Opening remarksWelcome to New York Giants training camp, happy to be back. Open for questions, let's go."
Q: What is the status of Plaxico Burress?A: He is going to be in tonight to speak to coach Coughlin.
Q: Are you serious about bringing Plaxico Burress back to the New York Giants?A: We don't bring guys in just for the fun of it. If we bring a guy in, we are serious about the possibility of signing him to our football club.
Q: Do you need to see Plaxico Burress athletically to sign him?A: Obliviously he has been away and so that is not a real big concern for us. The most important thing is for him to talk to the head coach and after that, we will see where that goes.
Q: Will you be present at the meeting between Plaxico Burress and Head Coach Tom Coughlin?A: They will have a closed door, face to face, man to man meeting.
Q: How is Plaxico Burress's physical condition not a concern for you?A: Because if you are away for two years and we work you out, you probably will look like you have been away for two years so what's the point?
Q: Because he has been away for two years, do you think he is in condition?A: I just don't see a point of bringing a guy in and working him out when he has been away for two years. He is going to look like he has been away for two years. He is a genetically gifted athlete but we don't expect him to go out there and look like he played last year so I don't see the point to do that.
Q: What time do you expect Plaxico Burress to be in town?A: We expect him to be here probably around 6 tonight.
Q: How do you deal with the lack of offseason workout?A: I don't think we can make up for the entire offseason today as we get started. I think we can just ease into it and make sure everybody has their legs underneath them, see what kind of shape everybody is in and we will make adjustments as we go in that respect.
Q: Is there anything you are looking to see or hear from Plaxico Burress?A: I don't want to continue to answer questions about Plax (Plaxico Burress). He is going to talk to the coach, we will see where it goes from there. We would not bring him in if we were not serious about him being a New York Giant if everything goes like we want it to go. We will see what happens after he speaks with the coach.
Q: Have you seen DE Osi Umenyiora today?A: I have not seen Osi (Osi Umenyiora) today.
Q: Do you expect to see DE Osi Umenyiora today?A: I don't know. He knows we opened training camp today so that's up to Osi (Osi Umenyiora).
Q: How comfortable are you with your roster?A: I think we have a good portion of our roster in place right now. We like the guys we have right now. We are still working on it and trying to fill a couple more holes that we have. We have a couple more guys that we are waiting to hear from but right now, we like where the roster is. Obviously, there is still some work to do.
Q: Are you open to renegotiating DE Osi Umenyiora's contract?A: I'm not taking any questions about Osi (Osi Umenyiora). Osi (Osi Umenyiora) is not here. He knows training camp opened today and he is not here. I just really want to talk about the guys that are here, that's really what's most important. I can't control guys who are not here. I have no control over that."
Q: Have you spoken to DE Osi Umenyiora since that affidavit came out?A: I have not spoke to Osi (Osi Umenyiora).
Q: What was your reaction to that affidavit when it came out?A: I don't worry about things like that. Sometimes people say things that they probably don't mean. I don't worry about things that people say in the offseason. You guys know, I always call that offseason chatter, stuff like that, so you know that it is not a big deal for me.
Q: Can you clarify if you made that promise to DE Osi Umenyiora or not?A: I'm not making any comments about that. I'm not going to come out in front of the media about a private conversation I had with a player.
Q: Are all of your draft picks signed?A: All except the first round pick.
Q: Do you think you will have CB Prince Amukamara signed shortly?A: I don't expect to have any long holdout with it. I think that there is just a little bit of language issues that we need to resolve but I don't anticipate a holdout.
Q: How much will this year's camp be different for you?A: I plan to be on the field. Our roster is getting close to where we want it. We have a couple more issues that we want to try to get resolved but I plan on being on the field. I'm not sure why I wouldn't be on the field.
Q: How are you dealing with the free agency period and what issues did you face?A: First of all, we had to see what the new rules were for the new CBA. There is a thing called a salary cap that you have to obey by so that kind of rules the world, what the salary cap is. You have to operate with the salary cap. You have to be within all the rules so we had plans and I feel good right now where we are.
Q: With the abbreviated time, do you expect the rookies to be ready to contribute this season?A: I think, as far as young guys and rookies are concerned, those guys have to learn as you go anyway. You put them in there some early in the season and hopefully they get a feel for the speed of the game. The preseason is really not the real speed of the game. It really is not it. When they get out there in the real varsity action, I think they learn as you put them in early in the season and maybe middle way through the season they have a pretty good feel for the speed of the game. You are hoping that by the ladder part of the season, those guys can help you some. I think they learn on a fly anyway to answer your question.
