Reese: Plax talk with Giants is 'positive'

It appears as though one of the major obstacles to the re-signing of Plaxico Burress has been hurdled.

The free-agent wide receiver visited the Timex Performance Center for the first time Friday -- the Giants still were operating out of old Giants Stadium when he last played for the team -- and spent about an hour and a half in conversations with players, front-office personnel and, most importantly, Tom Coughlin. The discussion between Burress and Coughlin lasted about an hour, the Giants said.

"I think it was positive conversation all the way around," general manager Jerry Reese said as he left the building Friday night. "We'll see what comes out of this. Again, we don't bring people in for the fun of it. We bring people in to investigate possibilities for the New York Giants. We think it's probably a possibility and we'll see where it goes."

Before the meeting, Coughlin was asked what he wanted to hear from Burress that would convince him to green-light the pursuit of him.

He replied, "What I have to hear is sincerity."

Although the two men in the face-to-face never had seen eye-to-eye, Coughlin said he was going into the meeting with an open mind.

"If it's a positive meeting and we decide that we would like to hear the next stage, then we can talk about the next stage," Coughlin said.

If it was, the Giants would not be alone. Burress reportedly is heading to Pittsburgh for a meeting with the Steelers on Saturday. The Rams and Eagles also are interested and Burress always has considered signing with the Jets.

Burress arrived at the facility at 6:30 and left shortly after 8. On the way in and on the way out, he had conversations with many of his former teammates and coaches, notably Brandon Jacobs on the way in and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan on the way out, according to vice president of communications Pat Hanlon. He stopped to gaze at a mural outside the weight room that honors the 2007 Super Bowl team and to look up at the image of himself on the wall.

"It was great to talk to him," Reese said. "It's a very private, personal conversation. It was a man-to-man conversation. We talked about some football and I'm sure the head coach and him had a private conversation which is between them. It was a good visit."

Notes & quotes: The Giants agreed to a restructured deal with RB Jacobs, but under the new rules, he is unable to practice with the team until Thursday because of it . . . Just-released Jets punter Steve Weatherford was signed by the Giants and will compete with Matt Dodge . . . Reese said newly-acquired David Baas will play center . . . The Giants have signed all of their draft picks except for first-round CB Prince Amukamara, but Reese said he does not expect there to be much delay in getting a deal done . . . David Diehl confirmed that he has been asked to start training camp as the left guard and not the left tackle position he played for the last four seasons . . . WR Ramses Barden, who had offseason ankle surgery, will start training camp on PUP . . . DT Rocky Bernard was released.