Giants Get Back to Work, Happy to Have a Few Extra Hands

For the Giants, the bye could not have come at a better time. Despite a 4-2 start that had them atop the N.F.C. East, the Giants have dealt with a host of injuries, from nagging to season-ending. On Monday, they returned to practice with an influx of healthy bodies.

“This is a good place to have a bye,” linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said. “As close to the middle as you can possibly get — I think that’s the perfect time to get the bye and then you can just go downhill the rest of the way. It obviously worked out for us in particular because of the number of injuries we had.”

Seven players who were dealing with injuries entering the week off practiced Monday as the Giants began preparing to play the Miami Dolphins (0-7) on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

“It’s a good sign to have guys out there, and hopefully we’ll have the consistency of all these guys practicing and it’ll give us a little bit of extra gas in our tank,” Coach Tom Coughlin said.

Among those out there was defensive end Justin Tuck, who has played in only two games this season because of neck and groin injuries. He is expected to play against the Dolphins.

In Tuck’s absence, Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora, who has an injured knee but also practiced Monday, have stepped in. In three games, Umenyiora has recorded five sacks and forced two fumbles. Pierre-Paul is third in the N.F.L. with seven and a half sacks.

Sunday will be the first time this season all three defensive ends will be in uniform together.

“I think he’s definitely a guy offenses have to accommodate for,” Kiwanuka said of Tuck. Then, referring to Umenyiora; another defensive end, Dave Tollefson; and Tuck by their uniform numbers, he said: “When you look out on the field and you see the numbers lined up, you got to pick your poison. Do you double 72? Or do you double 71? Is it 91? Whoever is out there on the field, it poses a big problem for the offense.”

Safety Kenny Phillips, who sustained a rib-cage strain in the Giants’ 27-24 win over the Buffalo Bills before the bye week, and cornerback Prince Amukamara, who has not appeared in a game after breaking his left foot during the preseason, also practiced. Amukamara participated in individual and special-teams drills and said that he was “almost 100 percent” sure he could make his N.F.L. debut on Sunday, but that he would not know until later in the week.

“It’s just a little soreness now,” Amukamara said. “At this time last week it was really sore, so I think that’s a good sign.”

The Giants also welcomed back running back Brandon Jacobs (knee), guard Chris Snee (concussion), fullback Henry Hynoski (neck) and wide receiver Ramses Barden (ankle).

Snee, who sustained a concussion in the Giants’ Week 5 loss against Seattle and did not play against Buffalo, said he was not sure if he would have been able to play on Sunday.

“I’ve been headache-free for over a week now,” Snee said, adding that he had not had a concussion before. “The bye week kind of helped with that. If I had to go back last week and play, I probably would’ve been a little worried about it. But I had an extra week to heal.”

Barden is eligible to come off the physically unable to perform list on Sunday. Coughlin said Barden took “about a third” of the repetitions at practice.

“People always say it’s like a kid in a candy store,” the 6-foot-6 Barden said of returning to practice. “I felt like I was in a bank vault without security cameras. That’s how much fun I had today.”

After a week off to recharge mentally and physically, the Giants hope they will be ready for the Dolphins and the formidable teams — including the Patriots — they will face in the coming weeks.

“As I always say, the bye is where the bye is,” Coughlin said. “I don’t have anything to do with it. We take it as it is. We use it as a positive, and hopefully everybody’s come back naturally refreshed.”

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Unfortunately I haven't had time to write a great post like I normally do the last couple days. Hopefully that will change tonight. That being said, I am going to do my best to give to keep you up-to-date on today's information.

NFL.com reported that Jake Delhomme is back practicing with the Browns at a high level. The ankle sprain he suffered during week one isn't perfect yet but he may play this weekend. Solid information should be available after practice Friday. If your main man is on a bye week, Delhomme could be a start in very deep leagues, though not recommended.

The Chicago Bears' QB Jay Cutler has been ruled out for his week 5 game against the Panthers. Todd Collins will get the start, but after getting his bell rung (yes I know, it is a medical term) against the Giants, I can't see him or his receivers as being very good starts. Forte still has plenty of value this week but stay away from the rest of the Bears.

If

read more October 7th, 2010 at 04:57 pm / #week 5

I can't help but laugh at all the people who took him early in the draft. Portis is now out 4 to 6 weeks after a groin separation (ouch). Worst case scenario, Portis is only available for the last 6 weeks (including playoffs) in most fantasy leagues. Since he is only averaging 50 yards a game before injury, I would be very worried if I were his owner. I know his value is extremely low right now but I would trade if possible. I don't see him being better than a flex sport in most leagues near the end of the fantasy season. Torain will be the new starter and is available in about half the leagues. Even if you don't need an RB, pick him up and use him as trade bait.

