Team Giants News
Transcripts:	June, 2009 - Tom Coughlin
	WFAN June 19 - Tom Coughlin talks about how the off season training went..
	WFAN Apr 27 - GM Jerry Reese talks to Mike about the NFL Draft.
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Would you agree that the New York Giants 10 Greatest Games consist of:
1986 - Playoff win over the Niners - Giants defeat 49ers 49-3.
1986 - Giants defeat Redskins 17-0 in the playoffs.
1986 - Giants defeat Broncos 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI.
1990 - Giants defeat Bears 31-3 in the playoffs.
1990 - Giants defeat 49ers 15-13 in the playoffs.
1990 - Giants defeat Bills 20-19 in Super Bowl XXV.
2000 - Giants defeat Eagles 20-10 in the playoffs.
2000 - Giants shutout Vikings 41-0 in NFC Championship Game.
2006 - Giants defeat Eagles 30-24 with Eli Manning’s epic comeback.
2007 - Giants defeat Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.
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From Phil Simms to Jeff Hostetler to Eli Manning, Giants fans will get the chance to witness all three quarterbacks lead their teams to Super Bowl glory.

July 1 It was more a challenge than a reminder when general manager Jerry Reese said this offseason that Eli Manning is "not a veteran any more, he's a Pro Bowler -- we'll put some of this on his back." With so much talk about the tall and talented receivers the Giants lost, Reese wanted everyone to consider the great asset he believes Manning can and must be.

The Giants signed running back Andre Brown, the fourth-round selection from North Carolina State. He became the sixth 2009 draft choice - and the second in two days - to sign with the Giants.

June 30 The Giants signed tight end Travis Beckum, the second of their two third-round draft picks, on Monday. Beckum is the fifth of the team's nine draft choices to sign, joining receiver Ramses Barden (third round), quarterback Rhett Bomar (fifth) and cornerbacks DeAndre Wright (sixth) and Stoney Woodson (seventh).

One of the most interesting job battles in the Giants training camp this summer will be for a position that didn’t exist last year. First-year pro Andre’ Woodson and rookie Rhett Bomar will compete to be the team’s No. 3 quarterback behind Eli Manning and David Carr. The Giants did not have a third quarterback on their roster in 2008, largely because they carried two kickers in Lawrence Tynes and John Carney.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - The commissioner, in keeping with his get-tough stance on personal conduct, is leaning towards suspending Plaxico Burress and Michael Vick, the report stated, citing three sources with knowledge of the situation.

June 29 Giants training camp all-session parking passes will be available at UAlbany's Athletic Merchandise Store, located in the SEFCU Arena Lobby, beginning Monday, July 13. An all-session parking pass is $15.00. The daily parking fee is $5.00.
2009 New York Giants Training Camp Schedule

Giants and Jets fans in Westchester County also will be able to take a train to the Meadowlands in the 2009 season but on a limited basis. The trains will only run for football games, and only those with 1 p.m. kickoffs. Currently, 10 such Jets and Giants games are scheduled through Jan. 3, but because the National Football League uses flexible scheduling in the final weeks of the season, some of the game times could be changed.

Giants are selling your seats $499.00 - Comes in a pair of 2 seats. Each item will be authenticated with a tamper-proof hologram. Seat pairs will arrive in 6-8 weeks after the last NFL game at Giants Stadium. You will not get your exact seat but can request color (red or blue) depending on availability.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has begun his review on Plaxico Burress to see if the former Giants wide receiver violated the league's personal conduct policy. Goodell likely initiated his review so he can make a ruling on a potential suspension prior to the start of training camp. Goodell does not have to wait for any court ruling to decide to suspend Burress, who accidentally shot himself in the thigh on Nov.29 in a Manhattan nightclub.

June 25 Linebacker Michael Boley, who signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the New York Giants as a free agent, had hip surgery Wednesday and almost certainly will miss the start of training camp. Boley had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in an operation performed by Dr. Bryan Kelly at the Hospital for Special Surgery. The former Atlanta Falcon hurt his hip during the Giants’ offseason program.
Boley missed a week of organized team activities (OTAs) earlier this month with what appeared to be a minor hip issue. Boley returned to the field and participated in the team's mandatory minicamp last week. Obviously, the injury continued to nag him. Since Boley was injured before training camp, he's eligible to be placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, which means he wouldn't occupy a roster spot until he's activated. The Giants could use that spot when they sign one of their remaining draft picks.
The Giants break camp at the University at Albany on Aug. 25. This is a blow to the defense, because Boley, after four years with the Falcons, needed all the time he could get getting acclimated into the new scheme. He signed with the Giants on Feb. 28 and participated in the offseason program, which gave him a taste of what to expect as far as his assignments. Without the benefit of training camp, Boley, 26, will be far behind and there's no guarantee he will be ready to play by the Sept. 13 regular-season opener against the Redskins.

