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INDIANAPOLIS -- Jason Pierre-Paul says Tom Brady is a great quarterback.

But he can be rattled by the Giants' pass rush.

"Anybody can be rattled," Pierre-Paul said. "Tom Brady is a great quarterback, but at the end of the day, he is just a quarterback. It is not like he is God."

"We've just got to get to him," Pierre-Paul continued. "We know what’s at stake and we've got to get there fast enough. I know our secondary is going to do a great job covering wide receivers and tight ends and we've just got to get to him. It all starts up front, no matter what."

The Giants have been asked repeatedly about trying to stop Brady and his weapons in Super Bowl XLVI. Antrel Rolle went out of his way to praise Brady, wide receiver Wes Welker and tight end Rob Gronkowski, among others. But by Wednesday, Rolle was in combat mode and respectfully said he's done with the compliments. He respects the Patriots but he's also ready to get the rumble started.

"I'm not speaking of Wes Welker or Gronkowski," Rolle said when asked about defending the Patriots' weapons. "I'm not speaking of those guys anymore. I have spoken about them enough. I gave them all the compliments that they are going to get from me and that's it. The game has to be played. I'm done commending those guys. I'm ready to play ball."

INDIANAPOLIS -- Madonna might be the second-most famous dancer in Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday night.

Victor Cruz and his celebrated 'Salsa' were a hot topic of conversation Monday when the Giants arrived for Super Bowl XLVI.

Teammate Justin Tuck said the Salsa is going to be the next Macarena.

"Since this guy arrived in New York City, Victor Cruz has become a household sensation," said Tuck, adding that he had an 80-year-old Twitter follower that said she does the Salsa.

Said teammate Antrel Rolle: "'Till this day, I still laugh at it. I think its the best thing that has probably happened to football this year."

Cruz, one of six Giants made available to the media, gave the national media a refresher on the origin of his dance. He said it started around Week 3, during Hispanic Heritage Month.

"My coaches were like, 'Man, you’ve got to do something special. You’re half Puerto Rican and you’ve got to do something to really get the people fired up,'" he said. "So I said all right, and whatever, as I wasn’t expecting to get into the end zone as it was my first start. So I got into the end zone and as I’m running in, I was like, 'Wow, I need to do this thing now.' It’s just something that kind of came about and then my grandmother loved it. It just continued from there."

Cruz has had many opportunities to do the dance -- nine touchdown celebrations, to be exact. He's still waiting for his first post-season touchdown.

Cruz, who turned down an invitation to "Dancing with the Stars," scoffed when told that New York dance instructors have said his dance isn't technically correct.

"This is my way," he said. "When those dance instructors get into the end zone, they can do it whatever way they want to."

Eli Manning, Justin Tuck and Antrel Rolle look ahead to the Super Bowl after arriving in Indianapolis.

There's no bad blood between Antrel Rolle and Cris Collinsworth.

After a verbal spat between the two earlier this season, following Collinsworth's critical comments about the safety's play against the Cowboys, the Giants safety talked to the NBC announcer at practice on Friday and said that the two are "cool."

"It's no hard feelings in this league," Rolle said. "And sometimes, people want to take things and put spin on it and whatever the case may be but there's no hard feelings."

In the Giants' 37-34 win over the Cowboys on Dec. 11, the Giants secondary had some huge defensive breakdowns, including a 50-yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant on a play in which there was no Giants defender in sight. On that play, Collinsworth called the Giants' coverage amateurish and said Rolle was "barbecued."

Rolle later called out announcers without mentioning Collinsworth, saying that they should not be calling out players without knowing all the details. He claimed that he was in the right spot on that play, although cornerback Corey Webster said that he was in the right spot as well.

"There is no one without any sin on our defense and there are going to be times where I do mess up and where I have messed up," Rolle said at the time. "But unless you know what you are saying, then don't say it."

The NBC announcer later told the Daily News that he would apologize to the Giants' defensive back if it could be proven that his comments about the play and the coverage were incorrect.

"Believe me, if I'm dead flat-out wrong, if it ends up Antrel was right and he was completely blame-free on the play, and I will say that," Collinsworth told the newspaper. "But the answer can't be [that] everybody's right. I'm not putting that on TV."

Rolle, at the time, wasn't in the mood for an apology.

"I don't care what he thinks. I don't need his apology. His apology means nothing to me and neither was I looking for an apology," Rolle said earlier this year. "I made my statement, I stand by my statement, my statement is very, very accurate and that's three weeks ago and it doesn't matter at this point. We moved on from that and it is what it is."

