POSTED: Saturday August 18th 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GIANTS TRAINING CAMP NOTEBOOK, AUGUST 18, 2007

 

 

By Michael Eisen

 

ALBANY, N.Y. ? Not many 12-year NFL veterans get pumped-up to play a preseason game, but Amani Toomer could scarcely be more thrilled about lining up in tomorrow night?s contest in Baltimore.

 

This will be Toomer?s first game action since last Nov. 5, when he partially tore his left anterior cruciate ligament against Houston. He has participated in most training camp practices (sitting out once on the days the Giants practiced twice) and did not play in last week?s preseason opener against Carolina.

 

?You usually don?t look forward to preseason games,? Toomer said. ?After not being able to play in a game for a while and after watching last week, I’m excited. I’ve been preparing for a while like it’s a real game and it’s a good test for me.

?Watching last week was tough, but it was the smart thing to do. I think now I am starting to really get back into it. I’m just really excited about it. It’s been a while. I’m looking forward to it, just getting back out there and getting a little bit of action. Sitting on the sidelines and watching, that’s the toughest thing. I think taking the field is something that’s going to be exciting for me.?

 

And for others. Toomer is a big part of the Giants? offense and a source of security for Eli Manning. It was no coincidence that Manning?s completion percentage declined when Toomer was sidelined in the second half of last season. Toomer is a player everyone looks up to. With Michael Strahan not in camp, he is the longest-tenured Giant and the only player remaining from the 2000 NFC Championship team. And with Plaxico Burress still sidelined with an ankle injury, Manning will have an opportunity to throw to one of his front-line wide receivers in a game.

 

?It’ll be good to have Amani back,? Manning said. ?He?s someone who knows the offense, is going to be sure of what he is doing going full-speed and has a great feel for what we want to do. It’ll be great to have him back, just knowing that he will do a good job for us.

 

?You never know how a guy is going to come off of a knee injury, but he’s coming out of his breaks well, he is running by some corners, catching the ball and doesn’t seem to be worried about it. So it’s been a pleasant surprise to see how healthy he looks out there.?

 

Coach Tom Coughlin said, ?He does give our team a lift when he?s on the field.  He has a very positive effect on Eli, I do know about that.  It?s important for him to play, he needs to get hit.  He needs to know that he can get up and be in one piece and play the game the way he wants to play it.?

 

No matter how successful Toomer?s 2007 debut is, it will be a cameo. Coughlin said the starters could play deep into the second quarter, but Toomer might be on the field long enough just to break a sweat.

 

?Amani will play maybe 10 to 12 plays, something like that,? Coughlin said. ?He?s worked real hard and every chance he?s had to practice, he?s practiced well.  He?s done everything we?ve asked him to do, and then some. He gets kind of frustrated with himself when it?s not all perfect, but that?s what I like about him.  He?s a very, very competitive guy.?

 

Running around in practice and playing a game are on two different levels. No matter how much you exert yourself in the former, it?s impossible to simulate the latter.

 

?You can’t really get in game shape, because practice is not as fast as the game,? Toomer said. ?You can’t simulate it. Sometimes when we do the two-minute drill, it is kind of, but it’s not as chaotic as it is in a game.

 

?I kind of know where I am, but I want to just get back in there and just try to get into game shape and take a couple hits and get healthy.?

 

Besides Toomer?s return, several other players and issues bear watching when the Giants visit the Ravens:

 

*Cornerback Aaron Ross, the Giants? first-round draft choice, will make his debut. Ross missed the Panthers game with a strained gluteus muscle.

 

?It?s my first time on the field being a Giant, so I’m pretty pumped about that,? Ross said. ?I just want to play to the best of my ability and make no mental errors. That’s my main thing - just play free, be happy out there.?

 

More technically, Ross wants to see how he fares covering slot receivers as the nickel corner. He never played that role while winning the Jim Thorpe Award at the University of Texas and has taken a crash course in slot work in this training camp.

 

?It’s basically playing corner and safety at the same time,? Ross said. ?We may be in man-to-man coverage, but depending on what the offense does I have to maybe go into a zone. It’s a lot of route reading, offensive studying - it’s a lot more than just playing corner.?

 

*The defense expects to improve from its performance last week, when the Panthers ran for 154 yards.

 

?We have to stop the run,? middle linebacker Antonio Pierce said. ?That?s our No. 1 thing. Last week, they rushed for one fifty and they drove 80 yards against the first defense. Our number one goal is to stop the run every week ? but especially when you didn?t do it the week before. We?ll probably play a little bit more so we?ll have more opportunities. Hopefully, we?ll go out and change the hoopla that?s going on about our defense right now.?

 

Carolina, which has a new offensive coordinator, hurt the Giants with cutback runs, the kind the Panthers had not used under the previous coach. The Giants should be more familiar with the Ravens? attack.

 

?Obviously what Baltimore will do, because it is exactly what they did a year ago, is feature the zone cutback run,? head coach Tom Coughlin said. ?If we can do something about that, then that will be improvement because that is the thing that hurt us the other night and hurt us against (Baltimore) last year in the opening preseason game.?

 

?We have an opportunity to see them on film, so we?ll be a little bit more prepared,? Pierce said.

 

*The continued development of Mathias Kiwanuka at strongside linebacker. Kiwanuka was victimized on some of those Carolina cutbacks.

