Aug 242007
 

New York Giants 2007 Training Camp Ends: Yesterday was the last day of training camp for the Giants in Albany. The players have now returned to New Jersey in preparation for tomorrow’s game for the New York Jets.

“Since I’ve been here, this is one of the tightest-knit group of players,” LB Antonio Pierce said. “We do a lot of things together, with coach even doing a little bowling thing. That was tight.”

New York Giants Place S Michael Stone on Injured Reserve: The Giants placed S Michael Stone on Injured Reserve yesterday, ending his 2007 season. Stone had been battling an unspecified hip injury for most of camp.

Stone is the fifth Giant to be placed on Injured Reserve already in 2007, joining FB Jim Finn, TE Darcy Johnson, S Jason Bell, and WR Michael Jennings.

New York Giants Waive WR Marco Thomas; Working on Injury Settlement with LB Barry Robertson: The Giants have waived WR Marco Thomas. The Bergen Record is reporting that the Giants are in the process of negotiating an injury settlement with LB Barry Robertson.

New York Giants Sign LB Karibi Dede: The Giants signed LB Karibi Dede yesterday. Dede is an undrafted rookie free agent who the attended the Giants’ rookie mini-camp in May on a tryout basis, but was not signed at that time.

August 23, 2007 New York Giants Injury Update: WR Sinorice Moss (ankle) and WR Amani Toomer (ankle) returned to practice yesterday. QB Jared Lorenzen (concussion) worked with the scout team. Head Coach Tom Coughlin said Lorenzen would not play against the Jets on Saturday.

Missing practice were TE Jeremy Shockey (hamstring), P Jeff Feagles (back), CB Sam Madison (hamstring), S Will Demps (elbow), DT Jonas Seawright (concussion), HB Derrick Ward (ankle), LB Gerris Wilkinson (knee), OC Grey Ruegamer (ankle), OC Todd Londot (ankle), and LS Ryan Kuehl (calf).

WR Plaxico Burress left practice early with soreness in his ankle.

Shockey will not likely play against the Jets. “He was better (on Thursday),” Coughlin said. “He felt better, but he didn’t work. Most likely he won’t play, but we’ll wait and see.”

Ward’s availability will also be determined closer to gametime. “(Ward) felt a lot better (on Thursday) and we’ll see how he feels (on Friday),” Coughlin said. “On paper going into (Thursday) he was going to be out. It may be that he will be, but he was a little bit better (on Friday).”

Feagles will not play against the Jets. “His back is bothering him,” Coughlin said. “Because it tightened up and spasmed, they want to look at it. So they’re holding him (out).”

Jessie Armstead’s Tenure as Assistant Linebacker Coach Ends: With the end of training camp, former Giants’ linebacker Jessie Armstead’s tenure as a voluntary assistant linebacker coach ended yesterday. However, in the team’s official press release yesterday, it was mentioned that Armstead would like to explore his coaching options.

“I liked it,” said Armstead. “First of all, it’s the game of football. It gave me the opportunity to lend my knowledge the best I can, help anybody out and see how the coaches react in certain situations. We react a different way on the field, they react a different way, so to be able to take that knowledge from the field, take that knowledge from the coaching staff and put it together with me, I think it makes them stronger and better with everything. So many people used to help me. You have so much knowledge of the game, why don’t you bring it back to the game? I’m still a player, I want to play. I realized after last year I wasn’t going to play, I just say, ‘Hey, let me go and give back and try to get back into the game.'”

MLB Antonio Pierce said it was a positive to have Armstead coaching the linebackers. “It’s a respect thing,” said Pierce. “I know what he’s doing, what he’s here for. I told him one day, ‘If you see something wrong with my footwork, coach me,’ and there were times he pulled me aside and said, ‘You need to do this better.’ It actually means more when it comes from somebody who has played, who has been a Pro Bowler, who has the respect from everyone in this organization and around the league to help you out. You can’t do anything but accept it.”

Pierce said Armstead would make a good coach. “I’ll tell you one thing, he’ll have guys so ready to go,” Pierce said. “Half the time you don’t understand what he’s saying when he’s fired up, because of the way he talks and that Texas slang. But when he gets to talking, and when he talked to guys in the mini-camp, you can see a lot of young guys take it in and I think that’s a good quality.”

Armstead retired from football this past offseason. The Giants signed him to a 1-day contract so he could retire a New York Giant. “I always wanted to be a Giant for life,” said Armstead. “They showed everyone that I am a Giant and that’s something nobody else can take back from me. That’s the main thing, you always want to be around a strong organization like this.”

Article on HB Brandon Jacobs: After Tiki, Brandon Looms Large by Ralph Vacchiano of The New York Daily News

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Eric Kennedy

Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.

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