Giants news/notes

[Ego74]

Giants notebook: Burress praises Manning
Thursday, June 02, 2005
BY MIKE GARAFOLO
Star-Ledger Staff

The comparisons between rookie quarterbacks Eli Manning of the Giants and Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers were numerous last year. Yesterday, the first person seriously qualified to speak on the matter discussed both players' arms.

"One thing I've noticed is that Eli probably has the strongest arm that I've caught from," said wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who signed with the Giants in March after five years with the Steelers.

"I told him the other day, 'Take a little bit of the mustard off, I'm only 10 yards form you.' He kind of puts the ball in there hard, and it's one of those balls that kind of sticks to you a little bit, so you don't have too much trouble catching it."


Burress had a solid first day at Giants minicamp, snaring several passes from Manning and backup Jesse Palmer. His best play of the day was a fly pattern on which he easily outjumped undrafted rookie cornerback Ahmad Treaudo for a long gain on the left sideline.

Burress' performance eased some concerns about his decision to train in Miami for much of the off-season instead of Giants Stadium, where he could have worked with Manning.

"When I was here for the first few weeks, me and Eli were throwing on our own," Burress said. "There wasn't anybody out there. No coaches, no players. And I was telling him, 'When I get here, put it here' and things like that. But that's the thing you guys don't know because you're not there."

Burress addressed
the arrest warrant that was issued last week by a Pennsylvania judge after he failed to show up for a hearing on unpaid taxes.

"They miss me so much (in Pittsburgh) that they have nothing else to talk about," he said. "I woke up one morning, my phone was going off. I didn't know what was going on.

"That right there should signify what those people are all about. They're just lost. They're just looking for something to talk about. I guess I was just the person they could drag through the mud and make fun of and things like that. I'm gone now, and they still try to find things that make me look bad. But I'm over here now."

A woman at district judge Mary Murray's office in Coraopolis, Pa., said the warrant remains active. Burress' attorney, Chuck Potter, said last week that all of Burress' taxes are paid and expects the matter to be rectified shortly.

DE Michael Strahan
said he was scheduled to be limited on the coaches' chart, but participated fully in both practices yesterday. Strahan, who tore his pectoral muscle in a Nov. 7 loss to the Bears, is pleased with his recovery.

"If the season were here tomorrow, I'd be a little shy about doing certain things," Strahan said. "But now, range of motion is fine. When I'm lifting weights, I can lift the same weight. I'm very comfortable. That's been the biggest surprise -- my comfort level now."

Safety Brent Alexander
worked with the first-team defense alongside second-year S Gibril Wilson. Seven-year veteran Shaun Williams, a starter at the beginning of last season, worked with the second unit. Williams, who took a pay cut to remain with the team, missed most of last season with torn cartilage in his knee.... With starting LB Barrett Green (torn knee ligament) inactive, Nick Greisen filled in on the weak side.... As expected, free-agent DT Kendrick Clancy took all of the reps with the starting defense.

 

[Ego74]

Suddenly, Giants &
Coughlin happy campers

BY RALPH VACCHANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Only 13 months ago, Tom Coughlin opened his first minicamp as Giants coach under the shadow of players complaining to their union about his offseason program. And that set the tone for a tumultuous year dominated by complaints about his infamous rules.

But as Year 2 opened this weekend at Giants Stadium with the Giants' lone mini-camp, there was no griping or moaning coming from Coughlin's players at all. They seem to have accepted his rules, now that they know what's expected. And some players even think Coughlin has softened a bit, too.

"I think he's tried to get a little more of a personal type of feeling with the guys than he had last year," said defensive end Michael Strahan. "Last year I think it was more business. It was, 'Okay, I'm the coach. I'm the new guy and I'm going to beat you into the dirt and you accept it because that's just how it's going to be and you have no choice.' Whereas this year I think he looks at it and says, 'Hey, we're working together.' And I think that's important."

Of course, it's only June, and no one knows if Coughlin still will be kinder and gentler at training camp in August. But if nothing else, his second season has gotten off to a more positive start. Coughlin said his rules haven't changed, and he hasn't changed, either. He believes the positive feeling was simply inevitable after his players had a full year to adjust.

"Now I know our players better than I did a year ago and they know me," Coughlin said. "The development of the word 'trust,' if you will, starts to come into play a little bit here."

Strahan said Coughlin has taken steps to earn that trust by becoming "more personable with us players. He goes out of his way to come up to you, talk to you, see where your head is at, make sure you're on the same page, just to let you know that he cares about you. I think that's very important and that's definitely one of the biggest changes."

However, the most important change seems to be that the players finally have come to understand that Coughlin's rules and demands won't be changing. They understand the rules better and they've learned to accept them. "That makes everything easier," said cornerback Will Allen. "It's not going to be a shock to you. That's the reason I think things are going a lot smoother now."

Notebook

MINI-CRAMP: Rookie RB Brandon Jacobs was carted off from the final minicamp practice yesterday morning due to a cramp in his right buttock. "The severe heat must have got to him," Coughlin joked (temperatures were in the 60s). Said Jacobs: "They take cramps seriously around here, so they brought me inside." ... G Rich Seubert said his surgically repaired leg made it through his first practices in nearly 20 months just fine. It even survived being stepped on by G Jason Whittle on Thursday. "I felt good," Seubert said. "It's not sore. It feels fine. It feels like my other leg."