The real reason the Giants faded at the end of the season What drove the Giants’ demise was the defense. Unless you want to pin the blame on Antonio Pierce’s extracurricular issues related to the Plaxico Burress incident, Burress had nothing to do with the decline. The Giants’ passing offense actually improved with Burress out of the lineup. The running game declined some without the threat of Burress stretching the field to concern opposing safeties, but it wasn’t enough to drag the offense down; the team’s offensive DVOA was 20.6% with Burress in the lineup and 27.8% over the eight games he wasn’t around.

The Giants announced the signing of two more of their nine 2009 draft choices: wide receiver Ramses Barden, their third-round selection, and quarterback Rhett Bomar, a fifth-round pick. The Giants agreed to terms with rookie WR Ramses Barden and QB Rhett Bomar To create space on the roster for Barden and Bomar, the Giants released tight end George Wrighster, a seven-year veteran who was signed on May 9, and first-year offensive lineman Mike Fladell.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - The 6-5 ex-Giant would give Jay Cutler a can't-miss target and an ideal compliment to Devin Hester's speed. Trading for Cutler was simple. Whether the Bears would benefit from acquiring talented and troubled Plaxico Burress is more complicated.

June 24 They say the off-season begins in February and lasts five months. I say the off-season begins now and lasts only six weeks. The past couple of months have been anything but off for all of us, as the Giants (and every NFL team, for that matter) have been working hard to reshape and improve their teams. It seems like not a day has gone by when there hasn't been a transaction, a hot rumor, a practice or a legal proceeding that figured to affect this team as it heads toward the '09 season. Through all of it, I believe a much different team has emerged. A better team? In the long run, I'd say yes. In the short term, I'm not quite sure yet.

Michael Boley is one of the guys on a rejuvenated New York defense, an already successful squad of linebackers including Antonio Pierce, Danny Clark and two-time Pro Bowl defensive end, Osi Umenyiora, returning from a knee injury that cost him his 2008 season. Umenyiora in particular has been a large presence in practice for Boley, who says "It's been great just seeing him, coming back from an injury like that. He looks great-he's still got the explosiveness that he's always had."

June 21 Here's hoping David Tyree makes The Catch again ... and this time I'm talking any catch. The hero of the New York Giants' Super Bowl XLII victory is sidelined, this time by a sore hamstring that kept him out of this week's minicamp. It doesn't appear serious, and Tyree insists he'll be in Albany, N.Y., for the start of training camp, but it's just another setback for a guy who deserves better.

Al Barden is the father of rookie Giants receiver Ramses Barden. "The first time I went to a game, I see him coming down the field, and the ball's up in the air coming toward him, and these two defensive backs are coming toward him. I didn't even want to look. I said 'Oh, they're going to kill my kid.' Then he leaps up, grabs the ball with one hand, comes down, knocks both guys down and takes off and scores a touchdown.

Stadium News
Photographs taken over the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ by by Tom Kaminski in Chopper 880 on Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress shot himself last fall, even though he easily could have shot somebody else once he started fumbling with his gun. So the only thing he killed was his team's chance to win the Super Bowl. "In our case there is no victim," Benjamin Brafman, lawyer, was quick to tell Ralph Vacchiano of the Daily News, as if that puts Burress back in the open field, looking to catch passes again.

NFC East News
Eagles - When they drafted Kevin Kolb in the second round of the 2007 draft, it appeared that Donovan McNabb’s days as the team’s starting quarterback were numbered. But after getting his contract reworked this week, it looks like McNabb’s reign will last at least another two seasons.
Cowboys - Three and a half months have passed since they cut Terrell Owens, and we’ve been subjected to more spin than a stuntman from “The Fast and the Furious” film franchise. From what I could tell, the receiver’s release was necessitated by every consideration known to man, except the most logical ones: He’s a nightmare when things don’t go his way and he undermined the authority of the franchise quarterback.
Redskins - While Jim Zorn, a former NFL quarterback and quarterbacks coach, likes what he saw from Todd Collins this offseason, he’s still not ready to play Brennan if something would happen to Campbell. And, of course, Collins and Brennan could wind up dueling to start in 2010 if Campbell departs after being so publicly dissed by the Redskins’ front office this spring.

