Fri 11 Aug 2006
- This is old news, but LaVar isn’t playing tonight. Nor are Emmons, Snee, Moss, Shockey, Joseph, and possibly Shiancoe, Short, and Demps. Rookie Gerris Wilkinson should start as the weakside backer and the solid Reggie Torbor at the strongside. Columbia product Wade Fletcher, representing the Upper West Side, could possibly get the start at TE.
- Ralph Vacciano tells us what to watch for tonight: the new corners, Tim Carter, Eli checking off his first option and throwing shorter passes, the battle for the DT jobs, and Brandon Jacobs.
- Not getting the starters injured is the theme of many of today’s articles. I’m sure you’ll hear it plenty of times during the telecast tonight also.
- Good stuff by Dan Benton at Giants 101. He writes, “Football is football and if you’re not excited to see the Giants on the field, go watch soccer.”
- Ralph Vacchiano writes that Michael Jennings is battling for the sixth receiver spot, and has to beat out Willie Ponder, Anthony Mix, Triandos Luke, and Harry Williams. Because he’s already been on three different practice squads, he’s not eligible to go there if he doesn’t make the roster. The five receivers guaranteed to make the roster are Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Tim Carter, Sinorice Moss, and David Tyree.
- Adrian Wojnarowski on Ernie Accorsi, the last of the dinosaurs. Not a single employee in the league was there when Accorsi entered the league in 1970 as the Colts’ PR guy. Wojnarowski goes onto say that Accorsi has been grooming Jerry Reese to be his successor, and that “it would be surprising if Reese doesn’t get the job.”
- This is a nice little read. Tiki Barber’s “BioFile” via NYSportsDay. Tiki’s favorite movie is The Goonies, he likes the Dave Matthews Band, and he’s a self-professed computer geek.
- Will Demps goes back to Baltimore dressed in Big Blue, writes Mike Garafolo. Demps makes a good point about the Ravens’ unis: “I didn’t get the purple. A raven is black. We all didn’t understand the purple.” Also, Garafalo tells us that Mathias Kiwanuka should get plenty of action tonight.
- These preseason games may seem leisurely for some, but don’t tell that to the guys battling for the third quarterback spot. Last year, Jesse Palmer started camp as the backup quarterback, but was surpassed by Hasselbeck on the basis of the preseason games. Hasselbeck makes a funny point about the relative weight of practices and games in evaluating which players make the team: “It’s not like they give you a syllabus at the beginning of this thing and say, “Ok, practices count 40 percent and games count 60 percent.”
- It’s basically the Hefty Lefty vs. Rob Johnson for the third quarterback job, writes Paul Schwartz. The Hefty Lefty has a much better arm than the Tommy-Johned Johnson, and will get his chance to demonstrate his poise in a game situation tonight.
- A nice, optimistic little piece on the Giants passing attack from FoxSports.