Tom won't return kicks, but he made point

If you want something done right, do it yourself.

Tom Coughlin has been so upset by the lack of ball security on special teams -- particularly from kickoff returner Devin Thomas, who fumbled against the Patriots on Sunday -- that he's installing a new name at the top of the depth chart. His own.

When asked about Thomas' statement that he had lost the job, Coughlin said, "He's citing a depth chart move and I put my own name at the top. The rest of them are all behind there."

Coughlin was joking (or kind of joking; he had seven career kickoff returns for Syracuse), but the issue of ball security is not something that draws a lot of yuks among the coaching staff.

"We just have to be clear with the ballhandling," special teams coordinator Tom Quinn said. "That's something we're disappointed in. We've been lucky so far this year that we haven't turned one of those over . . . It's too sloppy. The ball can't be on the ground."

Coughlin said Thomas still is in the mix to be a returner, but the team clearly is leaning toward letting rookie Da'Rel Scott get a chance. He's the speedy running back who had his first carry of the season Sunday against the Patriots and ran five yards for a first down.

"He's fast, so we'd like to put the ball in his hands at some point," Quinn said.

Scott sounded as if he'd be up for that challenge.

"There ain't going to be no dancing back there," he said. "Hopefully get us up to the 40 or better."

The Giants also could have D.J. Ware handle kickoff returns. He's done it in the past and said he'd be ready if asked to reprise the role. But it sounds as if the Giants want Scott and fellow rookie Jerrel Jernigan (injured this week with a hip pointer) to start taking over some of the special-teams jobs.

"We've been wanting to work them in and get them to the point where Jernigan can start being the punt returner and Da'Rel can be the kickoff returner," Quinn said. "It just hasn't gotten to that point, so we'll keep working with them and see."

And if all else fails, Coughlin can always jump in.