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Examining who faces the most challenging season for the New York Giants and why.

This was a tough one, since the Giants are basically playing with house money after their second Super Bowl title in five years. Sure, they're expected to defend that title, but if they don't, how disappointed can Giants fans really be? After everything the Giants' players proved in December, January and February, the roster isn't exactly loaded with guys who have much left to prove.

So to answer the question of who faces the "most challenging" season, I'm going with running back Ahmad Bradshaw. He's proved he's tough by playing through pain. He's proved he's good by putting up big numbers when given the starting job. He's proved he has leadership qualities by calling out his offensive line early last year. But with Brandon Jacobs gone off to San Francisco in free agency and a group of very young backups behind him, Bradshaw in 2012 has to prove he can handle a full season's workload without breaking down.

This isn't going to be easy. He has said the procedures he had done this offseason on his chronically injured foot have corrected the problem and he's going to be 100 percent going forward. But there's no way to know that until we see (and he sees) how this particular season wears on him. Jacobs got about 40 percent of the Giants' running back touches last year, and unless someone like Da'Rel Scott, D.J. Ware or first-round pick David Wilson is ready to step in and assume Jacobs' share of the work, more is going to fall to Bradshaw. He has the ability and the will to be "the guy" at running back for the Super Bowl champs, and he may well be able to pull it off. He could be one of the breakout offensive stars of the NFL season -- a fantasy sleeper, even. But he heads into the season with less help than he's had in the past and without the safety net that's always been provided by his friend Jacobs.

So John Clayton has this piece on the 10 best position battles brewing this summer between rookies and veterans in the NFL. I scrolled through it, thinking it would provide me with some material for a late-Friday afternoon post, and to my shock and dismay there wasn't one NFC East mention in the whole thing. Come on, John! Help a guy out, will ya?

Anyway, it got me thinking: There must be some interesting position battles to keep an eye on throughout the offseason and training camps in our division, right? I mean, some situations where things aren't yet set in stone? There are, and here's one for each team.

Dallas Cowboys' inside linebackers: Sean Lee is set at one of these spots, but the other will be interesting to watch. The team drafted Bruce Carter in the second round in 2011, and they believe he's part of their future on defense. But he was coming off an injury when they drafted him and played in just 10 games as a rookie, and they can't be sure he'll be ready to hold down a starter's spot full-time in 2012. So they went out on the free-agent market and signed Dan Connor, formerly of the Carolina Panthers, to start next to Lee while Carter continues to acclimate himself to the pro game. The interesting aspect of this will be how good Carter looks in training camp and whether he can play well enough to demand to take reps and snaps away from Connor. The veteran, Connor, will start with the job, but Carter is the future there, and it's just a question of when he's ready.

New York Giants running backs: Ahmad Bradshaw is the unquestioned veteran starter, but he doesn't come without questions. Foot injuries have limited him over the past several seasons, and his good friend and veteran safety net, Brandon Jacobs, is off to San Francisco to play for the 49ers. Assuming Bradshaw won't be able to make it through the season fully healthy on a starter's workload, there are going to be plenty of snaps to go around. The question is how many of those snaps first-round pick David Wilson can steal from holdover youngsters like D.J. Ware, Da'Rel Scott and Andre Brown (who's suspended for the first four games for drugs).

Philadelphia Eagles safeties: The team wants Nate Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett, its second-round picks from the 2010 and 2011 drafts, respectively, to be the starters. Of the two, they're more confident about Allen, who's had some injury issues but played well when healthy last season. They have him penciled in as a starter. Whether Jarrett can fight off Kurt Coleman for the other starting spot is one of the training-camp questions the Eagles will face. It's also possible they'll add a free-agent veteran to the mix, but they'd rather get the production they need from their young guys if they can.

