Mon 14 Aug 2006
8/14 Daily Roundup
Posted by Greg under Uncategorized- My take on Friday night’s preseason game vs. the Ravens.
- Ok, this isn’t even Giants news, but the first major injury of the NFC East went down when Clinton Portis dislocated his shoulder. He is expected to miss at least the remainder of the preseason and possibly more time.
- Huge piece by the Star-Ledger’s Paul Needell on the NFC. You might want to print this one out and read it on the train.
- Good news: Chris Snee’s knee injury wasn’t anything especially serious and he’s back practicing.
- Ralph Vacchiano takes William Joseph to task. He allows for Joseph’s injuries, but then writes, “Yet even when he’s healthy, all he has are moments.” Coughlin isn’t much kinder in some of his comments.
- Vacchiano continues the theme of the soft d-line in his blog, and wonders why the Giants, having already lost Kendrick Clancy, waited so long in the draft to address their vulnerability at d-tackle (Barry Cofield, Round 4).
- Osi’s a little pissed at Coughlin after the coach called out the whole d-line after Friday night’s game. And Sinorice Moss is falling further and further behind as he continues to miss time, especially because Tim Carter has been the talk of camp so far.
- John Altavilla with another article on the “soft” run defense and Coughlin’s displeasure with it. Also, Tim Lewis and John Hufnagel have moved up to the booth while quarterback coach Kevin Gilbride has moved down to the field.
- Paul Schwartz showers yet more love on Mathias Kiwanuka. Gotta love the Post headline: “Jints May Go To Mat.” He makes the point that for all the talk about the need for Kiwanuka to bulk up, he currently weighs 260 pounds, 4 pounds more than Osi Umunyiora. Osi came into the league at 280 – it wasn’t until he trimmed down that he became dominant.
- Here’s something that people haven’t talked about that much: Rich Seubert shifted to center for a couple of series’ during Friday night’s games, raising the possibility that the Giants may only dress seven offensive linemen when Snee gets healthy because Seubert is being groomed to back up at two positions.
- Also, LaVar and Emmons returned to practice, but Amani and Tyree sat out with minor injuries. And E.J. Underwood, a rookie out of Pikesville who played three years at Ohio State, is getting some serious looks. He’s now practicing with the first team dime package in place of James Butler.
- John Branch talks about the ripple effects of Michael Jennings’ punt return for a touchdown. It’s an interesting piece, but he takes the though a little too far. Contrary to what he says, my guess is that Morton or McQuarters aren’t in any kind of danger. Ponder, on the other hand, most certainly is.
- Carlos Emmons, who returned to practice yesterday, is feeling the heat, writes Mike Garafolo. Coming off an injury plagued year and beginning of camp, Emmons will turn 33 in a couple of weeks. If they cut him, they stand to shave over $2 million off their salary cap figure. Emmons objects to the characterization that his body is breaking down because of his age, and instead chalks his ailments up to bad luck.