T-Rock's Take on the Giants

Boy, there sure is a lot of news at this position, particularly as it relates to the Giants.

First came word last night that the Giants had shown interest in acquiring Tony Gonzalez from the Chiefs (nothing new on that in the light of day, by the way). Now comes a report from Adam Schefter of NFL Network that even though Browns TE Kellen Winslow is listed as "questionable" on the injury report, he is not going to play on Monday night.

Hmm. Maybe the Browns will consider trading for Gonzalez, play him against the Giants, then trade him to New York and send him home to New Jersey with the team.

Could be. There are several reports that the Giants are among the teams who have expressed an interest in trading for Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez, including one from the Kansas City Star that names them as the "most interested."

According to ESPN, the Bills, Bucs, Packers and Eagles have also been in contact with the Chiefs after Gonzalez apparently told the Chiefs this week that he'd like to be traded to a contender.

So, is this a case of the Giants being interested, or merely expressing interest. The Boss-Matthews combination, with Matthews at H-back, has been doing pretty well I thought. And as far as Boss' 5 receptions this year compared to Gonzalez' 21, well, that doesn't factor in the passes thrown to Steve Smith who has been running the so-called "tight end routes" that Jeremy Shockey used to run.

Still, they've reportedly put a sixth-round pick on the table. The Chiefs will be looking for much more for a future Hall of Famer. Even a worn down, out of shape, attitude-impaired Randy Moss brought a fourth-rounder from the Patriots last year, remember?

But as the Tuesday trade deadline approaches, a sixth rounder might all of a sudden start looking good to the Chiefs, depending on what else they are being offered.

My guess? This is one of those "under every stone" moments that Jerry Reese is becoming famous for. But if the price comes down a few pegs, it might be worth pulling the trigger, even if just to keep him out of the hands of Philly or another NFC playoff contender.

And of course there is a scheduling quirk at play here. The Chiefs have a bye on Sunday and the Giants play on Monday Night. So the possibility exists of having (slimly) of having Gonzalez join the Giants in Cleveland. For those of you counting at home, that would be the second time this year that a future Hall of Famer joined a New York area football team in Cleveland.

Spending two nights in a hospital is not the way most players prepare for a big game, but that's the obstacle Kellen Winslow is facing. He'll be there tonight, at least.

While there has been no announcement of the illness that is troubling Winslow, some have speculated.

The important part for Giants fans is whether or not he's able to play on Monday night. And at what speed he'll be able to go after being hospitalized at least two nights during the week.

Antonio Pierce, who did not practice today, just talked and didn't seem very worried about his quad injury. Tom Coughlin said he expects the middle linebacker will work tomorrow and Pierce left little doubt in his chat with reporters when he was asked if the injury would keep him from playing against the Browns.

"No, not at all," he said. "I'll be there Monday night, 8:30. You'll see me. ... I'll never miss a game unless I'm on IR. I'll be there."

Pierce can't even remember specifically when he got injured.

"A lot of times when you get hurt, you were running," Pierce said. "We play a game where you've got to run a lot. It's football, man. If I didn't get hurt, ya'll would probably question what I was doing out there for 60 minutes. Things happen. I'm just excited to get out there come Monday with the boys."

Pierce also weighed in on the bulletin board material Browns defensive tackle Corey Williams provided by saying he's going to come out and "hit [Brandon Jacobs] in the mouth" and saying "there ain't nothing physical" about the Giants' O-Line.

"There's always going to somebody taking shots at somebody," Pierce said. "At least you know we're being looked at and they are taking notice of us. Hats off to them. What else would you do if you were 1-3? You've got to do something to fire up you're team. I don't knock the guys for doing what they are doing. It's no different than what I did last year and other guys on this team did when we were down. They are doing whatever they need to do to rally their troops and get their home stadium fired up for Monday Night Football. So it's going to be fun at the Dog Pound."

"It's the same thing that we hear from the media, so it's just like they are a part of the media as well," Pierce continued before dipping into his Charlie Brown vocabulary. "Just womp, womp, womp, womp, womp."

Howdy folks. A quick update here on Kareem McKenzie (concussion) and Antonio Pierce (quad).

Just got back from checking out practice, and during the portion we were allowed to watch, McKenzie appeared to be limited and Pierce remained sidelined.

McKenzie participated in one hand-eye coordination drill in which he went up against another offensive lineman equipped with pads on both hands. When it came time to get down in a three-point stance with his fellow mates and square off against a pad-wielding lineman, he sat that one out.

Pierce rode the stationary bike and did some jogging back and forth in the end zone not far from the rest of the linebackers, who were going through their own various drills.

We'll get the actual practice report later today and I'll update you guys when I receive it. Before then, I'll pop back in with a quick locker room update. It opens up at 1:30.

As for Browns TE Kellen Winslow, looks like he's going to be a game-time decision. Browns coach Romeo Crennel said as much to reporters in Cleveland earlier today before the Browns even practiced. Apparently, Winslow's illness forced him to remain in the hospital overnight Thursday. He's scheduled to be released today, but his availability is up in the air.

"He's truly 50/50," Crennel said. "Hopefully he'll be there. We should know more in the next couple of days."

DL Shaun Smith (hand) and OL Kevin Shaffer (concussion) also missed practice.

That's the question I wanted answered today, but the Giants were largely uncooperative. Given the fact that there has been so much "bulletin board" material supplied by the Browns, I figured it was a fair question.