Washington Redskins secondary: There are currently 15 defensive backs listed on the Redskins' roster, and it's safe to assume they can't all make the team. The question is which of them will play. Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall would appear to be set as the starting cornerbacks, but the team did sign free agent Cedric Griffin, and intriguing undrafted free-agent cornerback Chase Minnifield will be a name to watch in the summer. The more interesting questions are at safety, where the Redskins lost starters LaRon Landry and O.J. Atowge and things are wide open. The guy they like the best for the future is 2011 draft pick DeJon Gomes, but while they view him as a starter at some point, they don't know yet whether that point is this year. Their free-agent safety signing list is a fascinating one, including Brandon Meriweather, Madieu Williams and Tanard Jackson, any of whom c0uld emerge as a starter. Griffin also might have been brought in with an eye toward playing him at safety, and Reed Doughty was a valuable injury fill-in last season and could get a shot at more playing time in this crowded field. The Redskins appear to be installing an all-out competition for safety roles, and from here it's impossible to know who will play well enough to nail them down.

As we've mentioned a few times lately, there's not a lot of drama left with regard to the signing of first-round draft picks, but New York Giants fans will be interested to know their team has apparently come to terms with first-round pick David Wilson, the running back from Virginia Tech. Wilson would have been at the start of rookie minicamp today anyway, since unsigned rookies are allowed, but now the Giants know they'll have him for every part of the offseason program, in case they ever had any doubt.

What will Wilson be for the Giants? And when will he be it? They ranked last in the league in rushing offense last year during the regular season, and Brandon Jacobs, who had about 40 percent of their carries, left for San Francisco in free agency. So Wilson will get an opportunity, as will veteran backs Da'Rel Scott, Andre Brown and D.J. Ware, behind starter Ahmad Bradshaw (though Brown is suspended for the first four games for a drug policy violation). It's obviously extremely unlikely that Wilson is similar as a player to Jacobs, since no one is, and that the Giants' running game will operate differently this year no matter who gets Jacobs' carries. That might not be a bad thing, especially if Bradshaw can stay healthy for a whole season and handle a starter's workload while the Giants sort out what they have in the young guys behind him.

Incidentally, for those who decry the rookie wage scale, the Giants had the last pick in the first round four years ago, and Kenny Phillips got a $2.53 million signing bonus. The slot where Wilson was picked says he should be getting about $3.3 million. So it's not as though the new regulations are killing these guys. The only place where rookie salaries ever really looked to be getting out of control was up around the top five picks. And even that was overblown, if you ask me. But as usual, they did not.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys are one of nine teams opening rookie minicamps Friday, and the occasion gave Calvin Watkins reason to remember Dez Bryant's rookie minicamp from two years ago -- and to write this post about the big things the Cowboys are expecting from Bryant in this, his third NFL season.

David Moore believes that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has quietly been allowing his son, Stephen Jones, more and more control of the team's day-to-day operations for a number of years now -- mainly because Jerry was so preoccupied with the building of the new stadium for some of those years -- and that Stephen and Jason Garrett are now in charge of most of the football decisions. I can't speak to the Jerry vs. Stephen dynamic as well as David can, but I do think the past two offseasons reflect an increasing level of control for Garrett over roster and coaching staff decisions.

New York Giants

The Giants' rookie camp isn't until next week, but Ohm Youngmisuk's already taking a look at the rookies, beginning with this snapshot of first-round running back David Wilson. The Giants likely have higher hopes for Wilson than do these Scouts Inc. reports, but he'll have to separate himself from that Da'Rel Scott/D.J. Ware mix in the offseason in order to have a role befitting a first-round pick.

Clark Judge thinks the Ravens should call the Giants and do a deal for Osi Umenyiora in the wake of the Terrell Suggs injury. I'm sure they will make that call, and I do believe Umenyiora could play outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense. But the Giants can and will ask for a lot in return for Umenyiora, whom they control cheaply for next year. They don't fear any distraction he and his contract dispute might bring. They're not desperate to move him. The Ravens are going to need to come strong (possibly with a first-round or second-round pick) if they want to pry him away. Especially because the Giants know they're desperate.

Philadelphia Eagles

Forget last year, Nick Fierro writes. This Eagles' offseason has been so good that the result is a roster that appears to be in better shape than any in memory.

Vince Young -- who spent a weird 2011 season as Michael Vick's backup, started three games while Vick was hurt, and will forever be remembered for foolishly saying the words "dream team" when asked about the Eagles' 2011 run of free-agent signings -- impressed some people in a recent workout for the Buffalo Bills. It's true. I'm told Young didn't throw one single interception during his workout in Buffalo.