 

?There were a lot of things I could have done better, but there were enough positives out there that I felt comfortable with my play,? he said. ?If you can’t stop the run in this league, you don’t have a chance. So we have a lot of corrections that need to be made, but they weren’t devastating things. It wasn’t like there were flaws in our defense, it was more just focusing on the basics and getting those things covered.?

Kiwanuka said his learning curve is accelerated in games.

 

?It’s impossible to imitate game speed,? he said. ?First of all, you can’t tackle. You are trying to stay up so your angles are going to be a little bit different. Also, in a game you’re going full speed on every single play, as opposed to taking breaks and stopping and getting corrections made and that stuff. Being in game situations, there is nothing like it.?

 

Coughlin was pleased that Kiwanuka was thrown into the fire immediately at his new position.

 

?His first game he had a lot of learning experiences and he benefited from them,? Coughlin said. ?He?s been coached all week on the areas that he was deficient in. As I told him after the game, it was a great opportunity for him, because the opponent, Carolina, put him in a lot of different positions, formation-wise, with a lot of different responsibilities. It was a good film to grade and teach from. I expect that he?s made progress this week and we?ll see how he does in the game.?

 

*The backup quarterback situation. Jared Lorenzen will again follow Manning. Tim Hasselbeck will then get his first game action of the summer. 

?If everything goes well, I only play these four games, because you never want anything to happen to your starter,? Lorenzen said. ?You just want to be out there and learn as much as you can in these games.?

 

Hasselbeck is fighting with Anthony Wright for the No. 3 job. The third-year Giant has received the fewest reps of any of the quarterbacks in this camp.

 

?You just try to play well,? Hasselbeck said. ?The biggest thing is that you don’t get a lot of opportunities, so you try to take advantage of those that you do get.?

 

Hasselbeck knows a poor performance could result in him sliding off the roster bubble. But he prefers not to think negatively.

 

?Every year I think that if I don’t play well, I’m going to get cut,? he said. ?I don’t think that will ever change for me, as long as I play football. That’s not how I approach things. I think if I play well, things will work out. I think you just look at it and try to be positive about it, because if you’re negative about it there is something to be negative about every day, so you try to be positive about it for sure.

?Truthfully, you don’t know what is being planned when the decision is made. As players you don’t know that stuff, so you can’t worry about it. The way I look at it is if I get one series and it’s all handoffs, I’ll make them good handoffs. If it’s a two-minute drive, then try to have a successful drive. Beyond that you can’t really do anything else.?

 

New York Giants 2007 Preseason

Media Schedule, Day-by-Day

 

   

 

 

Sunday, August 19

Giants at Baltimore, 8 p.m.

 

Monday, August 20

TBD ? Tom Coughlin Conference Call

 

Tuesday, August 21

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ? Player Interviews; Assistant Coaches Chris Palmer and Mike Sullivan Available; Indian Quad

2:40-4:40 p.m. ? Practice

After Practice ? Tom Coughlin available on field

 

Wednesday, August 22

8:40-10:40 a.m. ? Practice

After Practice ? Tom Coughlin available on field

11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. ? Player Interviews, Indian Quad

6:10-8:10 p.m. ? Practice

 

Thursday, August 23

10:55 a.m.-1 p.m. ? Practice

After Practice ? Tom Coughlin available on field

BREAK CAMP

 

Friday, August 24

No scheduled availability

 

Saturday, August 25

Jets at Giants, 8 p.m.

 

Sunday, August 26

TBD ? Tom Coughlin Conference Call

 

Monday, August 27

11:30 a.m.-12 noon ? Player Interviews

1:40-3:35 p.m. ? Practice

After practice ? Tom Coughlin available

 

Tuesday, August 28

11:20 a.m.-1 p.m. ? Practice

After Practice ? Tom Coughlin available

1 p.m.-2 p.m. ? Player Interviews

 

Wednesday, August 29

No scheduled availability

(Kickoff Luncheon NYC)

 

Thursday, August 30

Giants at New England, 7:30 p.m.

 

Friday, August 31

2:30 p.m. ? Player Interviews

3:30 p.m. ? Tom Coughlin available

 

Saturday, September 1

No scheduled availability

 

 

Sunday, September 2

No scheduled availability

 

Monday, September 3

Media Schedule TBD

 

Tuesday, September 4

11:40 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ? Practice

After Practice ? Tom Coughlin available

1:40-2:25 p.m. ? Player Interviews

 

Wednesday, September 5

11:05 a.m. ? Tom Coughlin available, media work room

11:40 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ? Practice

1:40-2:25 p.m. ? Player Interviews

T.B.D. ? Conference call with Dallas head coach Wade Phillips

T.B.D. ? Conference call with Dallas player

 

Thursday, September 6

11:20 a.m.-1 p.m. ? Practice

After Practice ? Tom Coughlin available

After Practice ? Assistant Coaches Steve Spagnuolo and Tom Quinn available

1:15-2 p.m. ? Player Interviews

 

Friday, September 7

11:20 a.m.-1 p.m. ? Practice

After Practice ? Tom Coughlin available

1:15-2 p.m. ? Player Interviews

 

Saturday, September 8

No scheduled availability

 

Sunday, September 9

Regular Season Opener: Giants at Dallas, 8:15 p.m. ET

 

Monday, September 10

Media Schedule TBD

 

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