T-Rock's Take on the Giants

I forgot Manningham! He wasn't at practice this morning. Coughlin said he's suffering from the flu and has been told to stay away from the other players so he doesn't spread his cooties. I couldn't figure out how I missed not counting him at practice, until I saw David Tyree and remembered that with him on PUP they have 62 heads, not 61.

Tough break for Mario, who always seems to be in the bat hwhen opportunity knocks. Look at training camp for Example A.

Coughlin said he'd consider dressing two kickers for the game on Sunday. He said he's done that before. They want to make sure Tynes is 100,000,000 percent healthy before they even think about letting Carney go.

As for the locker room, it was filled with those obligatory post-bye questions about why the team has struggled after its weeks off in the past. They are 1-3 under Coughlin in those situations. While there were no theories passed around, the players did point out that the Seahawks are coming off the bye as well, so maybe there won't be any advantage to anyone. They all said it was a crsip practice. In fact, just about everyone I spoke with used that word: Crisp. It was more like a cereal commercial than a football locker room.

The other big question was about them being in first place. Their collective reaction: Doesn't matter. "If this was December, we'd be ecstatic," Pierce said. But after only three games, the Giants aren't putting any stock in their first-place status. Especially considering that they were never in first place last season and wound up winning the Super Bowl.