

He's also hit 22 straight field goals, tops in the league. Feely said he enjoyed playing for TC and would have gladly returned, but Jerry Reese stood firm against offering Feely the big deal (three years, $2-million guaranteed) that the Dolphins did.

"Really, the decision was made by Jerry Reese. He and I had a conversation before I left and I asked him point blank, ‘Why didn’t you make more of an effort to re-sign me?’ I asked him to be honest with me and he said, ‘I think you’re on the decline of your career and you don’t have a strong enough leg anymore.’ I said, ‘Okay if that’s your opinion, I’m going to go out and try to prove you wrong.’ That’ll be my mentality on Sunday, that’s for sure."

uckily for the Giants, if it's only the Miami kicker who wants revenge, they should be safe on Sunday.

As to the questions...

-- Ahmad Bradshaw is perfectly healthy, Steve. His fumble against Green Bay cost him the return job and he's not a good enough ST player right now to make an impact, which means he's staying inactive until someone gets hurt.

-- James Butler on the bike today may mean Michael Johnson gets the call on Sunday. I don't think Butler's been good this year -- his angles and tackling are just terrible -- but he's gotten better. As Johnson said yesterday: "With the defensive line we have, it makes our jobs a lot easier." That'll make everyone look good in the secondary.

And Jonathan, no one knows what the future has in store for Butler's spot. He earned the starting position and TC hasn't seen fit to make a change yet while both he and Johnson were healthy. We'll see what goes down after Sunday.

-- Big Froe, you should know better than that. The Giants are all coming home as a team on Monday, having a very light workout on Tuesday and then they're gone for the week. I guess they're all welcome to head back to London then, but I doubt anyone would.

Plax and Ward have their usual ankle woes, though Ward's is worse than it's been, and James Butler has more of an ankle issue than a hamstring issue. Michael Johnson may get the call in London.

No other news today, other than Antonio Pierce's desire to see "those guys who don't move at Buckingham Palace."

That I'll be so incredibly wrong. Pierce walked by me and said softly: "6-1 now, huh?" Referring to my picks in Giants games this season. He really never forgets a slight.

To review:

THE GOOD

O-line: Great protection for Eli, great movement to open holes for Brandon Jacobs.

D-line: Not just the sack masters, but the whole line. Russell Davis was out there a bit too at DT and he had a good day.

Osi: Have to single him out for the 75-yard fumble return. Just the quickness to pounce on Trent Dilfer, pounce on the ball and outrace everyone to the end zone was special.

Strahan: 2 1/2 sacks, though Dilfer laid down for the first one. No. 92 was solid.

Jacobs: 107 rushing yards and a TD. Not bad for a guy who wasn't supposed to play.

Aaron Ross/Sam Madison/Kevin Dockery: Save for Ross' mistimed jump on the Niners' only TD, the corners were very good. Dockery especially -- San Fran tried to pick on the little guy and go for Ashley Lelie, but all that resulted in was a couple incompletions and an offensive P.I.

THE BAD

Special teams: Blocked punt, missed PAT, another long-ish kick return. Lawrence Tynes did hit his two FG tries, but why does there always have to be one foul-up a game?

Trent Dilfer: Hoo boy. And he left the stadium wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt. Crikey.

Conference call with TC in a couple hours. Only real injury from the game was James Butler, who left in the first half with a hamstring injury. Michael Johnson wasn't too noticeable in Butler's place, but that's not all bad.

Same as last week -- Steve Smith, Craig Dahl, Ahmad Bradshaw, Adam Koets, Dave Tollefson, Manny Wright, Kevin Boothe and Jared Lorenzen as the third QB.

Alex Smith is the 49ers' third QB.

As for the Brandon Jacoobs "will he or won't he?" stuff that's flying round the sports networks... I haven't heard anything to the contrary of Jacobs' stated intent to play. Not that TC would have come right out this week and said that his No. 1 back wasn't playing.

Basically, I have no new info. Just like the Chris Mortensen/Eli/shoulder thing from last month, I have the utmost respect for how hard John Clayton works, and he's usually got good sources with the Giants.

In this case, though, I think we have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out about Jacobs. It's fun to try and be first when it comes to injuries week to week, but really, it's near impossible to say unless the team does first.

And TC has never, ever made an early declaration on a guy who was iffy. Ever.

So... I'll still say that Jacobs dresses for the game, based on just being around all week. It's an advantage we have over the ESPN folks.

