Phillips gets reward for his determination Sunday

Lots of times, when a player has been away from the game for a while, some emotions will well up upon his return. Not so for Kenny Phillips.

He doesn't expect to be thinking about his left knee Sunday. Won't have a list of people he's grateful to like an Academy Award winner. Those doctors and trainers and staffers who have helped bring him through the last 111/2 months? He's had enough of them already.

No, he'll be thinking of only one thing when he takes the field against the Panthers. And really, it hasn't changed at all since the moment he woke up from the anesthesia last September.

"Just playing football," the single-minded safety said. "That'll be the only thing on my mind."

There was a time, outside of Phillips' brain at least, when that wasn't a foregone conclusion. Phillips was diagnosed with patellofemoral arthritis, and after playing the Week 2 game last September against the Cowboys - he played the entire game, by the way, and even had an interception in the Giants' win - it was decided to put him on injured reserve and perform surgery.

The condition, several orthopedists warned, could not be "corrected" or "repaired." It could only be slowed down. In other words, it could threaten Phillips' promising career.

According to a person with specific knowledge of Phillips' surgery, he had a quarter-sized osteochondral defect on his patella that required microfracture surgery. It was four or five months before he was even able to run lightly, longer than that before he could run at full speed.

He sat out the offseason as the Giants brought in veteran safeties Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant, moves people interpreted as signs that Phillips' recovery was not on pace. He did not participate in OTAs, minicamps or even the first week of training camp.

Now, somewhat amazingly, Phillips is slated to be the starting safety for the Giants in their regular-season opener. But again, he won't be thinking about the journey today. Only the destination.

"I don't think I ever saw a moment when he didn't think he was coming back," Tom Coughlin said. "Never. His response was always extremely positive."

While Coughlin admires that attitude, he himself remains in wait-and-see mode with Phillips.

"We did an outstanding job of bringing him along," he said. "We still have to see it [on the field.] He's going from 25 plays [in preseason games] to big- time numbers. There's a lot to be seen still. It's no done deal. It has to be proven."

Phillips is looking forward to proving that he's back. He started taking first-team reps this past week, and the reality of his return began to set in.

"I'm anxious to get back out there," he said. "It's been a long time since I've played a meaningful football game."

The Giants hope he can provide a meaningful influence in the game. He probably won't be tested in the passing game too much - that will come next week against the Colts, not the grounded Panthers - but he'll have to be flying around the field making plays, coming up to stop runs, doing all of the things that earned him the nickname "Superman" in the first year and two weeks of his career.

"Hopefully, he'll give that same spark he did last year, making plays, interceptions, big plays," cornerback Corey Webster said. "He's a sure tackler. Hopefully, we have that back so we have nothing to worry about as cornerbacks. We can go out there and play and know those guys [behind us] are going to hold up their end of the bargain."

Phillips maintains that this surgery was a one-time fix, and neither it nor the condition it was designed to combat will take any years off his career. Of course, that can't be said with certainty until Phillips' playing days are over, one way or another.

The doctors have done all they can to get Phillips physically ready for the 2010 season. As for the coaching staff, defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has spent some extra time with him this week on the game plan.

"He's had to be coached this week because he's been gone a long time, and so he's trying to knock the rust off," Fewell said.

Fans, media, opponents, they'll all be watching Phillips closely Sunday. So will the Giants' coaches, looking for any sign of a hiccup in his performance in terms of conditioning or his knee.

"We have to be cognizant of that and make sure that we do right by Kenny so that he can play the game the way Kenny can play the game and not play it fatigued," Fewell said. "It's up to us to [say], 'Yeah, we're going to need to get another guy so that he can catch his breath.' He only played 21 plays, I think it was, in the last ballgame. He played about 12 to 15 in the game before that. So when you have to play 40, 50, 60 or 70 plays a ballgame, that's a significant amount of reps."

For Phillips and his driving desire to be back on the field, it might not be enough.