While there has been no announcement of the illness that is troubling Winslow, some have speculated.

The important part for Giants fans is whether or not he's able to play on Monday night. And at what speed he'll be able to go after being hospitalized at least two nights during the week.

"No, not at all," he said. "I'll be there Monday night, 8:30. You'll see me. ... I'll never miss a game unless I'm on IR. I'll be there."

Pierce can't even remember specifically when he got injured.

"A lot of times when you get hurt, you were running," Pierce said. "We play a game where you've got to run a lot. It's football, man. If I didn't get hurt, ya'll would probably question what I was doing out there for 60 minutes. Things happen. I'm just excited to get out there come Monday with the boys."

Pierce also weighed in on the bulletin board material Browns defensive tackle Corey Williams provided by saying he's going to come out and "hit [Brandon Jacobs] in the mouth" and saying "there ain't nothing physical" about the Giants' O-Line.

"There's always going to somebody taking shots at somebody," Pierce said. "At least you know we're being looked at and they are taking notice of us. Hats off to them. What else would you do if you were 1-3? You've got to do something to fire up you're team. I don't knock the guys for doing what they are doing. It's no different than what I did last year and other guys on this team did when we were down. They are doing whatever they need to do to rally their troops and get their home stadium fired up for Monday Night Football. So it's going to be fun at the Dog Pound."

"It's the same thing that we hear from the media, so it's just like they are a part of the media as well," Pierce continued before dipping into his Charlie Brown vocabulary. "Just womp, womp, womp, womp, womp."

Just got back from checking out practice, and during the portion we were allowed to watch, McKenzie appeared to be limited and Pierce remained sidelined.

McKenzie participated in one hand-eye coordination drill in which he went up against another offensive lineman equipped with pads on both hands. When it came time to get down in a three-point stance with his fellow mates and square off against a pad-wielding lineman, he sat that one out.

Pierce rode the stationary bike and did some jogging back and forth in the end zone not far from the rest of the linebackers, who were going through their own various drills.

We'll get the actual practice report later today and I'll update you guys when I receive it. Before then, I'll pop back in with a quick locker room update. It opens up at 1:30.

As for Browns TE Kellen Winslow, looks like he's going to be a game-time decision. Browns coach Romeo Crennel said as much to reporters in Cleveland earlier today before the Browns even practiced. Apparently, Winslow's illness forced him to remain in the hospital overnight Thursday. He's scheduled to be released today, but his availability is up in the air.

"He's truly 50/50," Crennel said. "Hopefully he'll be there. We should know more in the next couple of days."

DL Shaun Smith (hand) and OL Kevin Shaffer (concussion) also missed practice.

"You'll never know," smirked center Shaun O'Hara, figuratively slamming the door to the inner sanctums of the Giants' facility. It was like trying to get Bruce Wayne to tell me where I can find the entrance to the Bat Cave.

A few others gave hints. I heard Justin Tuck mention last week that there is a bulletin board somewhere near the shower area, but he coyly said he pays no attention to it. Danny Clark said that the bulletin board material each week is actually put on the overhead projector and displayed at the front of the room during meetings. And Rich Seubert said that of course there are bulletin boards. Where else whould the team post its schedules and meeting times and other valuable information.

Regardless of whether there is an actual bulletin board (and I've got news for you, no one watches "film" anymore either but that's what everyone calls it), the Giants pretty much took the verbal assault from Corey Williams & Co. pretty cooly. It was almost as if someone in authority had already told them not to make anything more of it. That would never happen, would it?

“I can honestly say I've never won a football game because of bulletin board material and I’ve never lost one because of it," O'Hara said. "It makes for great TV and great newspaper and great drama during the week, for those not involved, but in the end it’s all just hype and when kickoff starts no one really thinks about that.”

WR Steve Smith said he's been called out the way Williams did to Brandon Jacobs and the offensive line. He said there were a few times people said things about him leading up to games he played at Southern Cal.

"You can’t play too much into that, it may take away from your game," he said. "If you get a 1-on-1 coverage, you’re still going to do what you normally do but you might give a little extra. That’s the only way I think it can play into it."

The team practiced on the stadium field today, which was interesting because it was already "decorated" for Sunday's Jets game here. The walls were all covered in their green baggies and the end zone was painted with the letters JETS. Interestingly, those letters were in the blue and mustard of the old Titans colors rather than the usual green and white. Superstitious? I would be. Between the ones from Tennessee and New York, "Titans" teams are 6-0 this season.