On to the game preview:

Again, I'll come right out with it.

49ers 17, Giants 14

Why? Honestly, the best answer I can offer is as un-journalistic as possible. It's just a hunch, really. Of course, all my other predictions were hunches too, but I've been 4-for-4 on those, all Giants wins. For the record, I called the Packers win too, but not here.

This has the feel of the Vikings visit from two seasons ago. A clearly inferior team that may catch the Giants at the wrong time, with the help of a return or two for scores. Trent Dilfer may get smacked around, but I have the feeling that Eli Manning is due for a real clunker, not just the up-and-down games he's had in recent weeks.

So, I'm going out on a limb against the G-men. Antonio Pierce had this classic quote this week: "You guys know I love to blame y'all for everything." So, as has been my custom on Fridays this season, I informed him I was picking the Niners.

He was quite pleased. Gibril Wilson, however, said he's never speaking to me again. It's a tradeoff.

If there's any news on the Jacobs front, I'll get it out here.

This according to TC -- so I guess I should believe Steve Smith and not the injury report. To quote the coach: "Really, there's been no limitation on him. He's taken his reps all week long, so we will see."

Not much else new from the locker room, I'm afraid. We'll talk more football tomorrow.

Not sure who was full or limited... And I won't be taking Steve Smith's word for it today.

Oh, and Simon -- we appreciate all viewpoints here in our little electronic campground. But don't steal my ideas -- Top 10 Ballets is on deck, buddy!

More in a few...

Hate to leave everyone hanging all day tomorrow, so here we go.

This is one is prompted by my recent trip to ATL... Watched a flick on the plane that made me feel this list is necessary.

Top 10 New York Movies (movies that feature the city prominently)

10. Pi/Requiem For a Dream -- A couple of whacked-out classics by Darren Aronofsky, the latter taken from Brooklyn-centric novelist Hubert Selby Jr. Great, off-the-beaten-path scenery of downtown and Brooklyn. "Requiem" is not recommended for repeat viewings; honestly, I've only seen it once.

9. The Wiz -- Ah, when Michael Jackson looked and acted normal.

8. Nighthawks -- Sly Stallone? Check, Rutger Hauer? Check. Billy Dee Williams? Check. Scene on the Roosevelt Island tram that should keep you from ever riding it again? Check.

7. Quick Change -- Bill Murray one-lining his way through the city. "Ghostbusters" might have been the more obvious call here, but I like this one better.

6. Do The Right Thing -- The beauty of New York is that everyone lives right on top and around one another. A beautiful, horrible, incredible flick about the city.

5. When Harry Met Sally -- Stands up all these years later. And hey -- they're at a Giants game!

4. The French Connection -- Amazingly, for me, only the second-best subway scene ever.

3. Rear Window -- The lily-white, 1950s version of what happens when we all live piled on top of one another. Filmed on a soundstage, so that knocks it down, but it's so New York.

2. The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 -- Lesser-known flick about four guys who hijack a subway train and demand $1-million. You'd think it was made a hundred years ago, but it's from 1974, when the city was broke. The scenes are filmed in the subway and on the streets of lower Park Ave., and I must've watched this thing 50 times when I was a kid.

1. Goodfellas -- Not too many classic NYC scenes, but it's maybe one of the best four or five movies ever made. So there.

This was a tough, tough list to put together, and I hope you'll bombard me with your own suggestions and ridicule my choices. Getting this out of the way tonight also ensures there will be room for Giants news tomorrow. Enjoy.

Just for you, rnargi -- Smith went full today and said he's still very hopeful to play on Sunday.

A quote from Steve Spagnuolo on Antonio Pierce: "He’s very intelligent. It’s one thing to be intelligent, but he works at it. I see him in there all the time looking at film. Bill Sheridan told me, back when I first got here, that I would be impressed with the way he approached games and how he prepared, how he could communicate those things. Not every guy in this league can do that. Some guys just worry about playing, that’s all they can do. Antonio does both, and that’s huge, it’s very very helpful. He’s our quarterback."

A quote from Pierce on Spags: "He might be 5-7, but he'll get 6-5 on you real quick... (After the 0-2 start), he told us we're not as bad as everyone thinks we are. (After the four-game win streak), he told us we're not as good as everyone thinks we are. That's what I love about him."

