Time for Whimper to show he's the Guy

ALBANY - Guy Whimper was a fourth-round draft pick of the Giants in 2006. He's still looking for a home.

His latest attempt is at guard, where he has stepped into the starting lineup with Rich Seubert sidelined with a broken hand. Whimper, who used to play tackle exclusively, also has played right guard with the second unit in this camp.

"I mean, it's been a long time [since playing consistently]," said Whimper, who has played in only 30 regular-season games with no starts and missed the entire 2008 season with a foot injury.

He added: "It was a tough process playing at this level. But I feel like I'm ready now."

The Giants hope so. Because it's now or never as far as they're concerned.

"When you're here and you're a player, there's a time frame where the clock is running," offensive line coach Pat Flaherty said. "You need to step up and prove that you can play in this league."

Phillips ready to return

Kenny Phillips will play his first football in almost 11 months Monday night when he steps off the PUP list and onto the practice field. Just don't expect him to be thundering around the field at first.

"We'll just kind of ease him into it," Tom Coughlin said. "We'll see. They'll tell me what to do with him and I'm almost sure that he'll come back for one [practice] and he'll be limited in that one. I don't know. I'll have to hear what they say."

Phillips said he likes what he's seen from the secondary while he's been on the sideline for the first week of camp. But he thinks he can add something. Eventually, anyway.

"I think that when I get out there, there are a lot of plays that I can make," he said. "Even though we're doing a good job out there now, I still see some things that we can get better at and I'm going to try to go out there and improve."