The conference call with Romeo went well. He said that the biggest issue facing the Browns passing game is the lack of timing between the QB and his receivers. He said that having so many of them miss time during the preseason and training camp (thanks, in part, to hits from the Giants) have hampered their efforts.

Not sure if Plaxico heard about that excuse. Didn't he miss the preseason too? Too bad he's been slowed down by it.

Asked Coughlin about the weakside LB position, which looked as if it was won by Gerris Wilkinson. Coughlin gave a hazy answer to that, saying that Wilk did get the majority of the snaps on Sunday while Bryan Kehl played mostly special teams, but he also said that "nothing is etched in stone" and Kehl could find himself back in the mix. He also said that because the Giants had to employ a lot of sub packages on Sunday against 3 and 4 WR sets, that limited the Giants' ability to rotate LBs. Danny Clark, he said, didn't get as many snaps as usual.

Crennel is on the conference call in a few minutes. Then we go out to practice to make doubley-sure that Pierce and McKenzie aren't practicing!!!

"His whole thing is, if you let him come out and get a seven- or eight-yard run, get his confidence level up high, then he can be effective," defensive lineman Corey Williams said of Jacobs to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "But if we can come out and hit him in the mouth from the jump, he tends to slow down and do some tip-toeing. You've got to swarm him, swarm to the ball."

Mr. Williams also reportedly had some things to say about toughness not really being in the Giants' offensive arsenal.

"It's a zone-blocking scheme that lets him run and pick a hole. There ain't nothing physical about them," he said. The former Packer also recalled last year's NFC Championship Game experience against the Giants.

"We came real close to beating the Giants in the NFC title game. We were hitting (Jacobs), and he was slowing it down. He left the game. They let the Bradshaw kid come in. He's really the one who killed us."

Hmmm. I hope none of the Giants notice those remarks.

Strange league.

Essentially the Giants are saying that if there WAS practice on Wednesday, Pierce and McKenzie would have sat out and Hixon and McDougle would have done a few things.

The Browns did practice, but Kellen Winslow missed it because of an illness.

I know I was away from the blog for a while today (I'm almost as embarrassed as McNabb), so let me catch you up:

The Giants don't care what you or anyone else thinks about them.

They have welcomed Plaxico back with open arms.

Eli Manning disputed rumors that the Giants have contacted him regarding a new long-term contract (he's signed through 2009).

And nobody's perfect.

You can click below for the transcript of the conference calls we had with Pierce and Manning today. Be warned: They aren't nearly as entertaining as the conference call we had on Monday.

Q: I’m sure you noticed that as much as you guys like to say, ‘no respect,’ you have probably heard about two or three days worth of people telling everyone that the Giants might be the best team in football. I am curious; does everybody believe that and what are your thoughts?

A: We just laugh at it because those are the same people, I want to say two months ago or 69 days ago, who were saying the Giants weren’t the best team in the NFL. We didn’t even make the division; we didn’t even get to the playoffs. So for us, we can care less… either you are good or bad. We are not trying to get respect here in September, now going into early October. For us, it is the respect to come in late December or early January, or early February.

Q: Is the confidence level pretty high after what you guys have been able to do the first quarter of the season?

A: I would say, yeah, we have confidence there. It is not an arrogant type of confidence. It is guys going out there and doing what we are supposed to do. Guys are doing their job at a high level. We are being efficient in all aspects. We are not turning the ball over on defense. We need to create some more turnovers. But special teams has been solid, so for us we feel like we are building a solid foundation, and that’s what the first month of the season was. We are like the Olympics. The Olympics had all of the relay teams; we are like the 4x100 team. We got through the first leg, now we are in our second leg and we are just going to keep going.

Q: Is there any carryover from the preseason game you guys played against Cleveland? Your starters put a pretty good ‘whooping’ on them for a while.

