New York Giants Official Website

Moving on
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

Take this story to go! -    RSS |  Podcast |  Mobile

DECEMBER 3, 2008

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - The only distraction for the Giants today was having to answer questions about their latest distraction.

The Giants returned to work today, which meant they had an opportunity to do what they do best and what they most enjoy - prepare for a game. In this case, it's a meeting at home on Sunday against their NFC East rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. It's a big game, considering the 11-1 Giants, who are riding a seven-game winning streak, can clinch the division title and a first-round postseason bye with a victory.

But that news was secondary to a most representatives of a larger-than-usual gathering of reporters in Giants Stadium. They were concerned with the fallout from the team's decision yesterday to place wide receiver Plaxico Burress on the reserve/non-football injury list, officially ending his season, and fining Burress and suspending him for four games for conduct detrimental to the team for multiple and repeated violations of club rules. Burress suffered a gun shot wound to his right thigh in an accidental shooting early Saturday morning.

Coach Tom Coughlin addressed the issue head-on in the opening statement in his news conference. At the same time, Coughlin made it clear that his focus, and that of his players, is firmly on the Eagles.

I spoke to our team Saturday morning and I spoke to them this morning," Coughlin said. "There were two words I used - one, disappointment and two, sadness. 

"I had a conversation with Plaxico (yesterday). He was very humble. He was remorseful.  Obviously, it doesn't change anything.  But you have to understand that he is part of our team and our concern is with him and his family's well being and the ability of him to obviously to get through this circumstance and also to be healthy once again. I think our team shares that same thought. And by saying that, I will answer no questions about what happened, details, or anything of that nature. Because, believe it or not, we have a football game this weekend, a very important game against a very, very good Philadelphia Eagles team in the division - a team that we played a few short weeks ago in a very close game down in Philadelphia (a 36-31 Giants victory). I am pleased with our team, with our mental toughness, with our ability to focus, and with our ability to go ahead and approach the task at hand despite the circumstances that were laid really in front of them Saturday morning. So we look forward to preparing for Philadelphia. ... "We have our work cut out for us. And we need to spend the time this week in preparation for this team."

As always, the players take their cue from Coughlin. They expressed concern for Burress' health and sadness that he will no longer be a part of the team this season. But the show must go on and they have a game to play Sunday.

"I think that we all realize that we still have a job to do and things happen off the field," wide receiver Amani Toomer said. "But that doesn't take any of the focus away from the opponent that we have coming in this week in the Eagles."

"I think initially we were all worried about his health and certainly our upmost concern was his health and was he going to be okay," center Shaun O'Hara said. "And once I think we all realized that I think we were all a little disappointed, but he is a teammate and I don't think anybody on our team and within this organization is getting down on him. I think that we are all supporting him. This is an unfortunate incident and I know he is going to move on and we are going to move on. At the end of the day we have another game to play. We have a lot of work to do and it is ultimately about what is best for team moving forward."

The players and Coughlin will presumably stop fielding questions about Burress in the near future. But it remains to be seen how long his absence affects the team on the field. Although Burress was fourth on the team with 35 catches this season, he was widely considered the Giants' most dangerous receiver. He was particularly good in the tight spaces close to the end zone. And perhaps most importantly, Burress received more attention from opposing defenses than other wideouts. That helped open up other areas of the field for his ball-handling teammates. Without Burress on the field, defenses can concentrate on the Giants' other players.

In purely football terms, the Giants - again - must compensate for the loss of one of their most productive players, just as they did when Michael Strahan retired and Osi Umenyiora was lost for the season with a knee injury.

"We have made the adjustments to continue to play and we will continue to do that," Coughlin said. "And, of course, as always you have to have a number of people rise up to play - to play well in this situation to compensate for the loss."

"We're going to have to see what teams are going to do," quarterback Eli Manning said. "Obviously, Washington last week was a team that put eight, nine guys in the box on almost every play and we were able to throw the ball and be successful. That's what we're going to have to continue to do. Philly, we'll see what their defensive approach is going to be. They are a team that is pretty even whether they play single safety or two safeties, so we'll have to see if they have that same approach or if they'll go more single-high - then we'll have to throw the ball well. We have our plays where we can run it against different defenses and give ourselves a shot, but we're going to have to be a balanced attack. Last week I think we were very balanced. I think we made 35 runs and 34 passes, so that's what we hope to do and we just have to see what the game turns out to be and see how we can attack it."