"You'll never know," smirked center Shaun O'Hara, figuratively slamming the door to the inner sanctums of the Giants' facility. It was like trying to get Bruce Wayne to tell me where I can find the entrance to the Bat Cave.

A few others gave hints. I heard Justin Tuck mention last week that there is a bulletin board somewhere near the shower area, but he coyly said he pays no attention to it. Danny Clark said that the bulletin board material each week is actually put on the overhead projector and displayed at the front of the room during meetings. And Rich Seubert said that of course there are bulletin boards. Where else whould the team post its schedules and meeting times and other valuable information.

Regardless of whether there is an actual bulletin board (and I've got news for you, no one watches "film" anymore either but that's what everyone calls it), the Giants pretty much took the verbal assault from Corey Williams & Co. pretty cooly. It was almost as if someone in authority had already told them not to make anything more of it. That would never happen, would it?

“I can honestly say I've never won a football game because of bulletin board material and I’ve never lost one because of it," O'Hara said. "It makes for great TV and great newspaper and great drama during the week, for those not involved, but in the end it’s all just hype and when kickoff starts no one really thinks about that.”

WR Steve Smith said he's been called out the way Williams did to Brandon Jacobs and the offensive line. He said there were a few times people said things about him leading up to games he played at Southern Cal.

"You can’t play too much into that, it may take away from your game," he said. "If you get a 1-on-1 coverage, you’re still going to do what you normally do but you might give a little extra. That’s the only way I think it can play into it."

Kellen Winslow is not practicing in Cleveland today, the second straight day he's sitting out. In fact, according to an AP report, he's at the hospital undergoing tests on what is still an undiagnosed illness.

Coughlin said AP and McKenzie would not practice and, sure enough, they didn't.

The team practiced on the stadium field today, which was interesting because it was already "decorated" for Sunday's Jets game here. The walls were all covered in their green baggies and the end zone was painted with the letters JETS. Interestingly, those letters were in the blue and mustard of the old Titans colors rather than the usual green and white. Superstitious? I would be. Between the ones from Tennessee and New York, "Titans" teams are 6-0 this season.

The conference call with Romeo went well. He said that the biggest issue facing the Browns passing game is the lack of timing between the QB and his receivers. He said that having so many of them miss time during the preseason and training camp (thanks, in part, to hits from the Giants) have hampered their efforts.

Not sure if Plaxico heard about that excuse. Didn't he miss the preseason too? Too bad he's been slowed down by it.

Just spoke with Tom Coughlin. He said Kareem McKenzie is "improved" but won't be practicing today, and Pierce, too, will be on the sideline rehabbing his quad. Sounds like we can expect both of them to be available on Monday night. Hixon will be limited and have no contact in practice, but he'll do a few things.

Asked Coughlin about the weakside LB position, which looked as if it was won by Gerris Wilkinson. Coughlin gave a hazy answer to that, saying that Wilk did get the majority of the snaps on Sunday while Bryan Kehl played mostly special teams, but he also said that "nothing is etched in stone" and Kehl could find himself back in the mix. He also said that because the Giants had to employ a lot of sub packages on Sunday against 3 and 4 WR sets, that limited the Giants' ability to rotate LBs. Danny Clark, he said, didn't get as many snaps as usual.

Crennel is on the conference call in a few minutes. Then we go out to practice to make doubley-sure that Pierce and McKenzie aren't practicing!!!

Last week it was Seattle RB Julius Jones who ruffled the Giants by suggesting that the key to beating them was to smack them in the mouth. That didn't work out very well for Mr. Jones. Now it's the Browns who are interested it the Giants' pie hole, specifically Brandon Jacobs'.

"His whole thing is, if you let him come out and get a seven- or eight-yard run, get his confidence level up high, then he can be effective," defensive lineman Corey Williams said of Jacobs to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "But if we can come out and hit him in the mouth from the jump, he tends to slow down and do some tip-toeing. You've got to swarm him, swarm to the ball."

Mr. Williams also reportedly had some things to say about toughness not really being in the Giants' offensive arsenal.

"It's a zone-blocking scheme that lets him run and pick a hole. There ain't nothing physical about them," he said. The former Packer also recalled last year's NFC Championship Game experience against the Giants.

"We came real close to beating the Giants in the NFC title game. We were hitting (Jacobs), and he was slowing it down. He left the game. They let the Bradshaw kid come in. He's really the one who killed us."

Hmmm. I hope none of the Giants notice those remarks.

As in the Giants didn't have practice today but since it's Wednesday, they still had to file one with the league. So essentially Antonio Pierce (quad) and Kareem McKenzie (concussion) did not participate in a practice that no one else participated in either. To make things even more odd, WR Domenik Hixon (concussion) and DE Jerome McDougle (knee) were listed as having partial participation in a practice that did not exist.

Strange league.

Essentially the Giants are saying that if there WAS practice on Wednesday, Pierce and McKenzie would have sat out and Hixon and McDougle would have done a few things.

The Browns did practice, but Kellen Winslow missed it because of an illness.

I know I was away from the blog for a while today (I'm almost as embarrassed as McNabb), so let me catch you up:

The Giants don't care what you or anyone else thinks about them.

They have welcomed Plaxico back with open arms.

Eli Manning disputed rumors that the Giants have contacted him regarding a new long-term contract (he's signed through 2009).

And nobody's perfect.

You can click below for the transcript of the conference calls we had with Pierce and Manning today. Be warned: They aren't nearly as entertaining as the conference call we had on Monday.

Continue reading "The no-practice report" »

Tom Rock answers your Giants questions today in a live chat at 2 p.m.