And Pierce on why his calls at the line of scrimmage have been so effective this season, especially the last two games: "It's different when somebody lets you do stuff than when they don't. It's different when somebody says you can change the defense vs. someone who says you can't. That's all I'm going to say about that."

Oh, and Espo -- I was right. Tuck is up after '08.

Plax was the only one not ready to do some work when the players took the field.

A few questions to answer:

Winston -- Believe Tuck is up after next season. Don't be surprised to see some sort of extension come down the pipeline this year, since his value is going sky high.

Peter S. -- That's a puzzler, since you're right in saying that Eli's best moments over the last two seasons have been in the two-minute offense. We're not begging TC to go more no-huddle anymore, are we? By we, I mean me. I thought they should've used it more last season.

The best guess I can offer is simply that the pendulum has swung the other way for Eli. He's gotten much, much more comfortable with the whole range of the offense and checking plays at the line that maybe his instincts when it's pass-only are failing him a bit.

Last year and the year before, he seemed overwhelmed with all his responsibilities. So when it was time to just fling the rock, he was more comfortable. Now, it's the reverse.

I'd be curious to see what he does in the final two minutes of a close game, not just a first half. That may tell more about Eli's comfort level.

And a quick word of encouragement to regular commenter rnargi, who is having foot surgery today. Good luck, my man, and hobble back to the computer as soon as you can.

Maybe the Giants should steal that "Believe in Blueland" crap from the Thrashers... Giants may be slightly better known for wearing blue. I think.

Little higher scoring and a little more lopsided than I thought, but a win is a win. Even when Eli throws two more ugly picks and loses a fumble.

THE GOOD

Clutch D: Falcons had three turnovers, two of which gave them starting field position in Giants territory. Results? No points, no first downs and 11 total yards on the three ensuing Falcons possessions.

Standouts for the game included Antonio Pierce, who attacked the line of scrimmage with ferocity -- he loves to play in Atlanta, I suppose, because he had a similarly good game last year there; Justin Tuck (yawn, again), who now records sacks with his helmet off; Michael Strahan, a beast against the run for most of the night; and Aaron Ross, who got turned around when trying to slow down Jerious Norwood but had another pick, a sack and showed more flashes before cramping up (more Gatorade, my man!).

Eli, version 1.0: The one who threw 12 straight completions for 177 yards and two scores. The one who put the ball where only his guys could get it. The one who executed two superb play fakes on the TD throws. The one who gets the play clock down but doesn't lose sight of the time.

Reuben Droughns: There were some internet rumors that maybe the Giants would trade him by the deadline today. With a couple inexperienced, banged-up guys ahead of him, Droughns is too valuable, and he proved it last night. He doesn't have the blazing speed, but he's durable, and he bounced off a few tacklers both on offense and kick returns.

Capt. Toomer: All-time leading Giants receiver with 587 catches, a record that should stand for a long while. One of the best in the league still at balancing along the sideline. He and Plax also blocked exceptionally well on the outside.

THE BAD

Eli, version 2.0: The one who underthrows targets. The one who holds the ball too long when John Abraham is ready to pounce. The one who scrambles but doesn't keep his eye down the field. The one who takes delay of game penalties or calls timeouts when he's not aware of the clock.

Sinorice Moss: A head-scratcher as to why he cannot use that speed of his to break away from defenders. The first-series catch should have been a first down. He had tons of room, but ran towards Michael Boley. Wonder if he'll ever be what they thought he would.

Sam Madison: Seemed to guess wrong a lot on playing "off" coverage against Roddy White. It's the scheme, to be sure, but you'd figure there'd be an adjustment at some point. Benefited from a few Falcons drops too.

The Falcons: Hoo, boy. Bad enough their fans boo the bejeesus out of them when they're down by less than a TD. How about the in-game entertainment director pumping out "Glory Days" after Derrick Ward's TD in the fourth quarter? They trying to keep the Giants fans coming back or something?

THE UGLY

Kickoffs: Chase Blackburn (good game for him on coverage) called it "demoralizing" that the unit had to basically find ways to keep the ball from Norwood's hands with a full head of steam and a solid wedge in front. That meant modified pooch kicks that didn't get inside the 10, plus a couple grounders from Lawrence Tynes. Norwood wasn't a threat, but man, it wasn't pretty.

That's all for now... Conference call with TC in a bit. Update if necessary.

