Extra snaps leave Goff confident and ready to go

Starters usually get in and get out in the fourth preseason game as quickly as possible. But occasionally, there is the starter for whom the risk of injury is outweighed by the possibility of making progress.

In Jonathan Goff's case, playing almost every snap of Thursday night's game against the Patriots might have been the best thing that could have happened to him. And to the Giants.

Goff, 24, has been the starting middle linebacker all summer, but he never seemed comfortable there until Thursday, when he sprinted around the field making plays. He had two pass defenses, an interception and a couple of key tackles on a goal-line stand.

Sure, most of the action came in the second half, when he had to re-enter the game in place of injured backup Phillip Dillard. But the hope is that Goff will pick up right where he left off when the Giants start the regular season a week from Sunday.

"I thought he really enjoyed it and was relaxed and got to be instinctive and made some really nice physical plays out there," coach Tom Coughlin said. "It just happened to work out that Jon had to take a ton of snaps. I think he benefits from it."

Goff said that for him, the key was being out on the field the whole game and getting to find a rhythm.

"Being able to stay in the game and get in the flow, you're able to anticipate what you'll get from certain looks," he said. "You see something once and when you see it again, you know what to expect."

That's a big step in the progress of a young linebacker, veteran Keith Bulluck said.

"Until you start making plays in this league consistently, you don't know if you can make them," Bulluck said. "Once you're in a position where you make one or two or three plays, then it just starts flowing. You start to understand why you made those plays, the position that you have to be in. You understand the details of the defense that helps and allows you to make those plays."

Asked if Thursday might be the game in which that light bulb over Goff's head clicked on, Bulluck didn't hesitate. "Definitely," he said.

"Getting a whole game under your belt before Week 1, I think I'll benefit from that," Goff said. "When you're going to be in for the whole game, it's different from when you only get two series. There's nothing like being in the flow of the game for four quarters."

Notes & quotes: Coughlin said Dillard is "day-to-day" with a hamstring strain . . . S Antrel Rolle was fined $7,500 for "unnecessary roughness" on his hit against Ravens' Mark Clayton last weekend . . . The Giants will trim their roster to 53 Saturday.