A: You can look and see how they try to attack you from a defensive standpoint. But, again, they didn’t have their best receiver in Braylan Edwards. What was it, the second preseason game, I believe. So a lot of game planning wasn’t really involved. I think the good thing about it is that you know how you match up against them as far as physically, speed wise who are their speed guys. Which offensive lineman is a puller or the most physical and one that tips off their hat a little bit. And that is about it. I think the key going into this week for us – Cleveland had a bye week. So they had two good weeks to look at the New York Giants. Probably everybody down there is telling them how great the Giants are and how bad they are. So they are going to use that around and spin it around to motivate them some. So you can carry over a little bit from the preseason, but again those guys had two weeks to prepare for us and they were without their top receiver. So it is going to be a different game.

Re: approach to this game

A: We are not, no differently. It is the next game, Week 5 for us. We want to go out there and get a win, play hard, go out and do what we have been doing the last four games as far as running the ball effectively, stopping the run, no turnovers, creating turnovers, get better offensive field position. So the game is not different. It doesn’t matter – it is chance for us to keep building on what we have already done within the first four games and move on.

Q: When you look at this year’s team is the difference that the offense seems to be a little more consistent?

A: I think everybody. I think when you look at this year compared to last year the offense started off fast. The defense, we were horrible. The first two games we were the worst in Giants history, I think it was said, if I can quote you right. So this year we are off to a fast start. Defense kind of picked up where we left off late last season. Even in the preseason, offense is picking up as far as rotation, spreading the ball round, running the ball effectively. I think, again, the key just goes down to real simple things: not turning the ball over, playing solid special teams and playing good defense. When you do that, you have a good chance of winning. And luckily for us we haven’t had any major setbacks as far as injuries or anything like that. We have all of our guys intact. So it is just a little bit of everything, especially our offense. The way Eli and the running backs are running the ball and how they are protecting the ball and managing the game. It is nothing but playing in our favor.

Q: If you keep on doing what you have been doing – playing good defense, not turning the ball over – would you be surprised if you lost a couple of games?

A: There are always going to be bad breaks in games. It is going to come to a point this season where we are going to come into a tough stretch where things are not going to go our way, the ball is not going to bounce the right way, the call might not go our way, a lot of things. So for us, I definitely see that. But if we do the fundamental things, it will help us. All that does is help you win the game. It doesn’t say that you are going to win a game because you don’t turn the ball over and you play good defense. There are a lot of things, other intangibles that go into that. So for us, you have to look at the basic fundamentals of football --- protect the ball, get turnovers, run the ball, and stop the run. You have to give yourself a chance to win, but it is not guaranteed.

Q: What did you think of Plaxico’s comments the other day and how has the team reacted to his return?

A: I think nothing of Plaxico’s comments. There were questions being asked by the media, I don’t know how they were directed or what was said. All I know is that he is back and we are happy that he is back. We can care less what everybody is writing about him. He can care less what everybody is writing about him. He is our teammate; he will be our teammate for the rest of this season and the rest of his career. We are moving on with it. The media wants to make a big deal of it. The New York Giants, the 53 guys in this locker room, we have moved on. We moved on last week when he wasn’t here. We hated that we had to, but we had to. Now that he is back, he is back with open arms. I’m ready to see him go out and catch some balls come Monday night.

Q: Were you able to have a heart-to-heart sit down talk with him?

A: Yeah, I talk to him all of the time. The guys ….as anybody plays. He wants to win football games, he wants to do everything right. Things happen in life where it doesn’t look like that sometimes. And that situation came up with Plax. But like anybody else in life, things happen and you move on. We are not going to dwell on it. It is not something that is going to hinder our whole season and we are not going to let it happen. The media can write a million (stories) for the rest of the season about what happened in Week 4 with Plaxico Burress. The New York Giants are not going to talk about it.

Q: When you look down at the list of points for; points against, obviously you team has a lot of points for and not many points against. Can this be a dominating type defense? Your numbers – 49 points in four games would indicate that is the direction you are headed. When you look at it, even though you lost some guys, are you looking at it and saying we are building for something here where we can be the best defense? A lot of people think you have a good defense. I don’t think a lot of people around the league say that it is the best defense.

