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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Packers: Happy Thanksgiving!

Senior writer jclombardi wishes happy thanksgiving to Packers fans.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Hope you get to spend today with lots of food, family and football -- it will be a great treat to see whether Texas can pull the upset and become bowl-eligible tonight against Texas A&M.

What are you thankful for today? Here is my list:

Passionate college football fans, who are all to eager to tell you that you are either 1) The smartest person alive or 2) The dumbest person who ever lived and should be scrubbing toilets rather than talking college football. I love you all!

Boise State and TCU. Haters can hate all they want, but we are seeing something this season that may never happen again. This is history in the making, the possibility that a non-AQ makes it into the national championship game. With Boise State and TCU set to be in the same conference in 2011, Utah leaving for the Pac-12 and the implosion of the WAC, this could very well be the last time we see two undefeated non-AQ teams jockeying for position in a national championship race.

The Pistol offense. It's nice to see Nevada coach Chris Ault get all the pub he has gotten for his innovative offense this season. Not only have countless stories been done on him, but several teams throughout college football are now running some version of it, from UCLA to Alabama to Stanford.

Great coaching jobs. Look across the non-AQs and you will find plenty -- TCU coach Gary Patterson and Boise State coach Chris Petersen go without saying. Here are a few others: Miami (Ohio) coach Mike Haywood -- Took a 1-11 team to an 8-4 record and a share of the East Division title.Ohio coach Frank Solich -- Overcame the loss of three star players to lead his team to a share of the MAC East.Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill -- On the verge of a 10-win season for the Huskies.FIU coach Mario Cristobal -- Has his never-been-bowling Panthers one win away from a Sun Belt title.UCF coach George O'Leary -- Has his team one win from the C-USA title game with a freshman quarterback and an outstanding defense.BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall -- His team is bowl-eligible after starting the season 1-4.Great players. You know the headliners. Here are some of the most unheralded from the non-AQs: Western Kentucky RB Bobby Rainey, who has carried the ball a whopping 313 times this season and ranks No. 4 in the country in rushing, averaging 135 yards a game. North Texas back Lance Dunbar is right behind him in the Sun Belt. Dominique Davis of East Carolina, Bryant Moniz of Hawaii, Alex Carder of Western Michigan and Corey Robinson of Troy all rank in the top 10 in the nation in passing.

Great WR duos, too: Titus Young and Austin Pettis at Boise State; Greg Salas and Kealoha Pilares at Hawaii; Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson at San Diego State; Juan Nunez and Jordan White at Western Michigan.

Defensively, it's hard not to like Jamon Hughes of Memphis, Bobby Wagner of Utah State, Dwayne Woods of Bowling Green, Vinny Curry and Mario Harvey of Marshall, Archie Donald and Danny Molls of Toledo, the entire TCU and Boise State defenses, Josh McNary of Army and Wyatt Middleton of Navy. Three of the best special-teamers in the nation are from non-AQs too: Shaky Smithson of Utah, Jeremy Kerley of TCU and Darius Johnson of Tulsa.

Happy eating, everyone!

Tags:

WAC, MWC, C-USA, MAC, Sun Belt, Army Black Knights, Northern Illinois Huskies, Chris Petersen, Ohio Bobcats, Nevada Wolf Pack, East Carolina Pirates, BYU Cougars, Toledo Rockets, North texas Mean Green, Miami-Ohio RedHawks, Memphis Tigers, Frank Solich, Marshall Thundering Herd, TCU Horned Frogs, Boise State Broncos, Mario Cristobal, Bowling Green Falcons, Gary Patterson, Chris Ault, Bronco Mendenhall, Mike Haywood, Hawaii Warriors, Tulsa Golden Hurricane, Austin Pettis, Titus Young, Jerry Kill, UCF Knights, Greg Salas, Troy Trojans, Western Michigan Broncos, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, George O'Leary, Juan Nunez, Bryant Moniz, Shaky Smithson, Jeremy Kerley, Vincent Brown, Lance Dunbar, FIU Panthers, Josh McNary, Alex Carder, Darius Johnson, Utah State, Corey Robinson, Wyatt Middleton, DeMarco Sampson, Jordan White, Vinny Curry, Bobby Rainey, Danny Molls, Dwayne Woods, Archie Donald, Kealoha Pilares, Mario Harvey, Jamon Hughes, Bobby Wagner, Dominqiue Davis

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Dirty turkeys and happy grandmas

In continuing with our theme of talking with players about favorite Thanksgiving memories, we talked to emerging Green Bay Packers wide receiving threat James Jones, wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery of the New York Jets, and inside linebacker Bradie James of the Dallas Cowboys.

