The players did not fire back, but the Giants secondary has certainly taken note of Jets receiver Santonio Holmes' comments about the unit on Wednesday.

When asked on Thursday if he found Holmes' claims about the unit being poor tacklers and susceptible to big plays as disrespectful, Giants safety Kenny Phillips agreed.

"I think it's very disrespectful," Phillips said. "At the same time, he's entitled to his opinion. We feel a certain way, we're not going to put it in the media or whatever, but we'll have it in the back of our heads when we're playing. He knows that."

In a back-and-forth battle of trash talk between the two teams, Holmes took a shot at the Giants' secondary on Wednesday when he said: "They've given up big plays. They're poor-tackling guys. There are plays to be made over their head. We have to be willing to take advantage of that, and make it count."

Instead of sending retaliation barbs back at Holmes and the Jets on Thursday, the Giants secondary is opting to lets its play do the talking when the two teams meet on Saturday.

"I say he's entitled to his own opinion," Phillips said. "That's what he came up with after watching film and hey, it's nothing we can do about it as far as what he's saying and what he sees is not going to win or lose a game, you still have to go out there and play. At one o'clock, we'll find out."

While defensive end Justin Tuck is not a member of the secondary, he cut off a reporter's question about Holmes' statements by saying, "So?" Veteran safety Deon Grant, who is familiar with Holmes, added that he doesn't care about what Holmes has to say. Holmes has 47 receptions for 604 yards and eight touchdowns on the year.

"Come Saturday, we'll see," Grant said. "He knows me very well, I know him very well. That's my homey. With all that talking, I'm a hood dude too, we can talk all day but we can get to the other thing and that's what we're going to do Saturday. We're choosing to get to the other thing and let them do all the talking."

Phillips personally is not a fan of trash talking and said that it makes no sense for him to get into a war of words with someone. He added that the Jets have been talking all week but that's not how the Giants handle business and all the questions will be answered when the teams meet in the crucial game on Saturday.

"We want to not really prove anybody wrong but try to show that we are capable of making plays back there," Phillips said. "We're giving up some plays on miscommunication but we're really not getting beat physically. That's a thumbs up. We have to get on the same page and I think everything will take care of itself."