Eli focused on staying healthy for season

The only cuts Eli Manning was concerned about this weekend were the spliced-up video clips of the Redskins on his computer. While the rest of the team was prepping for the Patriots game Thursday and sweating over the trimming of the roster to 53 players, Manning was getting a jump on his studies.

"Last week, I wasn't doing much preparing for New England, obviously, so I watched the [Redskins'] preseason games," Manning said Friday before the Giants were given the holiday weekend off. "I . . . watched some of our games [against the Redskins] last year, other films. I try to get prepared. I've done a little bit, but still got a lot more to do."

After a long lockout and a chaotic training camp, Manning and the Giants finally can settle into a regular-season routine this week. They'll begin that challenge Monday with a short practice, then jump into the real work Wednesday.

Manning did not look sharp during the preseason, and coming off a season in which he threw a career-high 25 interceptions, there are many -- mostly outside the organization -- who are concerned. But Manning said he accomplished his most important goal in the three preseason games in which he played during the past month, and it has nothing to do with his zero touchdown passes or two interceptions.

"The only times I've ever missed games in my career, I've been injured in preseason games," the quarterback said. "My focus is just getting through that healthy, getting the offense through healthy and fixing the mistakes, getting those things cleaned. You always would love to go out there and hit every throw, but that's what preseason is for. Get used to getting hit a little bit, moving in the pocket, kind of get all of those things out of your system."

A week from Monday, the Giants almost certainly either will be 1-0 and in first place in the division or 0-1 and in last place. If the zaniness of the preseason bleeds over into the regular season, perhaps they will be 0-0-1.

Manning worked on forging new connections with new receivers throughout training camp. Like all teams, the Giants did not have any structured offseason workouts to refine their chemistry. Then they lost two of Manning's favorite targets, Steve Smith and Kevin Boss, to free agency.

Most expect offenses around the league to be a little out of sync at the start of the season because of the lockout, and Manning is no exception.

"It's not like, hey, we're in our first game, everything is exactly perfect and we're never going to make a mistake," he said. "There are going to be mistakes, there's going to be things happening and it's just about continuing to learn. We have some new guys at some key positions. The only true way to get better, and for these guys to learn, is getting in there, getting live reps, getting game reps and you get better as the season goes. Hopefully, guys are sharp on most of the things, but there is still going to be some learning curve to it."

Notes & quotes:The Giants signed two of their former draft picks -- RB Andre Brown and LB Adrian Tracy -- along with QB Ryan Perrilloux, TE Christian Hopkins, DE Justin Trattou and DT Dwayne Hendricks to their practice squad. All of them were cut Saturday. C Jim Cordle is expected to be officially announced as a practice- squadder Monday . . . The Seahawks reportedly claimed T Jarriel King off waivers. King was cut by the Giants on Saturday.