Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

I didn't want you to think we were ignoring last night's Giants-Jets preseason game. The game wasn't on national television, so I'm simply waiting to catch the re-run on the NFL Network at some point. Fortunately, Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger has some excellent analysis of the game on his blog.

I've seen highlights of the ball that Steve Smith dropped on the second series. For a guy who has begged to be more involved in the downfield passing game, he has to make that catch. And what's this mess about how Smith has trouble catching balls over his shoulder? Suck it up and catch the football. Eli Manning tried to encourage/needle Smith on the sideline, according to The Post.

And the same goes for Domenik Hixon and Mario Manningham. They both had dropped passes in the game. The good news is that Hakeem Nicks came through with his best effort of the preseason with two touchdown catches. It looks like he's made up a lot of ground since missing several practices during training camp. If he keeps this up, Nicks could be challenging for a starting spot sooner than some of us expected.

In other wide receiver news, Sinorice Moss voiced his frustration at not getting any chances at receiver. Moss has been reliable when called upon, but it's not a good sign that Coughlin left him on the bench in what amounted to a dress rehearsal for the regular season.

He's not going to come out and admit it, but Manning had to be pretty concerned after this game. He really thought Manningham was getting ready to break through, but he's really been a mixed bag.

And from a defensive standpoint, anyone who thought the Giants would rattle rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez has to be a little disappointed. Safety C.C. Brown had some breakdowns in coverage and he missed tackles. The best news from Saturday is that running back Brandon Jacobs survived a scare. He went to the locker room with an injury to his right forearm, but X-rays were negative.

It's certainly not time to panic, but the Giants aren't exactly rolling toward the regular-season opener against the Redskins.