If you are playing me this week, Be Afraid.

read more October 6th, 2010 at 03:02 pm / #week 5

I am a little slow on commenting on Marshawn Lynch's coast to coast move to Seattle, but better late than never. This trade has affects 4 different running backs' trade values. Lynch should remain a start most weeks, though I would lower expectations during this week. Any move of this size will take a couple weeks to get use to the new team and city. Forsett's value just took a huge hit. His owners can only hope now that he will be able to split carries evenly. I don't see this happening though I would hold on to him until his use is figured out. Fred Jackson is named the new starter in Buffalo and should get decent numbers. They have little passing game and need him to come up huge. Spiller is now the number 2 guy and will get more or a realistic chance to show what he has. While I wouldn't start him, he suddenly becomes a flex start in really deep leagues. Also, I would try to acquire him in trades as an after thought. Try to get the other

read more October 6th, 2010 at 01:28 pm / #week 5

So now that the deal that I reported yesterday is a done deal, Moss owners can go jump for joy. If you can trade for Moss your now with the value he was worth after the last game, do it! I could see Favre throwing to him 10-15 times a game. When you have a guy who can come up with any catch in the book, ie catch against Revis this year, you give it to him as much as he wants it. Now if Henne will only learn that and give it to Marshall more…

What does this mean for the rest of the New England receivers? Obviously Welker is now the number one. He should start getting the numbers he got last year. As far as the others go, Tate now becomes the number two and a viable 3rd starter or flex start. If you are in a league that counts return yards, Tate is now like gold. Edelman becomes the third man. I would only use him in deep leagues as a flex.

If you play me this week, Be Afraid.

read more October 6th, 2010 at 12:30 pm / #week 5

Jay Glazer just reported that New England and Minnesota is working on a deal to trade Randy Moss back to the team he started with. The main thing keeping this from happening is getting Randy resigned to a longer deal. This could be huge for Moss owners. Favre has been looking for a number one receiver to make his life easier, and this would be definitely be it. Keep your ears open!

If you are playing me this week, Be Afraid!

read more October 5th, 2010 at 07:07 pm / #week 5

He goes and injures himself. Okay, maybe thats not how it exactly happened but for fantasy owners, he caused a lot of pain and grief. Based on what Michael Vick said to a radio station, he should be out 1 to 2 weeks, though the time table isn't for sure. This is relatively good news considering how much pain everyone said he was in after he got turned into a sandwich. For those who thought that picking up Kevin Kolb was going to be a good play after Vick went down, the day just continued to get worse. Kolb repeated his first half performance from Week 1 by looking more like Matt Leinart than a starting QB. If your backup QB isn't worth starting for the next couple weeks, play the position by match-ups by picking up guys off the waivers. Garrard has a positive match-up against the Bills, while Sam Bradford is playing the Lions. A long shot could be Matt Cassel against the Colts. As the NFL's last unbeaten, KC has been playing really solid football. The Col

read more October 5th, 2010 at 09:32 am / #week 5

People often ask things like "Why don't my teams do better" or "Why do I get unlucky every year?" Lady Luck does play a huge roll in every week to week match-up. I tend to believe fantasy football is 60% skill and 40% luck. A lot of bad situations can be avoided when proper measures are taken. These measures often begin with the single most important day of the fantasy year, the draft. A lot of these apply in every league and can be altered to fit other sports as well. Though we are in week 5, take the time to remember these or save them somewhere for the future. You will thank me.

1. "Avoid Rookies Early." As I wrote in my post "Rookie Mistakes," picking up rookies early in the draft (where your starters are selected) is fools gold. There is often 2 or 3 big name rookie position players that creep up the draft board based on hype. If you were to just step back for a minute, it would be easy see that trusting your team to a guy who has never pl

read more October 5th, 2010 at 02:18 am

I don't know about you, but holy BLEEP! 9 sacks in one half is ridiculous. If I was Cutler, even if I didn't get hurt, I would have faked an injury and gotten out of there as fast as possible. He was my ultimate dud of this week. Michael Vick was my starter, and he actually scored more than Cutler.

I formed this list by not only listing who did extremely well or terrible, but who outperformed and underperformed what they were supposed to do. Anyways, enjoy the list and add if you think I forgot someone.

StudsArian Foster Ahmad Bradshaw Maurice Jones-Drew Zach Miller Antonio Gates LaDainian Tomlinson Mike Tolbert Eddie Royal Kyle Orton Calvin Johnson Reggie Wayne Rashard Mendenhall Peyton Manning Terrell Owens Joesph Addai Peyton Hillis LeSean McCoy Carson Palmer Green Bay Defense Matt Prater

Duds

read more October 4th, 2010 at 10:54 am

Yes, Week 4 technically isn't over in NFL terms, but in blog terms, this is a brand new week. I thought I would go back and pull the best from the inaugural week. Unfortunately, 9 or so comments and 1 email from readers isn't good enough! Remember, the more you participate with me, the better the overall experience will be. Oh well, enough begging from me. Here it is:

"Enjoying actually seeing the field for significant time, BenJarvus Green-Ellis makes sure Fred Taylor doesn't see the field soon by hiring an ex-teammate from Ole Miss to crash a SUV into Taylor's Mercedes. The injuries to Taylor are currently unknown and the Patriots aren't letting any information out. When confronted by a Boston reporter at his home late Friday night, Green-Ellis gave the middle finger to the camera and walked into his home."

"Leo Says: Some of my Week 4 sleepers: Jacoby Jones Chad Ochocinco Malcom Floyd Nate Washin

read more October 4th, 2010 at 10:01 am / #week 4

Bet you didn't think it could get any better huh? Now One Extra Yard blog has a twitter account and plans on using it! On the right side of the screen, you can see the last 5 tweets from my account. Starting next week, I am going to start using it heavily during games to update big plays. I will also use it to bring news and announcements of important posts. Twitter.com/OneExtraYard is your link to everything important.

And if you're playing me this week, Be Afraid.

read more October 3rd, 2010 at 12:43 pm

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