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PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Giants are only two months removed from winning the Super Bowl, but they've been overshadowed in New York by Tebow-mania.

That's fine by Tom Coughlin. As far as he's concerned, the Jets can have the headlines, he's got the Lombardi Trophy. He doesn't think the fans have forgotten what they accomplished.

"You know who won the Super Bowl, you know who the world champions are," Coughlin told reporters Wednesday morning at the NFL meetings. "Whether we’re on the front page every day or not, it’s not that important. New Yorkers know."

This came three days after Giants co-owner John Mara mocked the Jets' acquisition of Tim Tebow, saying they were planning to have a news conference for their recently-signed backup, David Carr.

Coughlin didn't want to comment on the Tebow trade -- "That's their business," he said -- but he praised Tebow as a football player, calling him "physically tough ... a guy that's going to be a force in your locker room."

Asked if he'd ever consider removing his "guy" for 20 snaps per game, as the Jets have suggested they might do with Mark Sanchez so Tebow could run the wildcat, Coughlin looked increduously at the questioner.

"Our guy?" he asked, referring to Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning.

In a one-hour sitdown with reporters, Coughlin touched on a variety of topics:

• On this week's annoucement that the Giants will face the Cowboys in the NFL opener: Coughlin said he wasn't surprised because "the league always does a great job of making it a very attractive." That the game will be played on a Wednesday night, he admitted, will be a challenge in terms of the training-camp and practice schedule.

• On re-signing RB Brandon Jacobs: "I think it’s a possibility. Brandon wanted the opportunity to go out into the marketplace and see what he could do with the opportunity, and it was granted. We'll just see." The Giants are looking for a backup to Ahmad Bradshaw. UPDATE: Jacobs has agreed to a deal with the 49ers, a league source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.



Coughlin said it's hard to cut players that contribute to a championship, adding, "There is some sentiment involved in it, but we don’t say goodbye, we say, 'Next time.'"

• On the future of DE Osi Umenyiora: Coughlin said he has no plans to part ways with Umenyiora, who staged a training-camp holdout last summer. He wants Osi back. "I'm not thinking of anything else," he said.

• On a contract extension. Coughlin, entering the final year of his contract, expressed confidence a deal will get done shortly. He also discussed the joy of winning a title in New York.

• His hysterical recollection of his post-game hug with rap star Flavor Flav: "I finished (an interview with the NFL Network) and I get up. This guy is waiting for me with these glasses, big glasses, and a clock on his chest. He's kind of right in front of me. I walk by. I mean, I'm hugging sign posts at that time. He grabbed me and hugged me. I walked away and one of my kids says, 'Dad, you know who that was?' I said, 'No, I don't know who that was.' They said, 'Fava Flav' -- a rap singer. Then we're at the parade and (Brandon) Jacobs reaches down, grabs him by the hand, pulls him up and he's on the float. I'm on one of the floats with him, too!"

Considering the Giants' 7-7 start this season, GM Jerry Reese may need to tweak things a bit. Do you have any recommendations?

Vote here in our Take 'Em or Trash 'Em poll.

Ahmad Bradshaw's game-winning touchdown with 57 seconds remaining in Super Bowl XLVI has sparked plenty of debate, but there's one aspect to the bizarre play that has been virtually overlooked:

Why didn't Patriots coach Bill Belichick instruct his defense to let Bradshaw score on the previous play? It he had done that, it could've had a dramatic impact on the final minute.

After all, it was basically the same situation. With 1:09 on the clock, on a first down from the 7, the Patriots stopped Bradshaw for one yard and immediately called their second timeout with 1:04 to play. At that point, Belichick gave Bradshaw an E-Z Pass to the end zone, allowing him to score from the six with 57 seconds left.

Too late.

If they had let Bradshaw score on first down, the Patriots would've had the ball with 1:04 to play and two timeouts at their disposal, not one -- and that could've made an enormous difference for Tom Brady & Co.

Belichick apologists -- and there are many in Boston -- will say there could've been a fumble on first down, so that's why he chose to play defense. That logic could've been applied to second down, too, but Belichick decided to go outside the box. If you're going to go with that strategy, use it when it can help you the most.

Belichick has taken some criticism from purists who say it's unsportsmanlike to intentionally let an opponent score. To that, he has noted the success rate for field goals in that range is 90 percent (actually, it's about 97 percent). In this case, it would've been a go-ahead field goal, as the Giants trailed by two points.