On Friday, the defensive back did not have anything negative or dismissive to say about Collinsworth and the comments that were made. Collinsworth will be one of the announcers in the Super Bowl, which is being broadcasted on NBC.

"Collinsworth and I, we've always gotten along," Rolle said. "Same thing with brothers and sisters. If you're having a disagreement, that doesn't mean you fallout forever. We didn't have a falling out, just a disagreement and I said what he said and he said what he said and it's over. We're both men, we can take it."

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.

Giants safety Antrel Rolle kept his eyes on the backfield -- and it cost him.

Matched up in slot coverage against 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, Rolle got barbecued for a 73-yard touchdown that put San Francisco ahead 7-0 in the first quarter of Sunday afternoon’s NFC Championship game.

“I kind of lost sight of the receiver,” Rolle told WFAN Tuesday. “He kind of got in my blindside and that play happened. Which is something that’s very unlikely of myself. I'm a guy that, I hate giving up big plays, I absolutely hate it. It still kind of burns me to this day.

“But throughout this season, like I said, we’ve faced a lot of adversity, we've had a whole lot of ups and downs, especially myself included. And I always tell guys, ‘Have that FIDO mentality.’ And what I mean by that FIDO is: Forget it and drive on.”

“And honestly, I just spoke to myself because I know how I am. I'm very, very hard on myself no matter what the situation is, but I also said to myself: ‘I can’t dwell on this one play.’ I have to understand it, I have to learn from it, I have to get better from it right now and make sure I go out there and continue to be the best player I can be for this team because they're going to need me.”

They sure will. After all, it’s going to be up to Rolle and others to contain superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski, who set an NFL record for a tight end by catching 17 touchdown passes, in the Super Bowl -- assuming he can play. Gronkowski suffered an ankle injury in the AFC Championship game.

“Let me tell you something, I don’t back down from anybody. When that play happened on me Sunday, I still didn’t back down from it,” Rolle said. “I'm like, ‘Coach, let me at him.' I don't back down from anyone man. No one will ever, ever take my heart away in a football game. And that's the way I play, that's my mentality, that's the way I was raised, and that's the way I'm going to play in the game on Sunday. This matchup is not about me and anyone else.This matchup is about the New York Giants, as a team, and the New England Patriots as a team. Whatever my assignment is that day I'll take it on full-speed.”

Rolle hopes he got all of his mistakes out of the way last Sunday.

“It’s unfortunate that sometimes you have to go through things like that in order to become a better player. And I think me going through that in that game made me a better player for that game,” Rolle said. “As crazy as it sounds, but it is true. I think I needed something to wake me up a little bit, and not saying that I was flat, but I don't think I was as crisp as I needed to be, because if I would have been, that play would never have happened.”

Rolle lost the 2008 Super Bowl with the Cardinals. He doesn’t want to come up short again.

“There’s not too many more feelings that can feel worse that,” Rolle said. “I don’t wanna feel that again. It’s tough.”

Get your popcorn ready.

Because if Tuesday’s press conference was any indication, Giants safety Antrel Rolle is going to put on a show next week at Super Bowl Media Day.

Here were some of the highlights of Rolle’s 17-minute, 29-second LOL-fest:

Rolle when asked if he watched the 2007 Super Bowl.

“I watched it in Brazil. There was only one place where I was that was showing the game. I was standing on top of like two bar stools, and probably a midget was under me, who knows. I don’t know. It was extremely crowded. Everyone was stacked on top of each other. It was a small place in Brazil no bigger than a rest room ... and there was a million people in there, and I had to watch the game.”

Rolle when asked if the Giants’ Super Bowl run was one of the reasons he signed there.

“...I didn’t even know Arizona before I got drafted there, the Cardinals? I’m like, Jerry Maguire?”

Rolle when asked if he noticed if Eli Manning had any bruises after getting hit so much by the 49ers.

“I don’t know, man, I’m not looking at his body!”

Rolle when asked if he saw 82-year-old Ann Mara chiding Terry Bradshaw after the NFC Championship game.

“When I say ‘all hands on deck,’ I don’t just mean the men in the locker room.”

Rolle when asked if he’d ever cross Mrs. Mara.

“I don’t cross any Maras.”

Rolle when asked if he through it was fitting that the Giants were wearing their road-white jerseys.

“It doesn’t matter what we got on, we could go out there bare-skinned...”

Rolle when asked about Tom Brady.

“During the course of the game I’m covering my guys -- we’re in zone coverage -- I see him scanning the field, and I’m like, I’ve played against a lot of great quarterbacks in my career, and the way he scanned the field, I was like ‘Dang!’ During the play, I was like ‘Wow!’ It kind of stung me for a second.”