A: We are setting our foundation. Spags puts up his drawings at the beginning of the season, in training camp and mini camps and it’s of every cinder block. With every single block you build a foundation of a wall. And like I said earlier, we are on the first leg of that wall. We built a solid foundation and we are moving up. I think what we have done on defense is be very aggressive. Guys have been in the right spot, guys are doing a good job of studying film, knowing what the offense is going to do to us. And then we are doing a great job of adjusting on the fly. We have played four games and three out of those four games teams have completely adjusted their game plan to how we blitz and how we bring pressure. So we have to make adjustments. This defense is just building on it. We have a lot of guys who are still trying to find their role on this defense. We are still trying to get our packages down to maximize the best out of everybody on the team. And I think if we can keep building on that, get a little more aggressive. Find the guys that when it comes down to the nuts and bolts we are going to be in it. We just want to be a bad-ass defense. It isn’t about being the number one ranked defense or giving up the least amount of points. It is about going out there and being dominant, intimidating and doing what the Giants defenses of the past have done and go out there and win games.

Q: You probably have heard people say, “Well, the Giants have beaten four teams, three of them aren’t that good.” Are you looking forward to that stretch where you get Pittsburgh and Dallas and Philly?

A: It is interesting to look forward to that. But all the Giants have done, we have beaten everybody that we faced. And that is all that we can do. That is what the NFL schedule was. We didn’t know that we were going out there and the Rams were going to have a coaching change and the things that happened with them. And the Bengals would have their problems. We can care less what those guys are going through. Every week we go out there and say, ‘This is who we have to face.’ Of course, we know we haven’t faced the Dallas Cowboys, we haven’t faced the Eagles and those other teams that you mentioned from the AFC North. But for us, we can’t look like that. Because we have the Cleveland Browns, a team that I believe is 1-2 or 1-3 and they are looking to get a win. And it is nationally televised. We played them very well in the preseason. So for me to sit here and talk about teams that I’m not even going to face yet, I haven’t even watched film on, I can’t give you an honest opinion about that. I know what their record is, but I don’t know why. So for us, when we get to them, we can sit down and pow-wow about it all day, but for us ……..

Q: What kind of stress does a player like Kellen Winslow put on the linebackers?

A: A lot. The guy can stretch vertically. He has great hands; probably some of the best hands in the league if you watch the kind of balls he catches and the adjustments he makes to the balls thrown to him. We are going to have to be physical with this guy. We are going to have to jam him up at the line of scrimmage. You better put your hands on him and you have to kind of pressure him. He is very similar to Jeremy Shockey. He is a guy that you cannot let get going because once he gets going he energies that team. He is a key weapon for them. I think last year he led the team, if not led the team, was close to 100 receptions as a tight end. So obviously he is a key factor on their team. We have to do a good job of making sure we always know where he is. Is he in the box, is he spread out a little bit away from the line of scrimmage? So we have to always have all 11 eyes on this guy and make sure that we are aware of him.

ELI MANNING

You guys talked about coming out strong the next season after the Super Bowl. Is this about as good as you could have imagined things going so far?

Yeah, I would say so. We are 4-0, we feel like we are playing pretty good football, we are finding ways to win close games, and then I think we are playing consistent football and that was kind of our goal coming in. Avoid the bad plays, avoid the mistakes, and that is what we are doing. We are playing smart football and we have obviously worked hard and worked at becoming a better team. We still have a long season left, we still have a lot of games to play, and it starts this week on Monday night at Cleveland versus a good team. We know we have to keep going and keep this determination, keep the work ethic in check, and make sure we are doing all the right things to prepare ourselves for every game.

Do you think the work you guys put in is the biggest key?

I think we have always worked hard. I think it is just a matter of just trying to continue to work and don’t get satisfied with where we were as a team last year knowing that we can become a better team. I think looking at the things we did not do as well and in looking at the reasons why we were playing well at the end of the season, it was because we just eliminated the mistakes and that is what we are doing. We are not having the penalties, we are not having the turnovers, we don’t have many negative plays, we are in good down and distances, we are not forcing things, and we are able to just play within ourselves, and our defense is obviously playing outstanding football. We are not forced into bad situations and hopefully we can keep that up.

Hasn’t your offense evolved into more than just avoiding bad plays and instead you are on the attack and you expect big plays? This isn’t a defensive offense?