“I grew up with 12 brothers and a sister,” Cotchery said. “Thanksgiving was always family time. Every Thanksgiving was memorable.”

He marveled now at how much work it must have been to pull together a feast like Thanksgiving. “Oh, my mom cooked it all, turkey, stuffing, everything.” Though he loved the whole dinner, Cotchery couldn’t wait until the dessert. “My mom makes a good German chocolate cake,” he boasted.

This year, Cotchery is inviting his whole family up to New York as the Jets host their first Thanksgiving game, Thursday night vs. the Bengals on NFL Network. He said he can’t wait to host everyone. It may take some planning, but it will be worth it because Cotchery can’t wait to get his hands on that chocolate cake!

James’ Cowboys will also be hosting a Thanksgiving Day game. Unlike New York, Dallas is quite adept at hosting the turkey day game. Thursday’s game will be the Cowboys’ 43rd since the tradition began in 1966.

James’ favorite memories of Thanksgiving as a kid included competition — not the kind on the football field however. He loved to play games against his other family members and then “sack out” on the couch and watch movies.

Recently, he tried his hand at his own turkey. “Being from Louisiana, I couldn’t just put it in the oven, I had to deep fry it, cajun style.”

Jones has a favorite Thanksgiving memory that Ahmad Bradshaw, with his recent fumbling problems, could probably relate to. “My grandma prepared a huge meal one year when I was a kid and she accidentally dropped the whole turkey as she was bringing it out of the kitchen and onto the table…”

Jones grew quiet. “Everyone was in shock and didn’t want to laugh because she was devastated,” he continued, “so we all picked it up as though nothing had happened and ate it all anyway.” He went on to say that they had no other choice. She had put so much effort into it.

James gets it. Thanksgiving is about putting your family first no matter how dirty the turkey gets. To dirty turkeys and happy grandmas everywhere. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Syracuse happy but not done yet

For his first four years, Derrell Smith put in all the hard work that goes with being a football player with none of the rewards at the end.

"It sucked," the Syracuse senior linebacker said. "I know a couple people from back home who went to Penn State, and they'd go to bowl games. I'd watch them on TV and think, 'I wish I just had one opportunity to do that.'"

Smith and the other Orange players could rejoice after last week's 13-10 victory over Rutgers, their seventh win of the season. Syracuse is finally going bowling again for the first time since 2004 and is one of the feel-good stories of the 2010 season.

Head coach Doug Marrone set that as a goal way back in January, and his team delivered.

"He told us, 'Look at the schedule, and a find a game that you think you can't win,'" Smith said. "Every game we saw, we thought it was possible we could win. If you just believe, you can do it and be successful."

But while the Orange are thrilled to have achieved their goal, they're not googling "Beef 'O' Brady's" or dreaming of their bowl gift bags just yet. There's still important business at hand.

They host Connecticut on Saturday in their Big East finale. A win there would make Syracuse 5-2 in conference play and would be assured of at least a share of the league title if Pitt loses one more game. A BCS bid is still very much possible. Add in the regular-season finale, and the Orange could actually win -- can you believe it? -- nine games.

That's why Marrone, who is making a case for national coach of the year in just his second season, isn't squawking about achieving bowl eligibility.

"We can’t really say what we’ve accomplished when we still have games left to play," he said. "I would lie to you if I said we haven’t accomplished anything; we’ve accomplished a lot of what our goals were.

"I’ll talk about it after the season is over. Right now the only thing on my mind is Connecticut."

Smith and his teammates know that they've helped the program take a big step -- "hopefully this will help bring in some recruits and people will start to respect us more," he said. But instead of feeling satisfied with going to a bowl, they can help themselves get to an even bigger bowl by winning some more.

"The season's not over, so we can't just dwell on it," he said. "We have to look forward to the future."

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