The bottom line is, Belichick made the decision he felt gave his team the best chance to win -- within the rules. The problem is, the so-called genius made it one play too late, and he'll probably be kicking himself throughout the offseason.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Imagine the fallout if the Giants had lost. The Ahmad Bradshaw non-kneel/touchdown would've been one of the most debated plays in Super Bowl history.

Clearly, the Giants were guilty of indecisiveness. Players and coaches didn't appear to be on the same page on how to play it, with Tom Coughlin admitting Monday it would've been his fault if the Patriots had pulled it out in the final minute.

"Would I have orchestrated it differently? Perhaps," Coughlin said at Eli Manning's MVP news conference. "You certainly don’t want to leave that much time on the clock. But anything that would have become as a result of that would have been my fault because I really didn’t instruct the runner not to score."

This was the situation: With 1:04 remaining, down by two points, the Giants had the ball at the Patriots' 6. There are two schools of thought: Take the go-ahead points as soon as possible or take a knee, using clock and forcing the opponent to burn timeouts.

There's risk in both scenarios: Since 2001, kickers are 37-for-38 on game-tying or go-ahead field goals inside 26 yards with under 1:30 left, according to ESPN Stats & Information. (That's a 97.4-percent success rate.) This is how the Giants wanted to play it; they wanted to eat as much clock as possible, sending in PK Lawrence Tynes for the potential game winner. But no one told Bradshaw not to score, except for Manning yelling, "Don't score! Don't score!" as he handed him the ball.

That hardly qualifies as solid, mapped-out strategy.

We all know what happened. The Patriots' defense parted like the Red Sea, letting Bradshaw score with 57 seconds left. He pulled up at the 1 and started to take a knee, but leaned into the end zone to put the Giants ahead, 21-17. (The two-point conversion failed.)

So the Giants gave the ball to Tom Brady with just under a minute to play, 80 yards from the end zone. The Patriots' win probability, based on historical NFL data, was just 3.4 percent. That's slightly greater than the 2.6-percent failure rate on chip-shot FGs. We're splitting percentage points here, but if the Patriots had scored on that Hail Mary, wow, we'd have some controversy on our hands.

Ahmad Bradshaw wasn't supposed to score.

The running back was supposed to go down short of the end zone on a running play when the Giants were on the Patriots' doorstep trailing 17-15 late in the fourth quarter. By going down, the Giants could have kept the ball to the last play and attempted a game-winning kick.

But when the Patriots' defense allowed a huge gap, Bradshaw scored the touchdown, falling in while he tried to sit down at the one-yard line.

"That was my first decision to get down, Eli (Manning) was handing me the ball and was telling me to get down and don't score and I tried, man, I tried and my momentum took me into the end zone," Bradshaw told ESPN's Adam Schefter after the game.

Bradshaw's score allowed the Patriots to get the ball back, which surely made him sweat for the next few minutes, but the Giants defense kept New England out of the end zone and Bradshaw and the Giants won their second title in four years in a 21-17 triumph.

"It's the best feeling in the world," Bradshaw said. "Anybody that is a football player, man, you accomplish this, man, it's the best thing to accomplish as a football player."

INDIANAPOLIS -- What to expect from the Giants:

Work schedule: The Giants return to the University of Indianapolis for their final practice before Super Bowl XLVI. They will concentrate on short yardage, red zone and goal-line work. Friday practices are typically shorter than Wednesday and Thursday. There also will be a short walk-through on Saturday.

Media obligations: The players and assistant coaches are done with the media until after the game. On this day, the spotlight shines on the head coaches. Tom Coughlin will address the media at 9:30 a.m. from a hotel ballroom in downtown Indianapolis.

Storylines: Can RB Ahmad Bradshaw make it three days in a row? Bradshaw (foot) was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but the mere fact he was on the field was a pleasant surprise for the Giants. Coughlin said Thursday he couldn't remember the last time Bradshaw practiced on back-to-back days ... This is the media's fifth straight day of access to Coughlin. Enough is enough ... unless he's willing to offer a guarantee. Right. You'd have a better chance of seeing Madonna and Victor Cruz together on "Dancing with the Stars."

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ahmad Bradshaw surprised Tom Coughlin by practicing on Wednesday. He said he was going to surprise him again by going on Thursday.

"Just to get my legs up under me," Bradshaw said. "We've been staying in this hotel for the last couple of days, sitting on our butts in meetings and everything else, so I just wanted to get my feet up under me and get out there and have fun."

