John Fennelly, Lead Writer It’s Christmas Eve, and a Tuesday, so it’s players’ day off. The Giants will practice tomorrow (no media access), Thursday and Friday in preparation for their season finale vs Washington at MetLife this Sunday. RB Andre Brown suffered a concussion and his status is in question this week. The Giants don’t have a great deal of depth in the backfield right now. Peyton Hillis, who missed the game in Detroit with a concussion of his own, has yet to be cleared to return to the field. That leaves rookie Michael Cox as the primary ballcarrier. “Well, he’s had games where he’s shared the role on first and second down, and he certainly will have to again,” said Tom Coughlin on Monday. Prince Amukamara has had a solid season and is developing into a top NFL CB, but he is being credited this week for something he really had very little to do with: shutting down Lions’ WR Calvin Johnson. Johnson has been dealing with knee and ankle issues all season and only dressed for the game because the Lions’ season was on the line. He caught three passed for 43 yards in the first half before serving as a decoy to occupy Prince the rest of the game. A healthy Johnson would prove to be a much better test for Prince. That won’t happen until next season. Stay tuned. The offensive line played a standup game considering another change in personnel mid-flight. Brandon Mosley broke his hand and was replaced by Dallas Reynolds. They couldn’t make much headway against the Lions’ vaunted defensive line (only two first downs on the ground and 2.0 yards per rushing attempt) but they kept Eli Manning upright enough times for him to make some plays. OC Kevin Gilbride devised a game plan that had Eli rolling out and about – a shifting pocket – that bought him some extra time as well. But all in all the line was focused on getting the job done, even though they were down in numbers… “You have to go out there and fight with your teammates and fight for the fans,” said rookie RT Justin Pugh. “There’s no quit in these guys, I think that would just be a negative thing, to say that we quit or we gave up on the season. That’s not something you want going into this offseason and trying to build off of. So I don’t think there’s ever been quit in this team or anyone’s ever giving up.” TE Adrien Robinson dressed for the first time this season. He didn’t fare very well, sustaining a blow to the knee on the opening kickoff and getting carted off. He underwent an MRI yesterday. “I don’t have anything yet,” said Coughlin when asked for an update on Robinson. It is just the latest sad chapter in the saga of “the JPP of tight ends.” Perhaps next year he will begin to pay some dividends. Source: Continue reading...