June 19 Tom Coughlin took a hefty 18 minutes for his "Goodbye for the summer" speech to the Giants yesterday, figuring he could hold the interest of his team that long but no longer. "You can't go more than 20, you know that rule," Coughlin said. "I had to bring it back to their attention one time."
At first, Coughlin told the media he would keep the contents of his speech "between the players and myself." But he immediately relented a bit and spoke in generalities about the long break between now and the Aug. 2 reporting date for players in Albany -- the latest start to camp ever. The coach also wished the team a happy six-week break for them and their families.
Coughlin included some housekeeping measures in his talk, noting they will have fewer practices at the University at Albany because of their preseason opener scheduled for Monday night, Aug. 17. Because practices cannot begin earlier than 14 days prior to that first exhibition, the Giants can’t begin work until Monday, Aug. 3, when most teams will have started camp over the weekend.

Five yards away, Sinorice Moss is a small target. Twenty-five yards away, along the sideline and with a defender nearby, the window to the Giants' undersized wide receiver becomes minuscule. So when Eli Manning tried to get the ball to Moss during a recent practice and underthrew him just a tad, the result was predictable: cornerback Terrell Thomas easily got position and knocked the ball away. For Manning, it's been an adjustment throwing to Moss and a few other targets much smaller than Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer.
Eli Manning is still in line to get one of the most lucrative contracts in NFL history. He is just going to have to wait a little longer than expected. Manning and the Giants remain far apart in their negotiations on a new deal, according to two NFL sources with knowledge of the talks. Nobody is panicking, even though 2009 is the last year of Manning's rookie contract, and both sides expect a deal will eventually get done.

With the absence of Plaxico Burress often given as a reason why the Giants didn't return to the Super Bowl last season, it is easy to forget that the team was without another All-Pro: Osi Umenyiora. Unlike Burress, the team will have Umenyiora back in uniform this year, and after not having played a game since his knee injury in the 2008 preseason, Umenyiora is happy to get back on the field.

June 18 This mandatory minicamp will come and go without three Giants rookie draft picks doing much of anything. That's not good news for linebacker Clint Sintim, tight end Travis Beckum and tackle William Beatty. All three might be raring to go on Aug. 3, in time of the first training camp practice up in Albany. They better be. Already, hamstring problems caused them to miss valuable work on the field during the organized team activity (OTA) sessions and the three days of the mini-camp that ends today.
"There are different degrees of strains, but we've been looking at a couple of young guys that have been out forever," Tom Coughlin said. "Why they're not progressing to the point they can come back ..." The frustration in Coughlin's voice was evident as he failed to find the words to complete that sentence. He then added: "There's such a short window to work with them and when they miss that amount of time it hurts them." One player who's missed a lot of time in the past is WR Sinorice Moss. And now, he's out again after suffering a strained hamstring on Tuesday. Moss missed both practices Wednesday and will not practice Thursday, meaning his promising spring is over.
Moss insisted it's "not serious," but it was serious enough to keep him off the field. "It frustrates me, but maybe I just need to rest my legs," Moss said. "I'm trying to stay positive about the situation. "It's unfortunate," Tom Coughlin said. "He was getting a lot of snaps and he was doing something with them."

Giants Veteran Mini Camp Photos

It took Giants defensive tackle Barry Cofield a month before he could even start running following offseason microfracture surgery to repair the cartilage tear in his knee. Advertisement But after sitting out the entire offseason conditioning program, which closes today with the end of the team's three-day mini-camp, he expects he'll be 100 percent for training camp. He'd better be. Now that free agents Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard are here, his job - and future with the Giants - is on the line.

After the Giants’ minicamp concludes tomorrow, most of the players will scatter for six weeks of rest and relaxation before training camp. But not Lawrence Tynes. The kicker’s most frequent destination will be the TIMEX Performance Center, where he will work right up until his departure for the University at Albany.