Bradshaw's routine is to normally sit out the first two practices and then go on Fridays to rest his fractured foot.

"I think it was a surprise just because I haven't been out there on Wednesday in a while," he said. "I just wanted to get out there yesterday and run around and just get the flow of the defenses and different things they'll throw at us."

There will be a pool report later from Giants practice and we'll see how everyone is classified for today's practice.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tom Coughlin said Ahmad Bradshaw and Jacquian Williams looked good in practice on Wednesday.

Bradshaw changed up his normal routine of resting his foot for the first two days of practice and worked on a limited basis. Coughlin said the team has to see how his foot responds today. Bradshaw may not practice today after working yesterday.

Williams practiced limited on Wednesday as well. Coughlin said the rookie looked good despite having a sprained foot.

Both Giants will play Sunday against New England.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Running back Ahmad Bradshaw likely will be the only Giant to not participate in the New York Giants' first practice in Indianapolis.

"Normal routine," Tom Coughlin said of Bradshaw resting his fractured foot as he has done for much of the season.

Rookie linebacker Jacquian Williams said on Tuesday he will practice in some fashion on Wednesday. He shed the protective walking boot he had on his sprained foot.

Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks said his shoulder was improving and that he also will good to go for the Super Bowl.

ESPN's Rachel Nichols tweeted that defensive tackle Jimmy Kennedy was sick and the team was trying to keep the bug from spreading. His status for practice will be known later when the team provides an official injury report.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Running backs are supposed to wear down toward the end of the season, but the Giants' tandem -- Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs -- are running with more power and giddy-up.

As a team, the Giants averaged 1.58 yards after contact per rush in the regular season, third-worst in the NFL. In the postseason, the Giants have picked it up considerably, averaging 2.13 yards after contact.

Giants Running Backs Yards After Contact per Rush, 2011 Season

Category --- Bradshaw -- Jacobs
Reg. Season ... 1.76 ... 1.66
Postseason .... 2.43 ... 2.25

Source: ESPN Stats & Information

Ten observations after reviewing the game tape of the Giants' 24-20 win over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Week 9:

1. The biggest thing the Giants can take out of the game is how they were able to win on the road without two of their best offensive players, RB Ahmad Bradshaw and WR Hakeem Nicks, both injured. The passing game was less explosive without Nicks and the running game was predictable without Bradshaw -- no perimeter threat -- resulting in a scoreless first half. They finished with a respectable 361 total yards, thanks to Eli Manning's fourth-quarter heroics.

2. The Patriots probably won't be able to use much from this game in their preparation for Super Bowl XLVI because, let's face it, that wasn't really the Giants as we now know them. Without Nicks and Bradshaw, they adjusted their approach by using more two-TE packages than usual. In fact, they employed a two-TE look on 36 of 68 plays, with TE Bear Pascoe often lining up in the backfield as a fullback. These days, the Giants are a wide-open passing attack, using three wide receivers as their base offense (48 percent of the snaps in the regular season, according to ESPN Stats & Information).

3. The Giants were conservative early in the game, trying to establish the run. Maybe it was because they didn't have Nicks, but they seemed reluctant to attack the Patriots' woeful pass defense, which finished 31st in the league. That won't be the case this time. Manning is on an all-time roll and, even though the Patriots have shown improvement in recent weeks, the Giants should have their choice of favorable matchups with the Patriots' secondary.

4. In terms of scheme and personnel, the Giants will see a different defense. In Week 9, the Patriots were in their 4-3 phase, which didn't work out so well for Bill Belichick. Fat Albert Haynesworth is gone (cut after the Giants game), DE Andre Carter is on injured reserve and Belichick is back to using a 3-4 as his base.

5. Manning didn't have his A-game in the first meeting (he threw a horrible interception in the red zone), but he came alive with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including the game winner to TE Jake Ballard with 15 seconds left. Both scoring passes came against a DB blitz. Manning is vulnerable against DB blitzes … except in the fourth quarter, when nothing seems to bother him.

6. With C David Baas out with an injury, the Giants played with a makeshift offensive line that struggled on third down (4 for 13). These days, they're enjoying the benefits of continuity. The Giants' "A" line has been together for 204 of 215 snaps in the postseason, according to ESPN Stats & Info. In the regular season, the current starting five played together for only 186 of 1,027 snaps.

