DT Joseph hopeful his time has come

Even before he made his NFL debut last year in a Week 4 cameo, Linval Joseph felt as if he'd been there before.

Through all the weeks when starting defensive tackles Chris Canty and Barry Cofield blocked his path to the field, all the weeks when he didn't even dress, Joseph made the practice fields his stadium, keeping ready for when he finally got his shot.

"I tried to treat every practice like it was a game," he said at Giants training camp this week. "And I actually played in a couple of games at the end of the season. So I got a feel for it."

Six games, no starts and eight tackles. That was the barren record that filled his stat columns, disappointing for any rookie but especially for a second-round draft pick.

But now that Cofield is gone, Joseph has a good chance to open the season starting at defensive tackle alongside Canty.

"I can't really say I have the job, so right now I'm just playing every play like it's my last and I'm just going out because you don't know," he said. "I'm just going to keep going until I'm told otherwise."

Before leaving for the Redskins this offseason, Cofield amassed 154 tackles and 10½ sacks in five years as a starter. But Joseph doesn't feel as if he's replacing Cofield.

"People might say that, but right now I'm just trying to play my part, accomplish my goals and do everything I can to help this team," he said. "I don't feel like all the pressure from Barry is coming on me because it's not like that. Not at all."

Any pressure probably is coming from his main competition for the starting gig, rookie Marvin Austin, a second-round pick. Austin was taken 52nd overall and likely would have gone higher if not for a suspension for receiving improper benefits that caused him to forfeit his final season at North Carolina. Despite the added competition, Joseph said he wasn't disappointed when the Giants got Austin.

"I didn't think anything," he said. "The season is long. We have a lot of veteran guys in that room, and you never know what can happen."

What's happening now is Joseph is practicing with the first team. The 6-4, 323-pounder can be a powerful force, exploding forward like a cannonball. His performances in practices and in the preseason loss to Carolina -- he had one tackle -- have drawn praise from Canty and Justin Tuck.

"I think he played very strong," Tuck said. "A lot of things that he did on the football field won't show up on stat sheets, but I think he did very well for his first start."

Tom Coughlin recognizes Joseph's potential.

"He needs to play and he needs to spend more time on the field," Coughlin said. "But he looks to be the kind of guy that can be stout in the middle for us. He can hold at the point and can be a powerful guy inside."

And, finally, a powerful guy on the field.

Notes & quotes: Eli Manning said he didn't think his comments about being in Tom Brady's class or being a top five quarterback would create such a firestorm. "It got stirred up and all of a sudden people ran with it a little bit and started saying different things,'' Manning told Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio Thursday. "I thought I gave a truthful answer and gave my opinion. When I got done with the interview, I thought . . . nothing will come out of it and everything will be quiet." Manning added he was just expressing his confidence. "I don't think I said anything incorrectly." . . . Tuck, who missed Wednesday's practice with a sore Achilles, may return Friday . . . The Giants will work out at 1:30 Friday and Saturday at the Timex Performance Center.

With Tom Rock