Q: Is the door open for the players you released to come back?A: We always try to leave the doors open for any transactions that have been made with us. We don't try to burn any bridges with anybody so yes that door is still open. Hopefully both of them will be healthy enough to play at some point and who knows, they could be back here. So we always try to keep our door open with respect to that.
Q: How confident are you about bringing back those players you released?A: We have offers out to all those guys and we communicated with those guys. The ball is in their court and we will see what happens in the very near future with that."
Q: What can you tell us about David Baas?A: We like him. He is a big man and we like the versatility that he brings. He played center last year and he was a center and guard in college as well. He is a big, tough guy and very, very smart. A high test score guy so he fits everything we like at that position. He looks just like a New York Giant offensive lineman to us and we think he is going to bring a lot to the table. He will start out as the center for us.
Q: Who can you see on the left side of the offensive line?A: That is up to the coaches but we are not afraid to play any of those guys. David (Diehl), Will Beatty, Kevin Booth, we are not afraid to play any of those guys on the left side.
Q: What is the reason behind having all evening practices?A: You have to ask the coach about that. That is totally up to the coach. That is his call and he will be able to answer that question for you.
Q: Is there anybody you don't have position wise?A: I don't think there are any gaping holes for us right now. I think there are some guys we would like to have on the roster as we go forward but if we had to go out there and play right now, I wouldn't be afraid to play.
Q: How hard is it to tell players who have given their all, the team is moving in another direction?A: That is the hardest part of my job. When you have to go in and talk to guys like Richie (Rich Seubert) and Shaun (Shaun O'Hara), David Tyree, Toomer (Amani Toomer), those kind of guys, that we made a company decision, a football decision, to move in a different direction. That's hard because all they have done is everything we have asked them to do. It is hard to part ways with those kind of people. They have been terrific Giants and that's the hardest part of my job, I think.
Q: Are you comfortable with Bear Pascoe as your Fullback?A: Yes, he really played a fulltime role basically all of last season at that position so we know he can do that. Hynoski (Henry Hynoski) is a young kid we signed as an undrafted free agent and we like his ability as a fullback. With the percentage of fullback plays that we have and we have used in the past, I don't think that is an issue for us at this point.
Q: Do you feel like you need to sign a veteran Linebacker?A: I anticipate the linebackers that we have playing and somebody coming out of the shadows. I am tired of people saying the Giants don't have the Linebackers. The Linebacker group should take that as a challenge. They should take that as a challenge from me that we have linebackers. You have to develop somebody at some point. We have some young players that have to step up and that's what I think about the linebackers.
Q: What are your expectations of Mark Herzlich?A: I think Herzlich is kind of like a joker. He can play any of the linebacker spots. He can play strong, he can play the middle, he can play the weak side, he can reach the passer. If he is at his form which was 2008 when he was a monster at that time, and we are hoping that we can catch lightening in a bottle and he can be that kind of player for us.
Q: Did anyone fail their physicals today?A: We had some good looking guys over there this morning and I don't believe anybody failed their physicals. I'm pretty sure and I didn't hear that. I am pretty sure I would have heard that by now and I didn't hear that.
Q: Which Linebacker do you hope will step up?A: Everyone on our roster, it is wide open for our linebackers. We have some young players that we feel have talent and we are going to develop somebody. Somebody is going to step out of the shadows and be a good player at that position for us.
Q: Are you thinking about bringing back Keith Bulluck?A: We leave the window open for everybody.
Q: Are you thinking about bringing in a veteran punter?A: We are in the process of looking at a veteran punter to come in and compete for our punter job.
Q: Did you rework RB Brandon Jacobs contract?A: Brandon (Jacobs) did rework the contract.
Q: How much does that help, to have a player rework his contract?A: We worked a deal and that's all I would like to say about that.
Q: Are the three defensive ends that you have here good enough?A: It is never enough. You wish you could have five or six players at every position but that's not reality. We like versatile guys and we like guys who can move around to different positions. Kiwi (Mathias Kiwanuka) is like a joker. He plays tackle, he plays end, he plays linebacker and we like those kind of guys. Wish you could have depth at every position and we try to do that but sometimes that's just not reality to do.
Q: Is Steve Smith back?A: No he is not back.
Q: How is Steve Smith's health?A: I understand Steve (Smith) is getting healthier everyday and that's all the comments I can really make about his health is that he is getting better.
Q: How can you get the roster together when free agents can't practice until August 4th under the new CBA?A: You like to have your roster in place as soon as possible but anybody with a new contract cannot practice as of right now, not until August 4th.
Q: Can they participate in classroom meetings?A: Correct.
Q: If you do bring back Steve Smith, can you put him on PUP?A: Yes.