7. For three quarters, the Giants had QB Tom Brady absolutely befuddled. Brady threw two interceptions (it should've been three), losing his cool after the first pick. He went to the bench and fired a water bottle to the ground, a rare show of frustration. It was that kind of day. The Giants sacked him only twice, but they hit him 13 times. They created a strip sack with a six-man rush, but they relied mostly on their four-man rush. In fact, both interceptions came against a four-man rush. The Giants are one of the few teams that don't have to blitz to generate pressure, which is huge against Brady because it allows them to drop seven into coverage.

8. How good was the Giants' defense? It pitched a shutout in the first half, the first time since 2006 (a span of 74 games) that the Patriots failed to score before halftime. The Patriots came out trying to run the game, hoping to exploit a then-struggling Giants rush defense, but they gave up after a few series and returned to their usual attack. Even then, it wasn't easy. If it weren't for Aaron Ross' muffed punt, the Patriots probably would've been scoreless through three quarters.

9. All that said, Brady still passed for 342 yards and two touchdowns, but he couldn't crack the Giants' secondary for any big plays. His longest completion was 28 yards. The Giants mixed their coverages, especially on WR Wes Welker and TE Rob Gronkowski. They used S Antrel Rolle on Welker (in the slot), with S Deon Grant and LB Michael Boley splitting most of the work on Gronkowski. Welker and Gronkowski combined for 237 yards (Gronk beat Boley for a short TD), but they had to work for everything. That's the key against Brady & Co.: Don't give them any gifts. The Giants' three-safety nickel package matches up well with the Patriots' two-TE offense.

10. This game underscored the importance of protecting the football, as each team scored 10 points off turnovers. When they stopped giving it away, it turned into an entertaining fourth quarter with four lead changes.

As much as Eli Manning will be able to consult his brother, Peyton Manning, about playing at Lucas Oil Stadium and the sound cadence there, he's not sure that the Colts quarterback will be able to help him out.

"I don't think he's ever been the away team in his home stadium," Eli Manning said.

That's certainly true. As Manning prepares for his second Super Bowl, once again as the road team, it's all business for the Pro Bowler, which includes gauging the noise at the stadium and how it will affect the teams.

"You're always interested in how the crowd noise will be, whether you need to use silent cadence or regular cadence but we'll probably practice both those and the good thing about having two weeks, you have a lot of things to work on," Manning said.

Preparation wise, Manning said that he expects to have pretty much all of the game plan in by the end of the week, although it allows time for changes to be made leading up to the game. He said next week's practices will be review and allow for an extra week of emphasis.

Having played the Patriots already, Manning will be able to take certain things from that game, but knows that he will be seeing a different team. His offense will benefit from having Hakeem Nicks and Ahmad Bradshaw available, as they did not play against the Patriots in the first game.

Manning completed 20-of-39 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns and one interception in the Giants' 24-20 win over the Patriots in November.

"I think we'll obviously look hard at the first game and knowing coach (Bill) Belichick and their staff they'll have a new game plan, they'll have some new wrinkles in there, so we got to give credit to them, they're a great staff and great coaches so they'll be well prepared," Manning said. "Just watching one of their games on Sunday it seems like they have changed up a little bit. When we played them last time there was a lot of four down scheme, now they seem to be going more 3-4, even though its similar, kind of same players in there, just a matter of how they line up."

Going against New England quarterback Tom Brady for a second time in the Super Bowl and having the chance to beat him again could be seen to some as a chance to define his legacy, but Manning didn't want to look at the game in that light.

"This is a big game for the Giants organization. This is a big game for every single player playing in this game. It's no bigger for me, coach (Tom) Coughlin, than it is for JPP (Jason Pierre-Paul) or Justin Tuck or any other person playing this game," Manning said. " I think you approach it that way. You want to be as prepared as possible, you hope you go in there and play your best football that you've ever played, that's always your goal, but ultimately you have a game plan, you try to go execute it and whatever type of game it turns into, a lot of touchdowns or whatever circumstances, you play those circumstances and try to put your team in a position to win."

SAN FRANCISCO -- There’s something about the New York Giants that makes their opponents forget who they are. Let’s call it the Schottenheimer Schyndrome, and the San Francisco 49ers were infected by it Sunday night in the NFC Championship Game.

It started in Week 16, when New York Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer went pass-crazy against the Giants, with 67 drop backs -- a dramatic departure from the Jets’ run-oriented style. That’s why he’s now working in St. Louis.

