Burress sees a "lighter" Coughlin, says return to Giants is a "great possibility"

Plaxico Burress, who less than a year ago was insulting Tom Coughlin for not treating players like grown men and grumbling about the lack of prison visits he received from Eli Manning, now has a new perspective.

Looming free agency heading into a season you’ll be 35-years-old for will do that to you.

“It’s always a great possibility,” Burress said today on SiriusXM NFL Radio when asked about a possible reunion with the Giants.

Burress seems to be most impressed by Coughlin. The coach spent much of the Super Bowl week answering questions about how much he has changed, and his stock answer for those inquiries was usually that he had become more patient. Burress said he’s sensed a change too.

“One thing you can’t take from him is that he’s definitely a great coach,” Burress said. “Seeing it from afar, from the outside, I don’t know exactly what goes on in their locker room or how he’s changed, in that aspect, but I think one thing’s for sure, is that, you know, you can see that maybe he’s gotten a little lighter on the players. The players have a lot of respect for him. They’re going to go out and play hard. ... He’s always been a great coach and his team is always going to be prepared.”

As for the Giants’ system, Burress sounded like he’d welcome a return to it as well.

“Playing in Kevin Gilbride’s system is definitely one of the best and you see the production those guys are having at the wide receiver position,” he said of Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham, the last of whom will likely leave during free agency. “You look at some of the plays that those guys are making out there on the edge. And Eli has really just become a man at his position, leading those guys … Being in that offense it’s definitely a great offense. We’ll see what happens (in) free agency time. I haven’t been able to talk to any teams as of yet obviously because it’s not free agency time. But like I said I’m looking at all offers. I’m just looking at an opportunity to go to an offense, be productive, have fun, make some plays in these last few years and the goal is always to win a championship.”

Burress had a chance to sign with the Giants last summer when they offered him a contract. He chose to sign with the Jets for more money. The Giants won the Super Bowl and the Jets didn’t make it to the playoffs. Any regrets? he was asked in the interview.

“I don’t have any regrets at all,” he said. “It was a decision that I made personally not to go back. Coming out of my situation, being away from football for two years, they were the first team that I saw. I just kinda said to myself I wanted to go somewhere and have a fresh start, and just go out and let everything be new to me. That was basically the reason I didn’t turn to the Giants. I don’t have anything against them personally. I mean, just for those guys to bring me back and talk to me and see if I wanted to come back, I have enough respect for those guys just off of that alone. But I just made a decision to go somewhere and have a fresh start and I made the decision to go to the Jets. Like I said earlier, they’re a championship-caliber football team and I believe they will win a Super Bowl one day. And when free agency starts, we’ll see who the guys are who are knocking on the door.”