Rain doesn't stop Eli's, Giants' workout
Kevin Boss #89 of the New York Giants scores the game winning touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars. (Nov. 28, 2010) Credit: Getty Images
HOBOKEN, N.J. -- It wasn't necessarily much fun to run passing routes for 45 minutes, in a driving rain, on a high-school football field.
But still . . . "Better than sitting on the couch," Kevin Boss said of the impromptu workout organized by Eli Manning.
Boss, Giants wide receivers Hakeem Nicks, Duke Calhoun, Michael Clayton and Sam Giguere and backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels joined Manning for a second straight day, though a few others who participated on Tuesday skipped yesterday's workout in the unpleasant weather.
Manning will be at Hoboken High's field again Thursday as well as next week, trying to mimic the passing workouts he'd be having with his receivers in a normal offseason during the Organized Team Activity period.
There's nothing organized now, except the labor war between the NFL and its players. No players are allowed to use team facilities, so 45 minutes on slippery turf is what Manning, who politely declined to stop and chat with reporters, has to offer.
"It's just about trying to focus on what I can control, and that's getting healthy and being ready to go back to work," Boss said. He had arthroscopic hip surgery in January and isn't ready to go all-out in drills regardless of whether it's here on a high school field or at the Giants' facility.
"We've all been working out separately, so it's just a matter of getting on the same page and working with Eli," Boss said. "You want to start to get the terminology down again, and it's nice just being with each other again."
Boss is one of several players around the league who are in an even greater limbo during the lockout. He is not signed for next season and could either be a restricted or unrestricted free agent once a collective bargaining agreement is reached, so he may not be a teammate of Manning's once the dust settles on the labor situation.
"It is kind of a different situation for me," Boss said. "A handful of guys on our team are in a similar situation. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm going to stay in New York. There's nowhere else I want to go.
"Until they decide what the rules are going to be, whether I'm unrestricted or restricted, until then, I consider myself a Giant."
