New York Giants Team Captains Elected: Giants players have elected QB Eli Manning (offense), DE Justin Tuck (defense), and LB Chase Blackburn (special teams) as team captains for the 2010 NFL season.
It is the fourth year in a row Manning has been elected offensive team captain. It is the first time Tuck and Blackburn have been so honored. Last year’s team captains were Manning, LB Antonio Pierce, and P Jeff Feagles. Pierce and Feagles have since retired from the NFL.
“It means a lot,” said Tuck. “Obviously getting elected captain by your peers, it means they have a respect for you.”
“It’s an honor,” Blackburn said. “To me, I feel like as a special teams guy, it’s great everybody on the team voted on it. Offense and defense both vote on that, so it’s definitely an honor to be voted by my teammates. I’m going to do the best I can do being a captain. I’m going to lead by example.”
“My number one thing is to continue what I’ve been doing,” Blackburn said. “Secondly, I feel like I have a responsibility and a position where now I can kind of get on people if they’re not doing the right thing a little bit. Before, you kind of sit back and you don’t feel like it’s your place to say things. Now we have to make sure. I’m in charge of a unit now, so I have to make sure we’re performing. If we’re not, we’ve got to get it together.”
“Everybody is looking up to you when things are good or when they are bad,” Tuck said. “When they’re bad they’re looking at how you’re going to respond, and you have to be a leader – unfortunately with your mouth, but definitely also with your actions, more with your actions. So I think the team takes the pulse from you. Sometimes there are a lot of things that coaches can’t see that maybe your teammate or somebody will rely on you. It’s a lot of things that me, Eli and Chase will have to kind of relate back to the coaches and let them know, ‘This is what we see.’ So it’s a lot of responsibility, but I think we have three good ones and we’re going to do a good job as far as just delegating things for each other.”
New York Giants Make Practice Squad Moves: The Giants signed two new players to the 8-man Practice Squad yesterday: CB Brandon Hughes and S/CB Brian Jackson.
To make room for the new players, the Giants terminated the Practice Squad contracts of CB Seth Williams and S Sha’reff Rashad.
September 9, 2010 New York Injury Report: LB Phillip Dillard (hamstring) was the only player who did not practice yesterday.
CB Aaron Ross (foot) practiced on a limited basis. “(Ross) got a little better; moved a little better,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin. “He played some scrimmage, yeah, you saw him. He took some plays. I thought he warmed up well. I thought he moved around pretty well.”
Fully practicing were OC Shaun O’Hara (ankle/Achilles), DT Chris Canty (groin), LB Chase Blackburn (knee), LB Gerris Wilkinson (groin), and CB Corey Webster (groin).
Articles on the Giants’ Running Backs:
- Giants Say They’ll Stick With Backfield Rotation As Ahmad Bradshaw Takes Over As Starter by Zach Berman of The Star-Ledger
- Kinship Unites Bradshaw, Jacobs by Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com
Article on LB Bryan Kehl: An Adopted Linebacker With an Unlikely Story by Aditi Kinkhabwala of The Wall Street Journal
Quotes: Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride on WR Victor Cruz: “First of all, the hard part is to get him on the field. The way it’s structured here is that if you’re not one of the starting two receivers, then you’ve got to contribute in the other areas, so that’s where he’s got to earn his spurs and hopefully he’ll show enough someday that he’ll get that chance, but when he gets on the field he’s easy. It’s easy to use him. I think he’s proven that he is able to compete against bump and run press coverage and have a lot of success. There’s no question in my mind that he’s a good run after the catch guy, just like I said last year, but when no one believed me that Hakeem Nicks would be a good run after the catch, Mario Manningham would be a good run after the catch. He’ll be that same kind of guy, but again, the bottom line is that he’s a young guy, he’s got to prove himself as a receiver enough to become one of the starting two. That hasn’t happened yet. Or he’s got to get himself onto the active roster on game day by doing enough on special teams.”
Gilbride on what H-Back Travis Beckum needs to do: “Stay healthy. That’s all. It’s not hard. He’s got to stay healthy. He’s another guy – he never practiced… here’s a guy that hasn’t played a lot and then didn’t play hardly at all in practice. Does he have skills? No question. He’s a good athlete and he’s not your prototypical point of attack guy, but you put him out in the space and he’s a tough match-up. He’s a bigger, stronger guy than most secondary players and he’s faster, more agile, more athletic type of guy than most linebackers so he gives us some things, but the problem is, where is he? Health wise. Where is he mentally? Can you count on him to do all the things and that’s what we’re trying to sort through. Exactly how much can we ask of him to do but I think if he is playing at a point where he knows what he’s doing and he’s confident, he gives us a weapon.”
Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell on how much the Giants’ showed in the preseason: “You probably saw 10 percent, maybe 20 percent in the preseason, maybe, if that. How confident am I that our guys will have our package down? I’m very confident.”
Fewell on how he will approach the Carolina Panthers: “I have a plan of attack that I want to try and dictate what they will see. So I’m not going to be defensive. I’m going to be offensive, and I’m going to try and dictate what they will see.”