Locker Room Report
JACOBS DETERMINED TO PLAY
The good news, at least according to Brandon Jacobs, is his knee injury isn’t anything near as severe as the one he suffered last season which caused him to miss three weeks.
The bad news is that he wasn’t able to practice today, and despite wanting to play, he wasn’t sure if the coaches would let him.
“Coach wanted to hold me out today,” he said of his not participating in practice. “I’ll get some snaps tomorrow and see how I feel. Today I took off to rest it some more but I feel good, to be honest with you. There is no pain and I don’t feel restricted.”
“I’ll get out there tomorrow and have Ahmad (Bradshaw) tell you how I feel because I’m not talking tomorrow.”
Jacobs, who was moving will in the part of practice open to the media, admitted it was hard not being out there. “It’s tough but I know the reason they are doing it. I’m not necessarily hurt or anything that I couldn’t get out there and practice, which I could have if I needed to. But it’s precautionary and I’ll get out there tomorrow and we’ll go from there. I don’t know much about further than tomorrow but I know what I’m going to do tomorrow. I’ll know after tomorrow about everything else.”
But at the same time, he’ll also be patient knowing that if he returns before he’s ready, he could make a bad situation worse. “I listen to what Coach Coughlin says and go about things the right way. He’s the head coach for a reason; Ronnie Barnes is the head trainer for a reason. Those guys have been around us for a long time and they know what’s best.”
ROSS EARNS DEFENSIVE POW HONORS
CB Aaron Ross has been named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in last Sunday’s 30-10 win over Baltimore.
Ross tied with Antonio Pierce for a team-high six solo tackles, including one for a loss, and intercepted two passes, the second of which he returned 50 yards for his second career touchdown. It was the second two-interception game of his career – he last did it against the Jets on October 7, 2007, a game in which he had a 43-yard touchdown.
Ross is the first Giants player to win the Defensive POW honors since Osi Umenyiora in Week 7 of the 2007 season. Ross is also the third member of the 2008 Giants team to be honored with POW recognition, joining K John Carney (week 3, special teams) and Chase Blackburn (last week, special teams).
INJURY REPORT
RB Brandon Jacobs (knee), CB Aaron Ross (hamstring), and LB Chase Blackburn (neck) didn’t practice today. Head coach Tom Coughlin said he’s hoping to have Jacobs, Ross and Blackburn back tomorrow, though of the three, it sounds like Blackburn has the greatest chance of returning.
CB Kevin Dockery (back) and LB Jonathan Goff (concussion) participated fully.
LB Gerris Wilkinson (knee) was limited
Arizona had CB Rod Hood (non-injury related) and LB Clark Haggans (foot) not practicing today. Limited were T Mike Gandy (ankle), DT Darnell Dockett (hamstring) and DE Travis LaBoy (ankle). CB Eric Green (knee) fully participated
BITS AND PIECES
Brandon Jacobs had the quote of the month – maybe the quote of the season – during his press conference today. During one exchange with a TV reporter, Jacobs was asked if he had confidence in Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw if he (Jacobs) couldn’t play on Sunday.
Jacobs looked at the reporter like the individual had two heads and said (this is the PG version of the response, by the way), “Does a bear defecate in the woods and clean himself with a white rabbit?”
Seriously, now, did the TV crew actually think Jacobs would say anything negative about his teammates, especially considering Bradshaw was sitting right there patiently waiting for his teammate to have lunch with him?
Providing some excitement on the day was the elevator outside of the press room getting stuck. There was a group of students taking a tour of the Meadowlands and apparently one too many tried to get into the rickety old elevator that takes you from the basement where the press room and bowels are located up to the ground floor where the Giants’ executive offices are. The first sign of trouble was the alarm bell. Eventually stadium workers arrived on the scene and were able to open the doors to rescue those stuck in the elevator, which had maybe ascended five feet off the ground
As someone who’s slightly claustrophobic and who would rather walk up and down numerous flights of stairs (this with a bad knee), I don’t envy those who got stuck in the elevator. But as far as I could tell, no one was hurt, so that’s all that really matters.