Washington Redskins

As the Redskins begin their rookie minicamp Friday, Mark Maske of the Washington Post looks at what type of contract the team will end up giving to first-round draft pick Robert Griffin III, given the CBA's new restrictions on rookie contracts.

In John Keim's latest email report, he checks in with SMU coach June Jones, who says he thought offensive lineman Josh LeRibeus would go in the second round, not the third, where the Redskins picked him. Some people felt the pick was a reach, but due to their zone-blocking scheme the Redskins evaluate linemen a little differently and targeted LeRibeus.

NEW YORK -- Man, did the New York Giants have some options with the final pick in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night. Wide receivers, offensive linemen and pass rushers still abound. They very well could have traded back into the early part of the second round, picked up an extra pick and still taken someone very useful, such as wide receiver Stephen Hill or tackle Cordy Glenn or even a pass rusher like Courtney Upshaw.

But the Giants, before they went on their magical run and won the Super Bowl, were the No. 32 ranked rush offense in the NFL in 2011. And that 32nd-ranked rush offense lost to free agency a back -- Brandon Jacobs -- who accounted for about 40 percent of their carries. So, while the Giants aren't a draft-for-need kind of team, it makes a lot of sense that they decided to take a running back.

The Giants selected Virginia Tech's David Wilson to be Jacobs' replacement, but don't expect a running back like Jacobs. Wilson is a little guy -- about 5-foot-9, 206 pounds -- whose scouting report says he has outstanding top-end speed but still needs to work on his inside running and his initial burst. He's every-down capable, having racked up 334 touches last year with the Hokies, and that matters, since Ahmad Bradshaw always seems to be battling those foot injuries. And he's an outstanding athlete who qualified for the NCAA championships in the triple jump in 2010.

My guess is that the Giants were looking at Boise State running back Doug Martin, and the Buccaneers traded up into the back end of the first round and took Martin one pick before the Giants' turn. But it's entirely possible, knowing the Giants, that Wilson was the guy on whom they had their eye all along. The Giants like to bring guys into their system and develop them under their coaching staff and among their veteran players. So if Martin isn't an impact guy right away in 2012 -- if he's merely in the mix of Bradshaw backups with guys like Da'Rel Scott and D.J. Ware -- that doesn't mean he doesn't have big-time potential down the road.

Ultimately, this is more of a "need" pick than the Giants tend to make in the draft, but if they thought someone like Hill or Glenn or Upshaw or Stanford tight end Coby Fleener was well ahead of Wilson in terms of value, I'm sure they would have taken him. The Giants clearly think highly of Wilson.

New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw has some thoughts on the free-agent departure of his friend and former backfieldmate Brandon Jacobs. As Ohm Youngmisuk writes, Bradshaw is very sad on a personal level to see Jacobs go. But having recently undergone a procedure in which bone marrow was removed from his hip and injected into his broken foot to help the foot heal, Bradshaw says he believes he can take on more carries. He'll be sitting out the offseason program to rest the foot post-surgery. But he says he feels great and plans to be 100 percent in time for training camp:

"I got the injection in February. I feel tremendous after a month. Right now I have a lot of confidence that I will be able to just be a pound-for-pound back and just hold my own. I probably can (run now) but I am not going to try for two or three months more. I just want to rest as much as I can. By the time training camp comes, I want to practice every week and start the season off right."

Hey, nobody likes minicamps and OTAs, so I doubt Bradshaw's crushed about having to skip that part of the year. It's the part that follows that matters anyway, to Bradshaw, his team and his fans. And while no one doubts Bradshaw's toughness or willingness to play through pain, I think it's pretty clear the team will bring in someone to replace Jacobs and take some of those carries away.

It's not a question of Bradshaw's will or even his ability. It's merely a question of health -- the health of feet that have been a problem for him for years now. At some point, it's fair to assume, Bradshaw's foot will fail him again. It's a matter of when, not if. As much as he may have been portrayed, over the years, as the smaller half of the backfield tandem, Bradshaw is not some shifty, elusive scatback. He's a big, physical back who runs hard, absorbs a lot of contact and gives his body up by blocking and picking up blitzes in the passing game. The NFL season wears on him, and while I don't claim to understand the extent to which an injection of bone marrow from another part of his body might help eliminate his chronic injury, it's no stretch to predict that Bradshaw will wear down.

