Manning misses Giants practice with foot injury
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The Giants took the practice field without Eli Manning for the first time in years. Whether or not they'll take the field on Sunday without him for the first time since he became an NFL starter remains up in the air.
Tom Coughlin said a decision on Manning's availability could come down to gametime when the Giants face the Raiders.
"It's not only day to day, it's not only how good he feels, but the doctors have to go along and tell us what they think he can do if anything that day," Coughlin said. "He's anxious. He wants to go out there and practice. He wants to take some snaps today. But this is the smarter move."
Coughlin said he met with Manning this morning and the quarterback was feeling better than the day before. And on Tuesday, after his first day of treatment on the injured plantar fascia in his right foot, Manning felt better as well. "He's making progress, no doubt," Coughlin said.
Can Manning play on Sunday without practicing all week?
"He's done it before," Coughlin said, referencing the week in early 2007 when he missed practices with a shoulder injury but came back to play against the Packers. "He'll know everything. While he's in (the building during practice) today he'll have a (tape) machine. His tape time will probably be as good as or maybe more than a normal week. He'll study hard."
Manning isn't the only Giant with an injury. Kevin Boss (ankle) and Michael Boley (knee) remained inside during the workout to receive treatments. Aaron Ross (hamstring), Chris Canty (calf) and Bryan Kehl (finger) were on the sidelines for the workout. In all 12 of the team's 53 players appeared on the prepractice injury report. That presents a challenge for Coughlin in preparing for the Raiders.
"Hey, it's part of it," he said of the injuries. "You have certain things that have to happen. The first thing that has to happen is we have to understand exactly what the status of each player is and what the projection is. When they can practice? How much they can practice? And then, quite frankly, we have to put a practice together that allows everyone to be prepared.
"Sometimes," he said, "there's a little stress that goes with that."