The 49ers, built similarly to the Jets, fell into the same trap. They called passing plays on 58 percent of their snaps, including 24 of 35 plays after halftime. It was unusually high for the 49ers, especially since it was a one-possession game from start to finish -- a 20-17 Giants win in overtime.

Jim Harbaugh probably will be named NFL Coach of the Year, but this wasn’t his finest hour. In fact, the 49ers called pass plays on the first play in each of their last five possessions, eschewing a Ground & Pound attack that churned out 150 yards in the Candlestick muck. He played to the Giants’ strength, rushing the quarterback and defending the pass.

The 49ers were only 4-4 when they passed at least 55 percent of the time; it’s not their deal. Maybe Harbaugh, like a lot of Bay Area fans, got caught up on the Alex Smith bandwagon after his thrilling performance in the divisional round. Smith has improved, no doubt, but he’s no Joe Montana and he has only one weapon, tight end Vernon Davis.

Here’s an inside look at the Giants’ win, with help from ESPN Stats & Information:

MORE HARBAUGH: While we’re on the subject of the 49ers’ coach, we can’t let him off the hook for his play calling at the end of the first half. When he needed to be aggressive, he got conservative, going three-and-out and giving the ball back to the Giants with 1:36 on the clock.

The Giants capitalized. They went hurry-up and made a field goal as time expired, taking a 10-7 halftime lead -- huge points, as it turned out.

FIVE SECONDS TO GLORY: It may have been the slowest 40-yard sprint of Jacquian Williams' life, but it was the most memorable. Actually, it was only 35 yards, but it still wasn’t a great time.

To get into position for The Strip, his game-changing forced fumble on a punt return in overtime, Williams sprinted 35 yards, unimpeded. After a close examination of the game tape, our stopwatch says it took him 4.8 seconds -- hardly the kind of time that would turn heads at the NFL scouting combine.

But in this case, it was fast enough. Actually, Williams almost over-ran the play, but he reached back as Kyle Williams ran past him, barely getting his fingertips on the ball to knock it loose. That, of course, set up Lawrence Tynes' game-winning field goal.

THAT’S INCREDIBLE: Eli Manning set team postseason records for completions (32) and attempts (58), and he came within six attempts of tying Bernie Kosar's all-time league mark in the postseason. Without a doubt, Manning’s finest moment was his third-and-15 strike to Mario Manningham for a 17-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Tom Coughlin called it “an incredible football play.” It was. He showed awareness and patience, all in the span of about 10 seconds.

Out of a trips-left formation, Manning noticed Tramaine Brock -- the 49ers’ No. 4 cornerback -- had replaced the injured Tarell Brown. Brock was on Manningham, who ran a deep post. The 49ers made the correct call -- they rushed only three, dropping eight into coverage -- but Manning waited until a window opened.

Tight end Jake Ballard ran a crossing route, freezing safety Reggie Smith for a split second. That opened the window for Manning, who, under moderate pressure, fired a laser to Manningham.

ELI, PART II: Manning has terrific field vision. He sees things most quarterbacks don’t recognize until they see it on tape the following day. Take his first touchdown pass, for instance -- a 6-yard throw to tight end Bear Pascoe.

Manning had his eyes on wide receiver Victor Cruz, who ran a right-to-left crossing route. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Manning noticed that Cruz’s route was disrupted because he bumped into a teammate, Ballard. Manning held up, pulled the ball down and, simultaneously, noticed Pascoe breaking free on a shallow, left-to-right cross.

Manning re-loaded.

Touchdown -- the first in Pascoe’s NFL career.

MIDDLE MEN: Because of Manning’s arm strength and their speed at receiver, the Giants are a perimeter passing team, but they changed it up against the 49ers. Manning worked the middle, with 35 of his 58 pass attempts going between the numbers -- double his usual ratio.

Cruz was his main man in the first half, as he abused cornerback Carlos Rogers, but he started to draw double-teams in the second half. That really hurt the Giants on third down; at one point, they failed on seven straight third downs. But they adjusted, as Manning started working the ball to running back Ahmad Bradshaw and tight end Travis Beckum over the middle.

IRON MAN: Obviously, the Giants came into the game hell-bent on throwing the ball, probably a wise move against the 49ers’ tenacious run defense. They ended up calling pass plays on 64 out of 90 snaps, the kind of ratio that got Schottenheimer run out of town. Of course, it makes a difference when your triggerman is Manning, as opposed to Mark Sanchez.