“He’s exceptional, and gets all the credit he deserves and then some.”

Rolle was asked about Mannning.

“I think he’s proven himself before this year. But we all have to go through ups and downs and criticisms and speculation and what people may think and what they might think, but when it’s all said and done -- I didn’t say at the end of the day.”

Rolle first approached the podium and muttered the word “s---” under his breath.

“I’m tired. ... It’s all good.”

In 2007, Michael Strahan emerged as the star of Super Bowl Media Day. But at the end of the day, Rolle may overshadow Strahan's epic performance next week.

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.

It's the gauntlet of tight ends.

The Giants have faced elite tight ends in both of their playoff wins, and that will continue Sunday when they take on San Francisco and Vernon Davis. Davis, a former first-round pick, was the hero of the 49ers' win over the Saints with 180 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score.

"He's an NFL tight end and he is good at what he does," Giants safety Antrel Rolle said. "He is very explosive, a deep threat, he can get upfield, he can make defenders miss. That is what makes him pretty special."

Once perceived to be a problematic area for the Giants, Big Blue has excelled in shutting down elite tight ends in the playoffs. In the 24-2 win over Atlanta, the Giants held veteran tight end Tony Gonzalez to just four catches for 44 yards. Gonzalez finished fifth among tight ends in receiving yards this season.

Last week, the Giants put an emphasis on shutting down Jermichael Finley, who torched them for six catches and 87 yards as well as a touchdown in their meeting on Dec. 4. On Sunday, the Giants held Finley to just four catches for 37 yards despite being targeted nine times in the game. Finley was third among all tight ends in touchdowns this year.

"Keep giving them different looks," linebacker Michael Boley said of how the Giants have slowed down two top tight ends in the last two weeks. "Don't give them something to key on. Keep giving them different looks. Keep them off their game. Keep them off balance."

Now the Giants turn their attention to Davis, who has come on strong in his last two games. After posting just one 100-yard outing in the first 15 games, Davis has rebounded to top 100 yards in each of his last two games.

In Sunday's win, he had a huge catch that helped give the 49ers prime field position on their game-winning drive and later collected the decisive score. His 180-yard day was his season-high showing.

"Vernon Davis is a very good football player," defensive tackle Chris Canty said. "He presents a lot of challenges for each level of the defense, from defensive line from a blocking standpoint to the linebackers and secondary and coverage. So he's a tremendous weapon for them, he's a team leader for them. We have to be prepared for that."

When the Giants faced Davis in the teams' first meeting on Nov. 13, he had three catches for 40 yards and registered a 31-yard touchdown on a play in which the Giants' had a busted coverage. A few Giants mentioned how Davis' speed is what makes him so tough to defend.

"I think he is a lot faster than pretty much every tight end you are going to face in this league," Rolle said. "I think he is definitely among the fastest, if not the fastest. That is what puts him over the edge."

Antrel Rolle has become the practice report player for the Giants.

After making his famous comments following the Washington loss on Dec. 18 about needing to practice during the week, the Giants safety has been asked frequently over the past week and a half about his thoughts on practice.

On Monday, though, Rolle sounded a man who would prefer if those questions stopped coming his way.

"I'm not here to give a daily report of how practice goes. That's up to coach. I'll let coach tell you all about that," Rolle said. "But we're working. That's the best thing I can give you. We're working. We're working hard. We have our eyes on the prize."

Rolle eventually bit on the question later in his session with reporters, though, saying that he thinks practice has been great this week and has been uptempo. He said the team has been flying around and there's been a carryover from last week's intensity. The Giants host Dallas on Sunday night and Rolle is convinced that his team is good to go.

"We're ready man. We're ready," Rolle said. "We're going to stay ready and we'll be ready come Sunday."

When the Giants last met the Cowboys, Rolle and the secondary struggled, giving up 34 points and plenty of big plays in the game. Rolle said that the Giants are a better team now and are more confident and more focused than when the teams met on Dec. 11. He again credited what he has seen in practice as a key reason for the change.

The Giants will be entering this game coming off perhaps their best defensive effort of the season, holding the Jets to just 14 points and recording five sacks as well as a pair of interceptions in the game. Rolle said it's all on the players to make sure that the positives carry over from that game.