Domenik Hixon will start for Burress at split end, as he has three times this season - victories over Seattle, Pittsburgh and Washington. In those three games, Hixon caught a total of 10 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown. Toomer, Steve Smith, Sinorice Moss and rookie Mario Manningham could all be counted on to play more significant roles down the stretch.

"Well, it (Burress' absence) certainly changes some things that you do," Coughlin said. "However, I think that Domenik has demonstrated the ability to do a lot of the things that we ask that position to do."

Coughlin was asked if he has become more confident in Hixon as the younger receiver has gotten more practice reps and more playing time.

"I certainly am," Coughlin said. "He has done that from day one, from training camp when he was given great opportunities to work and times throughout the year when he has had a chance to really spend his time working with the quarterback and the offense in preparation to play, he has performed well."

It has been written and said many times in the last few days that the Giants have excelled at putting aside distractions and playing well once they take the field. But nothing else that has occurred can compare to the attention the Burress incident has received. Because of that, the Eagles game might be the Giants' biggest test of the season.

"From day one we have tried to focus our football team on the challenges that lay ahead," Coughlin said. "And it started out in training camp with all of the questions about being satisfied, being complacent, and having the Super Bowl hangover - all of that stuff. So our team right off the bat began to focus on the task at hand and the transition, as I put it, from the Super Bowl team into the new season. So we have been focused. And of course I have tried to keep them focused by stimulating, by challenging, by talking about, for example, never be satisfied with winning. We talk open and honestly about the things that we do well and about the things we don't do well and that we have to improve upon. And I think the guys have done a really good job of accepting that challenge." 

"This is about one guy and a bad accident that occurred," Manning said. "No one wished this, no one thought this would happen. It's unfortunate, but our thoughts are with Plaxico in his journey over these next weeks to months and what may happen with him. But we also have to have our focus on this team and what we have going here. A lot of people depend on us. We depend on every player to have their focus, get their preparation during the week and have their minds set to go out there and try to win every game we play."

NOTES

*Manning has been selected as the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November. The Giants were 5-0 last month, when Manning completed 93 of 148 passes (62.8 percent) for 1,036 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. His passer rating was 94.9.

This is the fourth season in a row a Giants player has been cited as a Player of the Month. Tiki Barber won the award in December 2005 and October 2006 and Brandon Jacobs was honored in October 2007. The last Giants quarterback to win the award was Kerry Collins in December 2002. The only other Giants quarterback to be so honored was Phil Simms in December 1986.

*The Giants today signed defensive tackle Leger Douzable, who had been on their practice squad since Sept. 11. Douzable, 6-4 and 305 pounds, was signed as a rookie free agent by the Minnesota Vikings on May 2. He was waived at the end of training camp, signed to the Vikings' practice squad, then released on Sept. 9. Douzable had 14.5 sacks, 24.5 tackles for losses and 12 quarterback pressures in his final two seasons at Central Florida, where he was twice named Academic All-Conference USA. He played in 49 games with 24 starts for the Golden Knights.

Douzable is the second defensive tackle added to the roster in less than a week. Jeremy Clark was signed off the practice squad on Saturday and made his NFL debut last Sunday in Washington.

"Jeremy came in and did a great job," Coughlin said. "He did an outstanding job. And I complimented him this morning. The addition of Douzable was because we want to make sure that we protect ourselves with the defensive line going forward this month."

*The Giants signed three players to their practice squad: cornerback Travonti Johnson of Central Florida, tackle Mike Fladell of Rutgers and wide receiver Micah Rucker of Eastern Illinois.

Johnson, 6-2 and 200 pounds, was in training camp with the Giants in 2007. Fladell, 6-7, 324, was a two-year starter at left guard for the Scarlett Knights. Rucker, 6-5 and 217 pounds, was signed as a rookie free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers on May 1. He was waived on Aug. 30 and signed to the Steelers' practice squad two days later. Pittsburgh terminated his contract on Sept. 8. Rucker was on the Kansas City Chiefs' practice squad from Sept. 24-30. He played two years at Minnesota before transferring to Eastern Illinois. Rucker finished his collegiate career with 108 catches for 1,819 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Tackle Na'Shan Goddard was signed to the Seattle Seahawks' active roster off the Giants' practice squad.

*Cornerback Corey Webster (back) and linebacker Jonathan Goff (hamstring) did not practice today. Center Shaun O'Hara (knee) and defensive tackle Fred Robbins (shoulder) were limited. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw (neck) practiced fully.