Here’s another way to look at it: The 49ers’ pass rush had 64 shots at Manning and not once -- not once -- did he lose a fumble or throw an interception. That was rather remarkable, considering the soggy conditions. The 49ers treated him like a pinata, hitting him a total of 12 times, including six sacks.

He refused to let go; his team refused to let go.

SIMPLE, BUT EFFECTIVE: Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell didn’t do anything exotic with his game plan; he didn’t have to against the 49ers’ meat-and-potatoes offense.

As usual, Fewell put this game on his front four. In fact, the Giants rushed four or fewer on 28 of 33 drop backs, their highest ratio of the season. They registered only three sacks, which isn’t half-bad, but that number is deceiving.

On third-down passes, Smith was sacked or under duress on seven of 12 drop backs. That explains why the 49ers were an abysmal 1-for-13 on third down. That pressure, coupled with outstanding coverage by cornerbacks Corey Webster and Aaron Ross, choked the life out of the 49ers’ passing game.

Smith completed only one pass to a wide receiver, a pedestrian corps that was overmatched by the Giants. The Giants had only two hiccups, twice leaving a safety in man-to-man coverage against the explosive Davis. The result was 73- and 28-yard touchdowns.
Aside from those breakdowns, the Giants were spot on.

There is at least one New York Giant who won't mind a sloppy field on Sunday.

With rain in the forecast in San Francisco, it's likely going to be less than ideal conditions for the NFC Champions Game. Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw hopes that rain could perhaps lead to a more run-oriented attack.

"We don't pay attention to conditions," Bradshaw said. "If it's a rain game, hopefully we run the ball more. Dig your cleats in and keep digging."

Bradshaw will be getting his first crack at the 49ers and their excellent rush defense, as he missed the first game with his broken foot. In that game, the Giants rushed for 93 yards on 29 carries, with Brandon Jacobs leading the way with 55 yards on the ground.

The shifty running back has been a key cog on offense for the Giants thus far in the postseason, rushing 26 times for 126 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and also catching eight passes for 43 yards. He hasn't reached the end zone, but has been a big reason why the Giants are averaging 133.5 yards on the ground per game.

The Giants will surely be tested against a San Francisco defense which ranked first in the NFL this season, allowing just 77.3 rushing yards per game. The 49ers held the Saints to just 37 rushing yards in their 36-32 win last Saturday.

"They're a great defense," Bradshaw said. "We have to stick to our game plan, we got a lot to handle linebackers-wise, they're great linebackers. They got a great (defensive backs) core. All I can do is go play my game. We've got a great plan going into the game, I think we'll be fine."

The running back added that his team has a lot of confidence heading into this game, and believes that playing the 49ers once already will help the team. This will be Bradshaw's second time playing in an NFC Championship Game.

"We played them, we got a lot of stuff on film and I just let the coaches handle what our game plan is going to be," Bradshaw said. "If we execute, we'll be fine."

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- As expected, Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw practiced on a limited basis on Friday -- the first time he’s practiced all week -- and is listed as probable for Sunday afternoon’s NFC divisional playoff game in Green Bay against the 15-1 Packers.

Bradshaw has been dealing with a foot injury which caused him to miss four games earlier in the season.

This week, he’s also dealing with a sore back.

“It’s no big deal,” Bradshaw said. “Just a lot of tightness. It feels better now. It feels good. It’s nothing serious.”

Coach Tom Coughlin said Bradshaw came through practice well.

Bradshaw said he’s undergone further X-rays since he fractured a bone in his right foot on Oct. 30 against the Miami Dolphins, and has been taking Forteo, a medication which helps build new bone and ease pain.

The 28-year-old Bradshaw, who rushed for 63 yards on 14 carries in last Sunday’s wild-card victory over the Atlanta Falcons, said he’s anxious to play the Packers, who barely beat the Giants, 38-35, on Dec. 4.

“We’ve got a lot to prove, and we’ve got payback to give back to them,” he said.

Safety Deon Grant (quad), cornerback Aaron Ross (concussion), defensive end Osi Umenyiora (ankle/knee), running back D.J. Ware (concussion), cornerback Corey Webster (hamstring) and running back Da’Rel Scott (knee) are also listed as probable by the team.

Linebacker Mark Herzlich (ankle) is out. Herzlich has been out since injuring himself during the Nov. 28 loss in New Orleans.