Same as last week for the NYG:

Steve Smith, Craig Dahl, Ahmad Bradshaw, Adam Koets, Dave Tollefson, Manny Wright and Kevin Boothe. Jared Lorenzen is still the third QB.

At lunch today here in the ATL, I saw a truck go by with this billboard:

Without getting too harsh on the Thrashers' marketing department, that might be the worst campaign ever. Blueland? What the heck is that?

Anyway, the Thrashers are 0-5. The Hawks will be bad this season in the NBA -- I don't know this for sure, just a feeling. The Braves missed the POs.

In short, not a good year for Atlanta sports.

Besides this, I mean.

The Falcons' cheerleaders are warming up, but I won't stoop to the Must Love Blogs/Blauber level and put a gratuitous cheerleader pic in here. Dirty, indeed.

Inactives in a few.

This is where I am right now. I'm over on the lower left.

Let's cut right to it:

Giants 20, Falcons 7.

Here's why:

-- Health. The Falcons don't have it and the Giants do. It's the biggest factor in Giants games since I started covering them.

-- Defense. The Giants are playing it well now, and the Falcons are not -- at least, not as well as the Giants. Assuming the Giants don't abandon the run early, they will grind out a big day.

-- Meaningless stats. The road team has won the last 11 meetings in this series, which is insane. Been 28 years since the home team won. Also, the Giants are 5-1 in their last six indoor games, which is cool. But means nothing.

-- More meaningless stats. Joey Harrington's QB rating is 87.3. Eli's is 82.7. Anyone prefer Joey Harrington to be his or her team's QB rather than Eli?

Thought so.

Commenters debating Coleridge? Can't get that at Must Love Blogs or Beat Bob Glauber -- I thought that contest meant something different, but I was sorely disappointed.

Just to clarify: DeOssie's nickname comes from his wingspan... If his Brown teammates felt he was a burden, well, let's just say there's a reason he's the only one in the NFL now.

And Seubert's is because his grandfather was Dick. And yes, he's definitely one of the Giants you'd want to have a beer with, Jersey. Probably wouldn't take much to make that happen.

Jacobs is a confident young man, so it's no surprise he came out with that one. And I did ask him, so don't think he just goes around the locker room yelling, "Chocolate Thunder's in the house!" Though that would be amusing.

Game preview tomorrow, when I arrive in Atlanta.

I know you all missed it so... Here we go. Today's List is a bit haphazard, given the time in the locker room and the creativity of those involved.

We have a sampling of Giants players' nicknames from their football lives, from Pop Warner on up... Plus a few of the best nicknames given out over the last couple years:

Barry Cofield -- Zeus, Baby Huey. "My mom gave me both of those. I was a big kid."

Chris Snee -- House. "From high school."

Best Snee nickname from the locker room: Crawl. "The Pauly Shore character from 'Son-In-Law.' -- Rich Seubert

Brandon Jacobs -- Chocolate Thunder. "Coach Dick Spurlock from Coffeyville CC gave me that one."

From the locker room: Hightower, courtesy Derrick Ward.

Derrick Ward -- D-Ward. "Been that since Pop Warner."

From the locker room: Chub. "Cause he's short and chubby." -- Jacobs

Zak DeOssie -- The Albatross. "My teammates at Brown."

From the locker room: Bam Bam. "He's always hitting people, all the darn time." -- Chase Blackburn

Reggie Torbor -- Moose. "I was a running back in high school and I just ran over everybody."

Rich Seubert -- Little Dick. "My grandma gave me that one."

From the locker room: Stewie. "He looks just like that kid (from Family Guy)." -- Snee

Steve Smith -- Scuba Steve. "The guy from 'The Waterboy.' It just stuck." Smith tossed out a couple for his senior receivers: "Plax is Lanky, and Toomer is Captain."

We saved the best two for last... And for anonymity's sake, since no one wanted to own up to telling me.

Justin Tuck -- Big Midget. Former locker-room cut-up Frank Walker gave Tuck that one.

Kareem McKenzie -- Peaches. Carlos Emmons provided that one. And Kareem does not like it, apparently.

OK, a bit random, and maybe we can grab some more today. But that's the List. More later.

That was the early practice lineup today. Steve Smith was in pads, catching passes -- still say he's not back until the 49ers game 10 days from now, but he's progressing.

Osi is listed as having knee issues, even though his back was sore after Sunday's win. Burress and Ward are still hobbling on bum ankles.