The running backs still on the Giants' roster -- D.J. Ware, Da'Rel Scott and the drug-suspended Andre Brown -- likely don't provide the answer. Even if one of them emerges in training camp as a viable candidate for an increased workload, none has shown the ability that Bradshaw and Jacobs have shown to do the physical dirty work the Giants demand of their running backs. Jacobs will need to be replaced, for the team's sake and for Bradshaw's.

Ohm Youngmisuk has his mind today on running back, a position at which the New York Giants could potentially see some changes in the coming season. Brandon Jacobs likely will need to restructure his contract to stay. If he leaves, the Giants likely will have to find a replacement to pair with Ahmad Bradshaw and his busted foot. That replacement could come from the current stable of backups, which comprises Da'rel Scott, D.J. Ware and Andre Brown. It could come from the bargain bin in the free agent market or in the middle-to-late rounds of the draft.

What would surprise me, though, is if they used that No. 32 overall pick -- or really any pick in the first three rounds -- to address running back.

There are few teams for which past behavior is a better indicator of future behavior than the Giants. And they generally do not draft running backs high. They used to, sure. They took Tyrone Wheatley in the first round in 1995, Tiki Barber in the second round in 1997, Joe Montgomery in the second in 1999 and Ron Dayne in the first in 2000. For a while there, the Giants were all about drafting running backs early.

But they appear to have learned some sort of lesson. Since the Dayne pick, the Giants have not drafted a running back before the fourth round. Jacobs and Brown are fourth-rounders. Bradshaw and Scott are seventh-rounders. Ware wasn't drafted at all. They signed him off the Jets' practice squad. Pretty sure his name was Danny Ware at the time.

Anyway, the point is, the Giants in the draft are all about value. And the prevailing wisdom in the NFL these days is that there's just not a lot of value in drafting running backs early. The Giants finished this past regular-season 32nd in the league in rushing offense and still won the Super Bowl. And while they'd like to run the ball better, they believe the run game is about symbiotic pieces all working together, rather than about handing the ball to one star back and wearing him down the way so many other teams do.

I've said many times that the issue with the Giants' running game this season was an offensive line issue and not a running backs issue. Whatever the line looks like next season, as Youngmisuk points out, it's got to block better for the backs. As for who those backs will be, it remains to be seen. But don't expect the Giants to bring in any new back that gets you all excited. That's not how they roll.

The New York Giants are going to need all the help they can get Sunday when they try to end their losing streak against the 11-0 Packers. Help may be on the way from the running back position. Starter Ahmad Bradshaw, who has missed the last four games with a foot injury, told reporters at Giants practice today that he's "planning to play" Sunday, though he still has to pass a couple of tests during the week before that can happen. Per Ralph Vacchiano of the Daily News:

"Maybe I'll try to run a little bit this week," said Bradshaw, who has missed the last four games with a fractured foot. "Then if Sunday comes and there's not a lot of pain …

"I feel good," Bradshaw added. "And I'm planning to play."

Bradshaw, who still leads the Giants with 440 rushing yards, said he's "not frustrated" by the fact that he's missed a month of action already, but he added "I miss it."

Asked if he would try to practice this week, Bradshaw said "I don't think I want to. I want to be as healthy as I can on Sunday."

Asked if he could play on Sunday even though he hasn't practiced for a month, Bradshaw responded "You're damn right."

So there you have it, folks. A Giants run game that ranks 32nd in the NFL in large part because of its offensive line's poor blocking could get a boost from the return of the running back on their roster most capable of finding holes where there aren't any. Bradshaw's return also could help re-ignite the Giants' screen pass game, which has been nearly nonexistent without him, and their pass blocking, since he's one of the best running backs in the league at blitz pickup.

