For Bradshaw, no more agony of da feet

Not only is Ahmad Bradshaw's foot feeling better, it's actually looking better.

That's what X-rays have shown in recent weeks as the running back plays through the remainder of the Giants' season with a fractured bone in his right foot. Bradshaw missed four games after injuring the foot against the Dolphins on Oct. 30 but has come back and helped the rejuvenated running game in the last month.

Turns out he's been injecting energy into the rushing attack because of a medicine he's been injecting into himself.

"I've been taking some Forteo," Bradshaw said. "[It] helps you grow bone. The foot looks great, the fracture is healing in with the bone, we are excited about it."

According to drugs.com, Forteo "is a man-made form of a hormone called parathyroid that exists naturally in the body. Forteo increases bone density and increases bone strength to help prevent fractures."

It often is used to treat osteoporosis in men and women with a high risk of bone fractures. NFL running backs who run on the outside of their feet and have a history of stress fractures apparently also see a benefit.

"It helps the pain and it heals the fracture with the bone," Bradshaw said, noting that it has helped him a lot.

Bradshaw has bounced back into form in recent weeks. In his first two games back from the foot injury, he managed only 50 rushing yards on 19 carries and didn't have a run longer than 8 yards. Against the Packers on Dec. 4, his first game back, he had 38 yards on 11 carries.

Since those two games, though, he's run for 232 yards and four touchdowns on 55 carries and also caught a touchdown pass. He's had a run of at least 17 yards in each of the last four games and has topped 29 in each of the last two.

Bradshaw came out of the Falcons game Sunday with a sore back (one of the possible side effects of Forteo, according to drugs.com) and did not practice until Friday. That's been his normal Friday routine with the foot, however. He's officially listed as probable to play Sunday.

"It's no big deal, it is just a lot of tightness," Bradshaw said of his back. "It feels better now and I feel good."

What's making him feel better, too, is returning to the site of his only postseason touchdown, in the NFC Championship Game in January 2008.

"I'm thinking about this game and this game only," he said when asked to recall that important score. "I take it one game at a time. Hopefully, I can have two this game."