Aaron Ross said he and Corey Webster are looking to become the new leaders of the cornerback group. Meanwhile the entire secondary will miss Butler, who was not the most athletically gifted safety in the league but certainly one of the smartest. It was no surprise former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo signed Butler as a free agent to coordinate his secondary with the St. Louis Rams. "James was a real 'brainster,' he could break down defenses," said Ross. Now that job will fall to the young safety duo of third-year man Michael Johnson and Kenny Phillips, last year's No. 1 draft pick who moves into the starting free safety position. Coach Tom Coughlin is looking to Phillips in particular to provide some leadership in the final line of defense.

Newsday Morning Practice Report   |   Newsday Afternoon Practice Report.

Kevin Boss knows all about the standard Mark Bavaro set for Giants tight ends two decades ago, when he led the team in receiving during its Super Bowl XXI season and climbed to 10th on the franchise's all-time receiving list. But Boss never had a conversation with Bavaro, who also wore No. 89, until an event at the Secaucus Crowne Plaza Saturday. After they exchanged autographed pictures -- Bavaro wrote, "To Kevin, You're the best #89 I know!" -- Boss admitted he left with the smile of a "giddy little kid."

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress had been told on Monday that there had been no grand jury impaneled to hear his case -- and that his next court date wouldn't be until late September. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said that timing would allow Burress to play for any of "several" teams hoping to sign him for this season. But yesterday, Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau said there was no special arrangement with Burress. Morgenthau said his office would convene a grand jury sometime next month.

Stadium News
Timex joined Pepsi and Izod on Wednesday as companies with naming rights at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The 15-year multimillion-dollar deal between the watchmaker and the New York Giants calls for the new training facility to be named the Timex Performance Center.
Giants chief executive John Mara would not disclose the specific financial terms, but the Giants can earn as much as $3 million annually. "This was a big step for us because it demonstrates that there are companies out there still open for business and who want to enter into these types of arrangements," Mara said.

June 17 In his four-year NFL career, Giants wide receiver Sinorice Moss has been slowed by injuries, a frustrating spot on the depth chart and meager opportunities on the field. This spring, though, Moss has been playing like he's ready for a breakthrough, which was evident again Tuesday as he starred during the first practice of the team's minicamp.
He made two over-the-shoulder grabs in the morning session and another on a sharp comeback. "He has created some excitement on our part in watching him do that," Tom Coughlin said. It is June, and before Moss can convince many of his doubters, he'll have to perform in the regular season.
"I have a lot of naysayers," Moss said. "People say I can't do this, I can't do that. I've been hearing that all my life. It does bother you when people tell me what I can't do. That's why when I step out on the field every day I have that attitude of just making plays so my coaches can know 'Hey, when it's time to play in the game, give this guy the ball.'

Giants Veteran Mini Camp Photos

Moss was hampered in his rookie season by a lingering thigh injury he suffered in training camp. Since then he has seen the Giants draft Steve Smith in 2007, Manningham last year and Nicks and Barden in April. Along with Domenik Hixon, they form a relatively inexperienced wide receiver group that is certain to come under great scrutiny on a team set at every other position.
Even with the departures of Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, a line has formed in front of Moss. Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith are the starters. Second-year player Mario Manningham and rookies Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden, barring injuries, are roster locks. That's five spots filled at a position where keeping six is usually the norm. Despite the presence of veteran David Tyree, Moss is the favorite to hold on.
Moss has not produced as the Giants expected he would when they selected him on the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. In 29 games he has 38 receptions for 403 yards and two touchdowns. In 2008, he played in 10 games and caught 12 passes for 153 yards and two scores, both against Seattle on Oct. 5. The Giants believe he is capable of posting better numbers.

The biggest reason Moss is still here is that he’s got blazing speed, but that was counteracted during his first three season by injuries and inconsistent performances in practice. Now he seems healthy, the consistency is there, and he’s comfortable enough that his speed is finally on display. "I feel like I can do so many things with the ball in my hands,"
During the last drill of practice, WR Sinorice Moss made a difficult, sliding catch to bail out QB David Carr in a two-minute drill. And that was good. But then he yelled, tossed the ball aside, walked towards the trainer and slammed his helmet to the turf. That wasn’t good. It turns out that Moss suffered a “hamstring strain,” according to the Giants. He did spend a few minutes laying on the ground with a trainer hovering over him, but he also was able to get up and walked off the practice field with the rest of his teammates.

Newsday Morning Practice Report   |   Newsday Afternoon Practice Report.