No, and the thing is we have always had the ability to make big plays and we have always made big plays, but sometimes we had so many negative plays where we had penalties or we had just some bad football being played at times where the big plays kind of cancelled out the too many bad plays we had. It is just a matter of, hey, let’s just play consistent football, let’s play smart, let’s just kind of do what we are supposed to do and naturally those big plays will happen. We have athletes; we have good players, so those things are going to happen and we take advantage of those long runs or the long pass, but let’s not hurt ourselves also with the bad plays and try to force things when they are not there. If you have a play called for a deep ball and they are not in the right coverage, don’t sit there and hold the ball forever to wait for something to maybe come up. Then you are putting the pressure on your offensive line and you are forcing something to happen. I am going to throw to my check-down or I am going to check out of this play to a run and kind of wait for the right opportunity for that deep play to come.

How has the team responded to Plaxico Burress’ return?

We are excited about having Plaxico back this week and we have put this behind us. We put it behind us last week. We weren’t going to make this an issue and we were going to have to play without him for a week and we were going to go out there and we were confident with the players we had that we could go and run our game plan and this week it is the same way. We are excited to have him back at practice and have him in the game plan and expect for everything to continue to run smoothly.

Have you been able to talk to him person to person?

Yeah, I saw him on Monday when we were working out and just kind of treated it like it was a normal Monday, and he was there working out and a part of everything we were doing. We are not going to make this into an issue and we are going to just keep rolling.

How do you react to many people referring to this team as the best team in the league?

Well, I think we should react to it the same way we reacted when people said we were just lucky last year or we weren’t very good. We can’t buy into it. We can’t buy into it when they are praising us or they are dogging us. We have to just believe in ourselves and know what we have done to be in this position and that is just how we prepare each week, the mental mindset we have going into every game that we have something to prove, and we still have to have that mindset.

Has there been any contact between your people and the Giants about a long-term contract extension?

There has been no talk and it is not on my concern, not on my watch right now. My focus is Cleveland and getting ready for this season and the next games and I haven’t even thought about that situation.

What have you learned in terms of your own game after going through the Super Bowl run last year?

I think it is just trying to play consistent football and just trying to play smart and just understand the situations of the game and knowing when you have to be aggressive and knowing when you have to be somewhat conservative and make the smart play and find completions. You don’t always have to get the ball down the field, if we can just be consistent on first and second down and get into good third-and-short opportunities if our defense continues to play as well as they have been playing, we just have to not put the defense in a bad situation by turning the ball over or giving the opposing offense good field position. We are going to make big plays, we are going to hit some big things on offense, it is just a matter of being patient and don’t force throws.

At this point of the season is the offense ahead of where you were last year?

I think it is tough to say. I think we are doing more things with this offense where we are mixing up personnel; we are mixing up different receivers. Last year we had some injuries at the receiver position at times so it was just hard to really expand with the offense. With Plaxico not practicing, Steve Smith was hurt at this time, so you were kind of short on numbers a little bit where this year we feel our receiver spot is one of our strongest positions where we have five guys who we feel can get in the game and play and we can rotate them and put them in different spots so it is hard to get a real gist on exactly what we are doing or where we are lining up. I think that has helped our offense expand, just being more versatile. Also I think just the fact that we have had more guys in the same offense for another year. At the running back position Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw, another year for them to get comfortable with everything we are doing. The offensive line has been solid. Kevin Boss is kind of learning the ins and outs of the offense and what he has to do, so I think the young guys are stepping up and the veterans just have a great feel for what we are doing and we are playing good football.

Is there anything you can take away from the preseason game you played against Cleveland?

It is hard. The preseason game, especially that second one, it is not like they were coming out and they weren’t doing very much blitzing and they are a blitz-happy team. They like to do a lot of different looks, especially when you get into third down and into your three and four receiver looks, so we have to have a great plan for that. They are a good team, they are a 3-4, they can mix things up, so we can look at that game and kind of see some of their base stuff and what they do, but really it is going to be looking at these last four or five weeks and seeing what they are doing and try to get a new game plan. The preseason to regular season is a whole new league.

If you guys play flawless, in your mind is this an unbeatable team?

I am not going to say that. I think you get to the point where if any team plays flawless, they are tough to beat and in football you are going to have mistakes, you are going to have things go wrong, but it is just a matter of kind of knowing where your mistakes are, know when you have a bad play, know when, hey, they have you in a blitz and they fooled you and not letting a bad play or a bad situation turn into a turnover, turn into a really, really bad play, as I say. We just have to avoid those and be patient and get our opportunities and make some big plays and that is when you have to take advantage of those opportunities.