Oh, and Lawrence Tynes missed three straight FG tries -- from 30, 35 and 39 yards, all from the left hash, all pushed wide right. He made one from 39 but TC had called a last-second time out; he hit the next one too, though TC didn't look pleased.

Josh Huston is now on the Bengals practice squad, but that shouldn't be a deterrent if the Giants want to bring him back.

Thanks to all who commented on the QOTD... Good work, good thoughts from all.

Anyone done any Giants reading of late? Check in with a comment if you've read Tiki's book, Tom Callahan's book about Ernie Accorsi, Strahan's book (unlikely since it hasn't come out yet) or any other Giants-related book.

Here's the question: Do you feel a recently retired player, a recently retired GM or a current player should be writing books spilling details about currently employed coaches/players?

Waiting to hear what you've got... Heck, even if you haven't read any of those books, I'm sure some of you have strong feelings about this topic. Let me know.

The word from Giants PR man Avis Roper. Ross is in uniform, on the sideline... Figure he'll start playing in the second quarter.

NYG -- Steve Smith, Craig Dahl, Ahmad Bradshaw, Adam Koets, Dave Tollefson, Manny Wright, Kevin Boothe. Lorenzen is the third QB

NYJ -- Erik Coleman is out, as is OL Jacob Bender. No other surprises.

I hear it's the way to go in the blog world... And since my friends in multimedia (that means you, LaMonica) couldn't see fit to link to the story on the front sports page, I'll link to my feature on the Giants' new fearsome foursome. There's also a nice restaurant recommendation -- some stuff that didn't make the final cut:

-- Justin Tuck on said restaurant: "The cheesecake is awesome." I suggested Junior's, but it's too far for him.

-- Mathias Kiwanuka on how much rookie hazing he experienced last year: "Very, very little. I don't think Osi has it in his nature to be like that, and I think Strahan's been around so long it's not exciting for him to torture rookies that way."

-- TC, on the obvious reason why that front four works so well: "Someone's always going to be singled up. You can't double-team all of them." And we thought coaching was complicated.

Headed to the stadium in a bit... Inactives, then maybe some actual in-game blogging thanks to a normal start time.

Let's all calm down over there on the comment board... We all make mistakes. Lord knows I make most of them around here.

Anyway, there's a game tomorrow... I'm 2-for-2 in blog predictions so far, so listen up! Here's what I think:

-- The Giants offense is not in sync, but is still better than the Jets offense. Brandon Jacobs' return adds a different look, and the thunder-and-lightning thing with Derrick Ward could be interesting. With Jacobs in there to protect Eli Manning -- Jacobs has become a very good blocker -- that could free up Shockey to catch some more passes. And, maybe, spike some more balls. We'll see if he's still on the Most Wanted list.

-- The Giants defense is in sync, and is subsequently better than the Jets defense. Even a less-than-100 percent Osi will eat up D'Brickashaw Ferguson, and the soft interior should be cake for Tuck and Kiwanuka. Pennington will get the ball out fast, but if there's no deep threat, even the middling Giants secondary can keep things under wraps.

-- The Giants don't lose much this time of year. Not the last couple seasons, anyway. They're 5-0 at home the past two Octobers, when they've been healthy and facing inferior opponents. Tomorrow, they will be relatively healthy and facing an inferior opponent.

That's about all the insight I can muster. Giants 27, Jets 10.

We'll see if he's right, since it's probably not up to him, but he says so. Same with Plax.

Not much else from a very loose room today... Guys were very relaxed and jokey. Chase Blackburn's assailant is still at large.

Shockey spoke for a bit, and it's worth noting that he hasn't exactly lit up the offense so far this season. Might have to do with having to stay in and block for new running backs, but there have been a few drops, the one delay-of-game penalty against the Packers and, overall, 16 catches and zero touchdowns.

Guess he needed more than one day of treatment and rest... Rest of the team is still practicing, so we'll see what TC has to say. Steve Smith and Plaxico Burress were also on the side, but everyone else was participating in the individual portion of drills.

Thanks for the reminder, Alex -- I was just reading my competitor MG's take on this, and I agree. It's a shameful way for someone with a credential to act, especially not noticing that he or she bumped into someone and caused serious injury.

OK, for those not in the know: Giants LB Chase Blackburn was cleaning his ear with a Q-tip after the game on Sunday night when an unknown media member ran (yes, ran) past his locker to get in on the scrum around a player... Not sure who that player was, since Eli Manning and Osi Umenyiora only spoke in the interview room, and those are two of the few lockers that can be seen from the vicinity of Blackburn's.