"We have a gameplan that is in effect and we go out there and run it to the best of our ability and make sure we're on the same page, same time, and have fun," Rolle said. "We had a lot of fun out there last Saturday and I think that's what carried us over a lot. We had guys playing over 100 plays. I was one of them. I never thought I was close to 90 plays, let alone 80, but to play 104 plays says a lot the attitude we have as a team. It doesn't matter if we play 200 plays, we have to determine we are going to get the job done."

The vocal safety said that he likes playing in big games like the one that will take place on Sunday night, when the two teams meet for the NFC East title.

"I like the crowd. I love the energy. I love what's at stake," Rolle said. "I love the competition. I'm a guy that loves the competition. I like the best of the best competition. If that means we lose because we're not better than the guy, then it is what it is. I love competition, I love being tested."

Cris Collinsworth is willing to apologize, but Antrel Rolle doesn't care.

The NBC announcer had critical words for Rolle and the Giants' secondary after watching them have breakdowns and yield huge plays against Dallas on Dec. 11, even saying that Rolle has been "barbecued" on a big play.

On Wednesday, Collinsworth told the New York Daily News that he would be willing to apologize to Rolle for his comments as long as he could be shown that he was incorrect in his statements.

The Giants' safety is not in the mood, though, to dissect tape with Collinsworth.

"I don't care what he thinks. I don't need his apology. His apology means nothing to me and neither was I looking for an apology," Rolle said Wednesday. "I made my statement, I stand by my statement, my statement is very, very accurate and that's three weeks ago and it doesn't matter at this point. We moved on from that and it is what it is."

In the Giants' 37-34 win over the Cowboys, the secondary had some huge lapses, including a 50-yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant that did not have a Giants' defender within 10 yards of the wide-open Bryant. Collinsworth said that Rolle was "barbequed" on the play and Collinsworth also called the Giants' coverage amateurish.

A few days later, Rolle lit into announcers without naming Collinsworth specifically, saying they should not call out players without knowing all the details. The safety would go on to say he was in the right spot -- but so did cornerback Corey Webster, the only other defensive back on that side of the field on Bryant's long touchdown.

"There is no one without any sin on our defense and there are going to be times where I do mess up and where I have messed up," Rolle said at the time. "But unless you know what you are saying, then don't say it."

Collinsworth told the Daily News that if he had to call that play over, he would not have said that Rolle got barbequed, but instead that the team had been. He also told the paper he had a hard time believing that both players were in the right spot.

"OK, so the fact that somebody was wide open 40 yards down the field and there were two defensive backs on that side, they were both right?" Collinsworth told the paper. "Well, then clearly I must be wrong. I must be out of my mind."

He added: "Believe me, if I'm dead flat-out wrong, if it ends up Antrel was right and he was completely blame-free on the play, and I will say that. But the answer can't be [that] everybody's right. I'm not putting that on TV."

While Giants safety Antrel Rolle has talked in back-to-back weeks about wanting to be a ball hawk and not being able to play the role that he envisioned himself playing with the team, Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell is saying to not point the finger at him.

"I'm not restricting what he can do," Fewell said on Wednesday. "I would be more than happy for him to get a lot of interceptions. I think I said that last week. Hopefully Saturday he can get a lot of interceptions for us."

In the last two weeks, Rolle has made it clear that he wants to be able to play a more traditional free safety role with the Giants and get back to trying to be a ball hawk. With injuries to the Giants, he's play more in the slot this season and has not been playing the deep ball as much.

"Personally I am extremely frustrated being that I am not able to do what I came here to do which is go get the ball," Rolle told WFAN on Monday.

Rolle signed a five-year, $37-million deal with the Giants before the 2010 season. In his five seasons with Arizona, Rolle had 12 interceptions, including four in his final year with Arizona. With the Giants, Rolle has just two interceptions in 30 games, with one interception in each of his two years. The safety envisions himself being more of a threat to opposing quarterbacks than he's being right now.

"I'm a ball hawk, man," Rolle said on Dec. 14. "That is what I do, that is what I love to do. This is my second year in this defense and I understand it like the back of my hand. Unfortunately, with injuries [to teammates] and things of that nature, I haven't been able to do what I want to do. And even when I am back there [in coverage], I don't get the opportunities that a lot of other safeties get for whatever reason."

Though Fewell is deflecting the blame for Rolle's frustration the defensive coordinator said that looking back on it, he could have helped out rookie Prince Amukamara more during Sunday's loss to Washington. The Redskins picked on the rookie in the game, victimizing him for a touchdown and two other big plays.

Fewell called it a tough coverage, advanced coverage and a rookie mistake for Amukamara on Sunday when talking of his problems.

