Jacobs over 100 this week? Wanna bet?

Thursday November 19, 2009 9:28 PM By Tom Rock

Brandon Jacobs has not had a 100-yard rushing game this season. What are the odds that he gets one against the Falcons?

Well, according to Bodog.com, pretty good. The gambling site is paying 5-to-4 odds that Jacobs will have a 100-yard rushing day before Terrell Owens has a 100-yard receiving day (3-to-2) or LaDainian Tomlinson has a 100-yard rushing day (9-for-4).

Another bet you can make is who will be the head coach of the Buffalo Bills for Week 1 of the 2010 NFL Regular Season? Why is this significant to Giants fans? Well, because offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride has been floated as a candidate for that job. Judging from the esteem with which some Giants fans hold Gilbride, I don't know if you'll consider this good or bad news, but while his name has been batted around for the job on blogs and in various reports, it doesn't appear on the Bodog.com list of candidates. Their choices (and the odds) are:

Mike Shanahan 5/2
Mike Martz 4/1
Jim Harbaugh 6/1
Mike Holmgren 6/1
Bill Cowher 8/1
Perry Fewell 8/1
Mike Zimmer 10/1
Turk Schonert 100/1

Interestingly, you can also bet on whether or not the Patriots will attempt to convert a fourth down opportunity against the Jets this weekend. Even money says they do, according to the site.

(Newsday Photo / David Pokress)

All aboard!

Thursday November 19, 2009 12:17 PM By Tom Rock

This time, without exceptions.

Ahmad Bradshaw practiced with the team today, running and participating in individual drills before we had to leave the workout, meaning that all 53 players for the Giants were able to go. Whether or not he'll be listed as "limited" on the participation chart, we'll see later today.

Aaron Ross, meanwhile, was flying around the field with the cornerbacks and even took some turns returning punts for the scout team. On one of them he had to zig-zag and cut between 11 defenders who were coming down at him to cover the kick. He looked pretty spry, going at full speed. So much for Tom Coughlin’s statement yesterday about easing him back in.

How excited was Ross about practicing? He was wearing his game pants while the rest of the team was in shorts or sweats.

(Photo: Getty Images)

The other guys' injuries

Wednesday November 18, 2009 9:26 PM By Tom Rock

The Giants are as healthy as they've been since the dawn of time, but the two teams they play in the next seven days -- the Falcons and the Broncos -- ain't.

First, the Broncos. They had eight players who did not participate in Wednesday's practice, the most notable of which are the two running backs, Michael Turner and Jeriuos Norwood.

On Turner, Falcons coach Mike Smith said he'd be "day to day" with a high ankle sprain, but he didn't rule him out for Sunday's game. Nor did Turner himself.

“I don’t have a time frame on the injury,” Turner told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution yesterday. “I’m not going to count myself out right now. It’s only Wednesday. I’m going to take a couple of days. Later on in the week, I’ll know for sure if I’ll be able to play or not.”

Normally Norwood would take the place of Turner, but he's missed the last four games with a hip injury (he was supposed to be "day-to-day" as well, so they have long days down in Atlanta).

"Jerious continues to get better," Smith said during the conference call this morning. "He was able to do a little bit more last week and we are anxious to see him practice today."

It didn't quite work out that way.

As for the Broncos, they're dealing with a QB in Kyle Orton who apparently wants to play with torn ligaments in his ankle. That'd probably be fine with the Giants. First the Broncos need to get past the surging Chargers on Sunday, though. No word yet on who will be the QB in that game -- Orton or Chris Simms -- although Simms took the starter's reps in practice for the Broncs today.

(Photo: AP)

Kiwanuka on healthy defense: "It better help on the field"

Wednesday November 18, 2009 5:16 PM By Tom Rock

For the first time since the start of training camp, the Giants had their defense on the field for a regular practice. Their full defense. True, Kenny Phillips and Jay Alford are still on injured reserve and out of the season. But every defender on the active roster was participating, including Aaron Ross, the last of the injury holdouts.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Giants.

“Guys are running around, coming back,” Mathias Kiwanuka said of getting the band back together. “You’ve got that influx of new energy. You have guys coming back from the bye week and you have the guys who haven’t been playing much. We’re in a good spot.”

The return of some players the Giants were counting on to make big impressions this season – Ross, Michael Boley, Chris Canty in particular – is certainly boosting morale.

But it should also make a big difference when the Giants get on the field Sunday against the Falcons. The Giants are much closer to a defense that they drew up during the offseason than they have been since, well, since they drew it up in the offseason.

“It better help on the field,” Kiwanuka said. “We know that it will, we just have to get the job done now. We can sit around and talk about all the good stuff we want, but that doesn’t matter. All we’re focused on is getting a win no matter how we do it.”