In the meantime, here's a quote from the Cleveland Plain Dealer about how this year's Aug. 18 preseason game is influencing the upcoming game:

"We were embarrassed, especially it being on national television," receiver Joshua Cribbs said. "We want the win most of all, but we have that chip on our shoulder and we're looking for some payback."

I assume he's talking about those hideous brown pants they wore that night. Those were embarrassing.

Yes, the Giants dominated one game the way the Patriots did last year, blowing the feathers off the Seahawks, 44-6, on Sunday. But just two weeks ago they needed overtime – two possessions in overtime – to beat a winless Bengals team. And the week before that they were in a one-possession game in the fourth quarter with the Rams.

Last year’s Patriots were never so vulnerable. In their first four games they outscored their opponents by 100 points, 148-48. This year’s Giants are ahead of their foes by a combined score of 127-49. That’s a differential of 78 points.

Is it impressive? Hell yeah. Do I think they are the best team in the NFL right now? Probably. Are they the equivalent of the 2007 Patriots (regular-season version)? Not yet.

But a convincing win over the Browns on Sunday may draw them closer.

Your thoughts? Am I being too cynical or is Mariucci being too hyperbolic?

Burress made some comments that don't quite jive with the whole team-first concept that Tom Coughlin has instilled in the team. Like when he said he doesn't really care what his teammates think about him, when he called football the "best temporary job I'm ever going to have in my life," and, of course, this assesment of today's meeting with Coughlin:

"As far as the same page, I know what he expects. As far as being on the same page, we hit and miss sometimes on things like that. We had a conversation today and we talked and I listened and didn’t really have too much to say. We just move on from there and we just go on to Monday night."

You can click below to read the whole transcript and judge for yourself (be forewarned that there is a nasty word below, one which I dashed out in my reference above). I'd love to hear what fans have to say about this. Because as someone who covers the team, it's a little out of whack with the vibe that usually comes from the locker room.

My take was that he was being cool and a bit defensive when he spoke with us. The part about him enjoying his time away and relaxing doesn't add up with the Plaxico who played hurt all of last year. Will he change? For a while, I'm guessing.

So, is this Plax being Plax? And is it worth it?

Comment away!

It is good, man. It feels good.

What have been your emotions from the time that they told you of the decision, to going through the two-week absence, to going through the appeal, to watching your team win big, and now to come back?

My emotions were they suspended me and that was the decision that they chose to do and I took it at that. I didn’t lose any sleep over it. It gave me some rest and I was able to get away for a little while and chill out and relax. Things like that happen and I put it behind me and keep on moving forward and get back to doing what I do -- catching footballs and scoring touchdowns -- and get back to work.

Can you shed any light as to what happened two Mondays ago when you didn’t show up for work?

I ran into some family issues as far as taking my son to school and things like that. It was not like I purposely missed out or that was my intention. It just seemed to happen that way and I didn’t feel any reason to explain to them what happened or why I missed because I don’t feel it is really anybody’s business. It is like I told them, if I had a decision to make as far as my family and my son and things like that, I wouldn’t change anything about it and I would still make the same decision to do that. Maybe I would have put a phone call in, but that probably would have been the only thing. As far as things like that, I am going to always put those things first and I think that is one thing that people have to understand, but I don’t have any regrets for it.

Do you have any hard feelings and do you think the coaching staff has any hard feelings because of this?

Why would there be any hard feelings? It was a decision that they chose to make and I was fine with it. They feel that they needed to do that so I took it with a grain of salt and kept on moving.

Didn’t you feel a responsibility to let your employer know why you wouldn’t be showing up for work?

It is like I said, maybe I could have put a phone call in, but the fact of the matter is that they told you guys that I didn’t speak to them, which is not true. They called my house Monday night, they talked to my wife, I talked to them on the phone, I talked to Jerry Reese on Tuesday, so if I didn’t talk to them then how did I know that I had to meet with them on Wednesday? So them talking about how I didn’t talk to them at all that is not true and they know that. I guess that sheds a little bit more light on the situation, but the idea that I didn’t talk to them at all, that is not true at all.

They were referring to the period of time that you were supposed to be at the stadium and they had not heard from you?

Right, yeah, they didn’t. During the hours of which I was supposed to be there, no, they did not hear from me.

Was taking your son to school a family emergency?