Anyway, Blackburn hit the floor when the Q-tip jammed into his ear. He lost some hearing temporarily, as well as some blood, but his eardrum did not puncture and he hasn't missed any practices. But still.

The few of us whom Blackburn told this awful story to apologized to him on the unknown media member's behalf, but that's not really enough, is it? No one seems to know who it was, though the safe bet is that it was someone carrying a camera, which usually obscures one's view.

However, that's just an explanation, not an excuse. If it was a cameraman -- and those guys are having a rough go, considering one nearly knocked Doug Mientkiewicz out of tonight's Yanks game -- then it's simply idiotic to be running around a crowded locker room, especially if you can't see half the room because of the camera.

Anyone caught running in the locker room shouldn't really be there anyway -- there isn't enough room to run, and it isn't our space, it's the players'. I'm not really interested in making this a major issue, and I've never heard of a media member injuring a player in the locker room before, so it was likely a freak occurrence. But someone owes Blackburn a big ol' sorry.

As for the news of the day, which was ably covered by Erik Boland, Osi needed a day off but will likely play, and everyone who was limited in practice -- Plax, Derrick Ward, Gibril, Strahan and Snee -- will play on Sunday too, I bet.

All for now... Oh, one last word on last week's List: Shockey dropped in his two cents on Wednesday.

His pregame tune? Hurt, by Johnny Cash.

Two days with a dead laptop meant no blogs from me... Apologies. We're working to fix the situation.

So, let's catch up:

-- Anthony Mix waived. Certainly a bit of a surprise, but there's obviously something the Giants like about Domenik Hixon more. Mix got some burn, but didn't impress enough, especially on special teams, where guys like him need to shine.

-- Jacobs/Ward splitting time. Well, that's what we think will happen. Frankly, I don't see TC switching out wholesale in the middle of a series, so I'd guess you'll see them change off every few snaps. Not sure how it'll work, but then again, I never thought Ward would be as capable as he's been.

-- Huston, Cundiff try out. Maybe they both needed the frequent flier miles... Haven't the Giants tried these two guys out enough? I'd guess if Tynes misses anything big on Sunday, he's out.

I think that's all... The 48-hour silence means no FridayList this week, since I'll be catching up on real work and all. I'll get back to it next Friday, with a new laptop.

While the game's still fresh in everyone's minds, let's run down what transpired last night:

THE GOOD

Osi, Osi, Osi: Someone said he could've had twice as many sacks as the six he had, and that's almost accurate -- he barely missed on at least four other rushes. Winston Justice had his welcome-to-the-NFL moment; so did Andy Reid, who admitted after the game what a bunch of Giants wondered aloud. Where was the help for Justice?

Kiwanuka/Tuck: Five sacks between 'em, and now nine for the season. Tuck bounced in and out all night and was a force, even against the run a couple of times. Kiwanuka had good pursuit as a LB, or at least better than he'd had -- got caught in coverage against Kevin Curtis once, but it didn't hurt them.

Strahan: Got his sack record, hit McNabb a couple other times and made a couple nice run stops. Apparently Reid still thinks it's 2002, because his chip blocks almost all came against Strahan.

Kawika Mitchell: Really getting his legs under him in open space. He's not the biggest, fastest or strongest, but he's making better open-field tackles and he did score the biggest points of the night by being in the right place.

Michael Johnson: Not really sure if the rook doesn't have his assignments figured out yet, but he was pressed into action for a few plays last night with James Butler needing his ankle wrapped and Johnson showed speed and aggressiveness -- two things Butler hasn't really shown yet.

Corey Webster: Give the young man some love for a terrific ST play, downing a Feagles punt at the Philly 1. He was in there on D too, spelling Kevin Dockery and Sam Madison for short stretches. Like everyone else in the secondary, he looked great, because nothing threatening came his way.

David Diehl: Kept Trent Cole on the outside all night. Very, very solid game again.

THE BAD

McNabb: Have you, Giants fans, ever seen him look so poor? He was patting that football on third down like never before, and his knee is clearly a factor because he waited awfully long to pull the ball down and run -- even then, he got tripped up three times for sacks when the usual McNabb steps away and picks up a dozen yards. His throws were bad too.

Tynes/Alford: There's still something wrong with the Giants kicking game. Rookie