Running back Brandon Jacobs said falling way short of their 2007 accomplishments last season has eaten at the Giants all winter. "Oh, we have a very bitter, bad, disgusting taste," he said. "It hurts more than anything. We have another crack at it, and I think we're going to have the same kind of season. I think we're going to go a little bit further."
Brandon Jacobs said the Giants are eager to prove themselves this season. He noted that the return of injured defensive end Osi Umenyiora will help the defense and that young receivers are stepping up to replace Burress, who was released in April, and Amani Toomer, who was not re-signed. "It's definitely a motivating thing for me as a player, and as part of this team and for a lot of other players in this building, to come out and show we can win 12 games next year and go a bit farther," Jacobs said.

It has been 21 years since the Giants last had a safety selected for the Pro Bowl when Terry Kinard was chosen to represent the NFC. Since then the position has been a revolving door with names such as Jesse Campbell, Sam Garnes and Omar Stoutmire shuffling in and out. As the team prepares for this season, they have found two young safeties in Kenny Phillips and Michael Johnson who might put an end to that drought, which has extended into its third decade.

Tom Coughlin and several players including QB Eli Manning, DE Osi Umenyiora, WR Sinorice Moss and RB Brandon Jacobs met with the media to discuss the 2009 season and their overall thoughts on some of the rookies who have made positive impressions.

Former Giants
Amani Toomer - Although Amani Toomer remains a player without a team, he's pleased he's no longer with the Giants. "I don't know if it would have been a good situation for me to go back there, anyway," Toomer said. "The way the season ended, I wasn't being used and I was put on the back burner. But it had to end sometime and it doesn't always end the way you want it to." The longtime Giant caught 48 passes last year, his lowest total for a full season since his third year in the league, and he didn't have more than three receptions in any of the team's last five games.
Tim Hasselbeck, a former backup quarterback for the Giants, said on ESPN's NFL Live yesterday that teams -- including the Jets -- would be wise to refrain from signing his former teammate Plaxico Burress. "When you're looking at Plaxico Burress, there's no doubt that he can be a dominant receiver at times on Sundays," Hasselbeck said. "We've seen it. But with that being said, I played with the guy. I was in the locker room with him for two years. He's a disaster as a teammate. He's a disaster as a guy that you have to coach.
Plaxico Burress' lawyer argues for Donte Stallworth-like sentence or less. Donte Stallworth got 30 days in jail for killing someone driving drunk, while Plaxico Burress is facing 3-1/2 to 15 years in prison for shooting himself in the leg. And Burress' attorney, Benjamin Brafman, doesn't think that's fair.
The war inside the DA's office already has drawn things out so long that a grand jury has yet to be convened over what seems a relatively simple incident that took place back in November. His next court date is Sept. 23. But be sensible. We're talking about a multimillion-dollar football career! "He may be stupid, and he used bad judgment, but the only one he hurt was himself," said one source.
Plaxico Burress - Roger Goodell must decide if he's going to let Burress play while facing a possible grand jury indictment on Sept. 23 on felony gun charges. If there is an indictment, the trial is not expected until next spring. Goodell could announce he's suspending Burress for the first month of the season, but still allow a team to sign him now, bring him to training camp and then have him for the final 12 games.
Plaxico Burress is intent on playing in 2009, and it appears he wouldn't mind doing so in Tampa Bay. The former Giants receiver, who is embroiled in a legal snafu and faces weapons charges in New York after an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound last year, reached out to Bucs RB Derrick Ward and others on the team to express an interest in joining them.

June 16 Heading into today's mandatory three-day mini-camp, there are no off-field issues or headaches to worry the Giants. It's actually all about football. Heck, yesterday the Giants and Burress even reached a settlement on the second grievance Burress filed in December. Burress claimed the Giants should not have withheld slightly more than $1 million as a result of his four-game suspension and fine of one game-check.

Kelvin Smith relishes his status. As the Giants take the field today for minicamp, the North Rockland High and Syracuse University product is one of the team's linebackers, for now. But to say he's a long shot to make the opening-day roster is an understatement. At this point, just making it to training camp will be an achievement. You see, even former draft picks - Smith went in the seventh round in 2007 to Miami - face iron-stiff odds of sticking when they're signed out of a rookie-minicamp tryout. The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Smith, working back from a torn left ACL that killed his entire 2008 season, is under no illusions that any advancement with the Giants will be easy.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - In a sweetheart arrangement that will likely allow him to play for millions of dollars this season, gunslinging ex-Giant Plaxico Burress won't see a felony indictment for at least another 13 weeks -- thanks to a delay approved by Manhattan prosecutors yesterday.
Plaxico Burress is still facing an indictment, a possible trial, and maybe as many as 15 years in prison. But none of that will stop him from playing in the NFL this fall.
Plaxico Burress - The Jets aren't going to pull the trigger on Plaxico Burress - at least not anytime soon. Once regarded as a leading suitor for the talented but troubled receiver, the Jets' interest has waned, according to two NFL sources.
Plaxico Burress - For his own credibility and the integrity of his league, now is the time for Roger Goodell to suspend Burress for the first four games of the 2009 season as punishment for one of the clearest violations yet of the NFL's personal conduct policy.