"We could have helped him a little bit more. Hindsight is 20/20," Fewell said. "So you're asking me from my hindsight. Did we work on the coverage? Yeah, we worked on the coverage. He knew how to execute the coverage and knew what to expect within the coverage. Would I do it to him again? Hindsight is 20/20. Yeah, I would try to get him into a different coverage obviously."

There will be no rollover effect from Sunday's benching in the second half for the rookie.

"Well play him," Fewell said. "He'll play this week. No doubt. I think he's up to the challenge."

By coincidence or not, it appears Antrel Rolle has gotten his wish.

Just a few days after saying how players need to be practicing if they want to play on Sunday and about the need to play through aches and pains, the Giants had a very full practice on Wednesday.

Aside from two players unexpectedly not practicing, the Giants had a handful of players who gave it a shot and were limited participants. This includes running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who usually would not practice until the team's final practice before the game. Defensive end Justin Tuck also was practiced fully after missing two practices last week and being limited last Friday.

"A lot of guys have been practicing. Pretty much every one for the most part," Rolle said on Wednesday. "Practice has been great, the intensity has been great and the focus level has been great and hopefully we display that come Saturday."

After losing 23-10 to Washington on Sunday, Rolle made his passionate statement about the need to be playing through pain and being on the field during the week. On Wednesday, the Giants has six players who were limited in practice, an rather high amount for a Wednesday practice, although the Giants treated it as if it was Thursday in terms of preparation.

Five players that either missed Sunday's game or were injured in the contest were limited participants and five Giants missed practice.

"I think guys understand the position we are in and where we are trying to get to and everyone is putting their focus level on, everyone is putting everything behind them, this is their No. 1 priority," Rolle said.

Added Victor Cruz about the importance of having players set the tone in practice: "I think that is because just to get everybody on the same page. When guys are out and not practicing for health reasons, you don't get that good gel that you get during practice. You don't get those leaders talking to you, seeing them and and coming back and forth and saying little things to you. It is more of a mindset, more of a behavioral thing, having those guys talking, having those guys padded up out there. More for morale of the team. When those guys are practicing, everybody is upbeat and everybody is ready to play. Having those guys (practice) is more of an uplifting thing."

Deon Grant has an explanation for why rookie Prince Amukamara has been struggling so much recently.

"I pulled him in the hallway (on Sunday) and I talked to him and I told him ‘You have every physical attribute to play this game and go against any receiver.’ I said ‘But right now, you’re just not ready for that,'" Grant told reporters at an event in Brooklyn, per Newsday. "Not saying that he won't be ready, not taking anything from him, but me, being in the game for a minute, physically, he made plays through the stretch since he's been back, but I've been seeing him struggle. I've been having conversations with him on a weekly basis. He's just a tough kid so even though he might know in his mind that he might not be ready, he's not going to tell anybody that."

Amukamara, the Giants' first-round draft pick, has struggled in the past two games, giving up long plays in both contests. The rookie was playing in just his fifth game on Sunday after missing all but two practices during training camp due to his contract negotiation and his broken foot, which sidelined him for the first nine games.

The cornerback yielded a 74-yard pass play against Dallas on Dec. 11 and then got beat for a touchdown against Washington as well as surrendering at least two other passes in the game, including a fourth-down conversion. His ineffectiveness led to the team pulling him for the second half of the game.

"It's not any reflection on the young man other than he wasn't playing well at the time," Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said on Monday. "He's a guy again who is in big games without a lot of practice time and he's trying to do something on the fly that he may not understand well enough or certainly in this case did not pay well enough. We'll continue to work with him, to push him and continue to try to bring him along as fast as we can. "

As he tries to learn on the fly, Amukamara has been getting lots of advice from his veteran teammates in the secondary. On Sunday, though, it appeared that one of his teammates, Antrel Rolle, called him out for his game. Rolle, when asked about Amukamara getting beat as a sign of defensive breakdowns, told reporters that it was a case of Amukamara getting beat, not defensive breakdowns. Rolle told WFAN on Monday that he didn't say anything about Amukamara.

Defensive captain Justin Tuck told WFAN on Monday that he believes that Rolle did not intend to throw Amukamara under the bus.

"I haven't had the opportunity to talk to Prince or Trel about it. It's unfortunate that it comes out that way. My (guess) is that Trel was just taking and not really know the ramifications of what people would say to that," Tuck said. "I don’t think he was trying to be hurtful to Prince. Trel is not the type of guy to throw guys under the bus so offhand I'm not saying he's doing that because he's never been that type of guy. He's the type to speak his mind but more in an honest way, not to throw guys under the bus and be hurtful or harmful to another guy."