“We’re in the right spot,” Kiwanuka added. “Going into the bye week the way that we did, this is the way that we wanted to come out of it. Healthy, energetic and ready to go.”

(Photo: AP / Bill Kostroun)

Bradshaw no longer on boot hill

Wednesday November 18, 2009 12:21 PM By Tom Rock

Ahmad Bradshaw did not practice with the team today -- he was the only one -- but he did not appear to be wearing the protective boot that he'd been strapped into since way back after the Bucs game. Good news? Maybe. Tom Coughlin said the rest put Bradshaw on a different "cycle" in regard to the injury and that not playing on Sunday didn't necessarily help the injury heel (it sounds like only off-season surgery with some hardware will do that) but it helped avoid any setbacks that come with playing on it.

Other than that, a pretty routine practice. Then again, having 52 healthy players available for a workout has been nothing but routine for the Giants this season.

And this will not be a routine week for Michael Boley, the former Falcons player who fell to a reserve role with the team last year and now gets to face his old squad. We'll talk with Boley a little later today, but Tom Coughlin made it sound as if Boley is very much aware of the situation.

"That'll probably get his attention," Coughlin said.

Coughlin also said that he expects Boley to show the same kind of progress this week that he showed after his first comeback from surgery earlier this season. TC called Boley "rusty" after the loss to the Chargers.

Coughlin also said that Clint Sintim will continue to get more and more snaps on defense as the season goes forward and he splits time with Danny Clark at strongside linebacker. "I do expect him to be as involved as we can make it  possible," Coughlin said. "He did OK. He improved the second time around, so we're looking for more improvement."

(Photo: AP)

Not quite "over and done with"

Wednesday November 18, 2009 10:50 AM By Tom Rock

That was the term Eli Manning used to describe his foot injury on Monday. But today, on the pre-practice injury report, there's Manning's name and his foot. He'll appear on the injury report after practice.

As for the rest of the list, it is considerably svelt compared to the way it was going into the bye week. The only other players listed are Ahmad Bradshaw with a foot/ankle injury that he's been maintaining for most of the season and Aaron Ross with a hamstring that he finally seems to have overcome.

Live chat with Tom Rock

Tuesday November 17, 2009 11:05 AM By Mike Rose

Tom Rock talks Giants and takes your questions today in a live chat at noon.

Larry Johnson still gaining yards for Chiefs

Monday November 16, 2009 5:29 PM By Tom Rock

Here's an odd little statistical absurdity from Michael Eisen of Giants.com:

"It took a while, but the Elias Sports Bureau has made a scoring change from the Giants’ game in Kansas City on Oct. 4. With 13:08 left in the game, Larry Johnson was originally credited with a rush for zero yards, but the Chiefs gained 19 yards on a fumble recovery. The new ruling is that Johnson, who is no longer with the team, ran for 19 yards before fumbling. Guard Brian Waters gets zero recovery yards.

"Johnson’s rushing totals for the game are now 18 carries for 71 yards. Kansas City’s team totals are 25 attempts for 124 yards, and the Chiefs’ total yardage was 212 yards."

It's a little footnote, but wouldn't it have been a hoot if Larry Johnson actually was the franchise's all-time leading rusher at the time of the petition to stop him from being the all-time leading rusher? As it is he finished his career with the Chiefs 19 yards closer to the mark, or 56 yards shy, at 6,015.

Unless there are other "fumbles" we don't yet know about!

(Photo: Getty Images)

And we're back!

Monday November 16, 2009 11:45 AM By Tom Rock

The bye week has come and gone, and not only has it done some good for the Giants physically and psychologically, it was actually a productive weekend for them in terms of football.

Three teams that the Giants wanted to lose -- the Falcons, Cowboys and Eagles -- all did. So the Giants pulled within a game of first place in the NFC East with head-to-heads against all three opponents still remaining, and in terms of the wild card chase, they are now among four teams at 5-4 vying for two spots with head-to-heads against two of them: The Eagles and the Falcons.

On top of that (although to be clear this is just in the form of an update since no one wishes injuries on anyone) Falcons RB MIchael Turner is undergoing tests today to determine the severity of an ankle sprain he suffered yesterday, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Broncos QB Kyle Orton, whom the Giants play in 10 days, also suffered an ankle injury that could make him a question mark for the big Turkey Bowl.

Oh, and I received word from the Giants that all 53 of the players have returned from their bye week festivities. So there are no fouled up travel plans, no hunting accidents, no broken legs suffered in pickup backetball games or any of the other things you might worry about when you give 53 relatively wealthy young men a weekend pass.

We have Eli Manning and Justin Tuck on a conference call a little after noon, so there'll be plenty more information to come throughout the day.

(Photo: AP)