Giants, Pats treat it like regular game
Brandon Jacobs celebrates with teammates after his touchdown against the New England Patriots in the third quarter. (Nov. 6, 2011) Credit: AP
Super Bowl? What Super Bowl?
That's the mentality some Giants and Patriots are taking as they prepare to play in the game.
"I've never been through that," defensive tackle Chris Canty said Thursday of the hype. "I can tell you this much: We're not going to win the Super Bowl. We're going to beat the New England Patriots. So that's our focus."
Funny, because the Patriots apparently aren't going to the Super Bowl either.
"It's a football game for us," Tom Brady said. "It's the Super Bowl for everyone else. We're going in there to try and win a football game."
Down to two
Tom Coughlin opened his meeting with the players Thursday with the message: "And now there are two."
"Knowing that we're the only two teams practicing today, that was probably the greatest feeling," Deon Grant said. "To go out there and be like, 'Ain't no other team working harder than us. Literally.' Even if New England is practicing, I still feel like we're out there practicing harder. But knowing there's not 30 other teams that can say that, it feels amazing."
Giant steps
The Giants had seven players who did not practice: C David Baas (neck), LB Chase Blackburn (calf), CB Will Blackmon (knee), RB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot), WR Hakeem Nicks (shoulder/ankle), CB Corey Webster (hamstring) and LB Jacquian Williams (foot) . . . S Tyler Sash, who suffered a concussion in Sunday's game, was cleared to return . . . Asked what kind of help Peyton Manning can provide on playing in Indianapolis, Eli Manning said: "He was very helpful in getting me some tickets to the game. I think that's one less thing that I have to worry about." . . . Coughlin on how his secondary will cover 6-6 TE Rob Gronkowski: "Get a ladder, probably."