June 14 Special Report We are less than a week away from the Giants' mandatory three-day minicamp, after which time some of the players will continue to work, others will attempt to gain some sort of vacation time before the real crunch begins, head coach Tom Coughlin will fly off to Iraq and Afghanistan with four other coaches (past and present) on the USL-NFL tour and training camp will begin on Aug. 2.
What the Giants have accomplished in the days and months since their embarrassing playoff elimination defeat at the claws of the Philadelphia Eagles remains to be seen, but for these purposes it might be wise to dwell on what they have not accomplished.
For instance, they have neither replaced wide receiver Plaxico Burress nor Amani Toomer, their two starters when last season began. Plax is gone, having been released early in April after the prolonged discussion about his future as "The Shooter" on the team. Toomer, the 13-year good guy veteran, was simply allowed to walk off into the sunset, perhaps a mistake and (some think) perhaps one that might be rectified before training camp starts.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress will be in Manhattan Criminal Court tomorrow, but instead of his status being clarified with a plea arrangement or trial date for 2010, his attorney says the case will be adjourned until September. Will any team sign him, bring him to training camp, count on him and then find out in September that he has reached a plea agreement to serve jail time that presumably would cost him at least the rest of the season?

Stadium News
The clock is ticking on Giants Stadium. By March it will be rubble. But before the demolition you can get a sneak peek behind the scenes, including a walk through the tunnel and onto the field. Kevin Burt took a job as an usher here in 1979. He spent most games working the upper tier. Burt will be hosting public tours of Giants Stadium most Saturdays this summer. On a recent Thursday morning, Burt led a collection of writers, photographers, cameramen and other media members through the old stadium. Tours next Saturday, June 27; July 4, 11, 18; Aug. 8, 15, 22; and Sept. 5, 12, 19. at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford. Park in Lot 10/12 and meet at the stadium's East Gate. Cost is $15, kids 5-12 and seniors $10, ages 4 and under free. Check here first: Izod Center

June 13 Michael Boley is a versatile linebacker who can rush the passer or drop back into coverage (he has six career sacks and five interceptions). He will solidify the WIL position, where last season Gerris Wilkinson, Bryan Kehl and Chase Blackburn all started for the Giants - the only one of the 22 offensive and defensive positions to have three different starters.

Former Giants
Plaxico Burress - The wide receiver hopes to get the case put off until September, which means he could play next season, defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman said. "We'll be in and out of court in five minutes," Brafman said. "There will be an adjournment." The case was first postponed April 1 so the two sides could continue plea bargaining over the Nov. 29 fiasco in which the troubled star put a bullet through his thigh while partying at the Latin Quarter club. Prosecutors had no comment. Pro football officials are not sure Burress will play in 2009. One NFL general manager said teams could be reluctant to sign Burress without knowing how the case is going to be resolved.
Plaxico Burress - The Jets have had one predraft discussion with agent Drew Rosenhaus about Burress, the former Giants receiver who has a hearing Monday in Manhattan regarding his gun possession case. If he's cleared to play this season - he could face jail time, and even a suspension by the NFL - the Jets could be in the mix, along with Chicago and Tampa Bay, to add the playmaking but troubled wide receiver.

NFL News
The Michael Vick era in Atlanta is officially over. Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said the team relinquished its contractual rights to Vick on Friday. "Michael remains suspended by the NFL," Dimitroff said. "However, in the event NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decides to reinstate Michael, we feel his best opportunity to re-engage his football career would be at another club."

June 12 Michael Boley is one of the newest Giants, having signed as a free agent in March. But the linebacker, who spent his first four seasons with the Falcons, is already being treated like a member of the family. And after sitting out last week's organized team activities with a hip flexor injury, Boley was back on the field this week, getting acclimated with an attacking defense that should suit him better than Atlanta's scheme from last season.