The question, of course, is how healthy Bradshaw will be and whether the foot in which he has a cracked bone can hold up to the number of touches he was getting in games earlier this year. My guess is that, even if he plays, he'll be limited and won't get quite as many carries as he was getting before the injury, and that Brandon Jacobs, D.J. Ware and Da'Rel Scott will still factor into the running back mix. But Bradshaw is the best back they have, and even if he can play only a portion of the game, that's a portion in which they'll be much stronger than they've been during their current three-game losing streak. They are 1-3 without him, having beaten the Patriots the week after his injury and lost to the 49ers, Eagles and Saints since.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Lots of talk this morning about what New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said about Giants fans. "That's the best thing they do here, is boo," Jacobs said after being booed for a 12-carry, 21-yard performance in the Giants' Sunday night loss to the Eagles. "You've just got to deal with it."

But while I've never been shy about getting on Jacobs' case for dumb stuff he's said, I'd rather talk today about what he didn't say. I was at Jacobs' locker for his entire postgame exchange with reporters. I heard him say the thing about the fans. I heard him answer "New Orleans" and walk away when someone asked "Where does this team go from here?" And I'd rather talk about what Jacobs chose not to say. Asked about the team's pitiful performance in the run game, Jacobs drew a deep breath and said this:

"Ultimately it's my fault, because I'm the one carrying the ball," Jacobs said. "But I just hope we get it right."

This was Jacobs holding back. This was a guy who was thinking to himself, I can't run the ball if there aren't any holes to run through. This was a guy who's stood behind the Giants' offensive line for much of this year, looking for room to run and finding none, getting to the line of scrimmage only to find everybody else still right there where they started. You could absolutely tell from looking at and listening to Jacobs early Monday morning that that's what he was thinking. And rather than get on him for taking a swipe at fans for booing their own first-place team, I'm going to give Jacobs credit for not attacking his own teammates for their own poor performance -- especially since he's the one getting booed for it.

The simple fact is that the Giants' running-game problems this year are not the running backs' fault. The problem is, and has been all along, with the offensive line. The Giants' offensive line got pushed around by the Eagles' defensive line Sunday night, and it's been getting pushed around all year. That's not going to get any better when and if Ahmad Bradshaw returns from his foot injury. It's not going to get any better if they put in Da'Rel Scott. Jacobs may not be the dynamic back he used to be, but that performance last night simply wasn't his fault. It was the fault of a below-average offensive line that hasn't been able to block all year and completely fell apart against a more physical team.

"About as pathetic as it can get," Tom Coughlin said of his team's performance in the run game. He didn't single out Jacobs, and he shouldn't have. He said that his offensive line wasn't physical enough in this game, and while he said he didn't want to generalize about the whole season, he certainly could have. Because this has been a consistent problem for the Giants, and it's one they're going to struggle to overcome over their final six games.

The Giants, after losing by seven points Sunday night, have allowed exactly as many points this year as they have scored. You know what kind of team does that? An average team. Given that statistic and the way the Giants have been physically outmanned on the line in nearly every game, their 6-4 record is a near-miracle. It's a testament to intestinal fortitude -- to the clutch performance of Eli Manning in fourth quarters and a defensive line that, most weeks, has been able to make life difficult on opposing quarterbacks.

But while this year's Giants clearly have the mental toughness they need to pull out wins in the fourth quarter, they have not shown the physical toughness they need to dominate an opponent -- to impose their will for a couple of hours and make the fourth quarter stop mattering so much. This is going to end up mattering, I am sorry to tell Giants fans. The next three games are at New Orleans, home against the Packers and at Dallas. And while the Giants have proven they will be in each of those games and could potentially win any of them, it's going to be tough to win all of them if they're consistently unable to handle their challenges in the trenches.

That's where this tough second-half schedule is going to show up. Sure, they can go up to New England and win. Sure they could have won in San Francisco. Sure they can beat the Saints, Packers and Cowboys on a given week. But even as they were racing out to their hot start, these Giants lacked critical foundational elements that winning teams require to navigate long, tough stretches of the season.