Yes, it was. I felt it was and the situation that I had to deal with that morning as far as my son… I made the right decision and I don’t have any regrets about the decision that I made at all. All of that got blown out of proportion, which is fine with me, I have dealt with bigger things in my life, so just what I told them I will tell you guys: if I had to make the decision again, I would do the same. I would probably put in a phone call and deal with it that way, but as far as me feeling sorry for myself or getting down on myself, I don’t worry about that. My job is to show up to work, which I didn’t do that day, go out on the football field on Sundays and catch footballs, and that is what I do. That is what my job asks me to do.

How did your talk with Coach Coughlin go today and do you feel it was productive as far as you being on the same page?

As far as the same page, I know what he expects. As far as being on the same page, we hit and miss sometimes and things like that. We had a conversation today and we talked and I listened and didn’t really have too much to say and we just move on from there and we just go on to Monday night.

There have been reports that you have been fined 40-50 times during your time with the Giants. How accurate would you say that is?

I really don’t know the amount of times, but I do know that I have been fined quite a bit and some things and some of the demands that they ask me to do, I just don’t meet. Do I have an excuse for them? No. Maybe I have a problem with time or something, I don’t know. I haven’t been able to quite put my finger on it, but yeah, I have been fined quite a few times. It hasn’t really bothered me or affected me though. Like I said. when I step on the field it is time to play and that is what I do. If I don’t do things the right way as far as getting there on time or treatments so to speak, I deal with it and get over it and concentrate on my job.

Do you agree with what they did and what would you have done if you were in their position?

I can’t say what I would have done, but as I said, they made the decision for the best of the team and I have a lot of respect for that. They made the decision to suspend me for a week, which I was cool with. We all agreed to it and I have moved on. What was I supposed to do? Cry? I don’t know what type of emotions or answers you guys are looking for. They told me I was suspended and I was like, ‘Okay.’ I didn’t argue with them. I just took it, walked out, and left.

Did you get a chance to watch the game yesterday and what were you thinking while you watched?

I watched a little bit of it. I caught the first half. Dom(enik Hixon), I think before he got hurt, he had like 100 yards or something. They were really clicking out there. Brandon (Jacobs) ran the ball really well from what I saw and Eli (Manning) was very efficient and it was good to see the guys go out and play well. I will always say to the guys that regardless of which… we can all celebrate each other’s success and I think that is what separates us from a lot of the teams around the league. We really don’t care who goes out and catches the balls and scores and things like that. We want to see everybody do well and because of me not being able to play yesterday, a lot of guys got to get in and get some action, which is going to make us a better football team down the road.

Are you worried that when something like this happens it is not indicative of a team leader and that maybe you are setting the wrong example for guys?

I am really not concerned about being a team leader and I am really not concerned about the way my teammates look at me as far as me making the decisions based on my family. I am not immune to any situation that goes on in life. I think that people put this football thing like it is a… my family is my first priority and like I said, it doesn’t matter how people look at me when it comes to football. I am making decisions based on my life and what is going on in my life as far as my family; I am always going to do that first. I think that is what people need to understand. Football is the best temporary job I am ever going to have in my life and my family is going to be here forever. That is where I stand with it. I told them that and I will tell you guys that. I haven’t lost any sleep over the situation; I feel I have made the right decision. I am still living, I am still walking around, so I am fine. I am looking forward to playing Cleveland next week on Monday night and everybody knows I am going to be playing on Monday night.

When someone doesn’t show up for work one day and doesn’t call in until that night, in almost every situation the employer would either fire the person, suspend them, or the person would be in tremendous trouble. Getting out of football just and looking at that, can you look at it as an employee and as an employer?

I think I did get in tremendous trouble. I got suspended for two weeks and lost a game check. How much more tremendous trouble can you be in with an employer?

But on the other hand, you said you feel that you made the right decision?

Right. That is me basing myself off of what needed to be done at that time and like I said, I don’t have any regrets for that at all. I don’t understand why it is so hard for everybody to understand that. I haven’t lost any sleep, I am in great spirits, I enjoyed my week off, my team went out and played great yesterday without me, it was good to see the guys go out there and play well, I mean I am fine. I am doing just fine over here.

Do you think you let your team down by not being out there on the field with them?

I definitely did. I definitely let them down. When I can’t go out there with them I am definitely letting them down. I went out there and limped around and played hurt and didn’t want to miss a game, so why would I not want to be out there? I was out there even when I wasn’t supposed to, so of course I let them down.

Most people wouldn’t look at taking their child to school as an emergency situation. Why in your case had it evolved into a situation where having to take your son to school meant you couldn’t go to work?

See, those are the things that you guys don’t know so you can’t really say it wasn’t an emergency based on my part because you really don’t know everything that was going on or went on or happened. See, that is where everybody on the outside gets it misconstrued because they really don’t know what happened or what is going on so they make this judgment, ‘Oh, that is not important.’ When is not my family important? That is what I don’t get. When is not my family important to me?

So you are saying there are some complicating factors more than just taking your son to school? It is just a little confusing.

Right. It can be confusing to you guys all it wants to be, but my job is not to explain to you guys what goes on or what happens. That is not my job. My job is and my responsibility is to take care of my family first. Just like coach said, I was suspended because I need to be more responsible. I was being responsible, just not toward them. I put my child first. Whatever people don’t understand about it really doesn’t bother me. I haven’t lost any sleep, I am doing just fine, I got suspended two weeks and a game check, I am coming back this week to play. I have moved on. The sooner you guys move on, I guess, the better you will feel, too.

After seeing the guys this morning do you feel like this is over and you can just move on?

See to me, to be honest with you, I have a few guys on the team that I am close to and when I was suspended I already knew the guys that I was going to talk to or were going to call me and check on me to see how I was doing and, sure as shit, those people called me. I know the people that care about me as a person. Forget football, I know the people that care about me as a person; I knew those people would call me regardless of whatever happened. I know those people that care about me in the locker room. Like I said, my job is to go to work and catch footballs. Everybody doesn’t have to like me and I don’t have to be friends with everybody. Everybody has a role to play, everybody has a job to do, so my job is to get on the field and catch footballs.

Do you see this incident having an impact on whether you want to be with the Giants for the rest of your career?

I mean, if that is the way you want to boil it up to be, but I signed a five-year deal. This is where I said I wanted to finish at and I am just going to take it done day at a time and see what happens. I am not looking to say what is going to happen in the future. My job is to live through the day and try to get to another one tomorrow. That is the way I approach it and that is the way I approach life. Yesterday is over with, two weeks ago is definitely over it, and hey, I am just looking to get back out there on Monday night.

How confident are you that whatever extenuating circumstances were regarding your son or your family that they won’t pop up again?

There is no telling what may happen. There may be a time where I may have to be spontaneous again. Like I said, would I make the same decision? Yes. Would I handle the situation a little better? Yes, I would put in a phone call. I can’t say what is going to happen. I can’t predict the future.

Can you tell us anything about the stories that surfaced about some disturbances at your house involving yourself and your wife?

There is nothing to tell. There is nothing to tell about it.

Did you have any contact with Eli during the time you were away?

Yeah, I talked to him once, I believe, and wished him good luck right before the game and I talked to him this morning. I told him he had a good game yesterday and I was sorry I couldn’t be there for him and he said, ‘Hey baby, let’s just move on. Let’s focus on now and getting ready for next week.’

Did you work out on your own while you were suspended and do you feel like you are sharp?

Sharp? I mean I missed one game. I have sat out preseason and came back and played well, so missing a week is not going to hurt me. I didn’t practice at all last year, so why is one week going to affect me?

Do you feel that going forward the suspension is going to affect your behavior or change anything?

It hasn’t affected my behavior. It happened, I don’t have any regrets about the situation, I feel good, I am ready to go, I am ready to play, and I don’t see how it is going to affect me. Like I said, I am just going to get back out there and pick up where I left off and then I guess we can let everybody make their assessment and see what they want to say after the game on Monday night. I am ready to go, I am ready to roll, I get to practice for a week before the game, so I am not worried about me performing on the field, that is one thing I am definitely not worried about. I am just ready to get back on the field.

Essentially he said he would do it again (though he might give the Giants a call next time), he doesn't care what his teammates think about him, he enjoyed relaxing during his "week off," he watched only the first half of yesterday's game, and he hasn't lost any sleep over the situation.

"Things like that happen," he said. "I was fine with (the suspension). I took it with a grain of salt."

How's that for contrite?

He did say he's looking forward to playing on Monday night.