The Giants still could end up on top of the NFC East. Someone, after all, will win this division. And it's becoming increasingly clear that the team that does so will not be a great team. But the Giants are going to have a tough time doing it, because the places where they're weak are places you don't want to be weak during your playoff push. They're weak up front, and eventually that'll sink you.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Well, the New York Giants have the Philadelphia Eagles right where they want them.

An Eagles team that has held fourth-quarter leads in five of its six losses this year has a 10-3 halftime lead on a Giants team that has come back to win four times in the fourth quarter. There's still a third quarter yet to be played, but given the way the Eagles' season has gone, they'd be wise to build that lead a lot bigger between now and the fourth.

It's going to be tough, though. Vince Young, filling in at quarterback for the injured Michael Vick, looks extremely rusty. He's 8-for-18 for 89 yards, two interceptions and one touchdown while running back LeSean McCoy, who I thought was the Eagles' best chance to win this game, has just 11 carries for 36 yards.

The Eagles seem to be winning the physical battles up front against the Giants, so if I were them I'd go to a heavy dose of the run game when the second half starts. But if I were them, I'd have done that from the beginning. And in spite of leading the NFL in rush yards per game and not having their starting quarterback they opened the game with four straight pass plays.

As for the Giants... a lot of their weaknesses have been exposed in this game: Poor run blocking, spotty coverage downfield (against below-average receivers, with Jeremy Maclin also out for the Eagles and DeSean Jackson looking like his head is 19 in different places), dropped passes and poor special teams coverage, mixed with an ill-timed penalty here and there. Many thought they'd win this game easily, what with the Eagles so beaten up, and the Giants certainly may win it yet. They've been a great second-half team this year while the Eagles have been one of the worst in history. But they're going to have to tighten some things up, and that starts in the trenches.

Some other thoughts on the ugly first half:

• The Eagles are absolutely crushing the Giants at the point of attack. Philadelphia's defensive line is dominating an overmatched Giants offensive line, cutting off the run game and limiting what time Eli Manning has to throw the ball downfield. People are hollering for more Da'Rel Scott in the Giants' backfield, but the fact is, whether it's been Ahmad Bradshaw, Brandon Jacobs, D.J. Ware or Scott, the problem with the Giants' run game this year has not been the backs -- it's been an offensive line that absolutely can't open holes for them.
• I have no idea what happened on the Jackson taunting penalty that negated a 50-yard catch. I mean, I know why he got flagged. I just don't understand why the ball went all the way back to the previous spot. The officials said it was an offsetting penalty with Linval Joseph's, but to me it seemed like Jackson's was a dead-ball foul and the Eagles should have only lost 15 yards from the spot where he went down. And if the reason it wasn't called that way was because of the Joseph penalty, why wouldn't the Eagles have just been able to decline that penalty and get the ball up the field? Seems like somebody screwed up on that one. But it was that kind of first half.
• Jackson nearly had his first punt-return touchdown of the year just before halftime, but punter Steve Weatherford forced him out of bounds at the 14-yard line. That just made the pain worse for Giants fans, though, as Young hit former Giants receiver Steve Smith for a touchdown pass on the next play.

Friday links need no introduction.

New York Giants

Johnette Howard writes that Brandon Jacobs can't seem to help himself, and that it's past time for him to stop complaining about his role and the way the team has treated him and just run hard. With Ahmad Bradshaw out, Jacobs is getting the opportunity he says he's wanted, and the best thing he could do for his team and himself, Johnette says, is just stop talking and play.

It appears that Devin Thomas has been demoted from his spot as the Giants' primary kick returner and replaced by running back Da'Rel Scott. Part of the reason it's Scott and not D.J. Ware is that, with Bradshaw out another game, Ware will be needed in the run game more than in the return game.

Dallas Cowboys

Calvin Watkins has the tale of Laurent Robinson and his journey from the scrap heap to his now-prominent role in the Cowboys' passing game. Robinson could be catching a lot of passes with Miles Austin and his bum hamstring on the shelf again. After all, he already was.

The Cowboys will go back to Oxnard, Calif., next year for part of their training camp. Due to the lockout this season, they scrapped their California plans and held training camp in San Antonio, Texas. Doesn't sound as though San Antonio is out of the picture completely, though, and you might see a repeat of that old plan where they had camp in two or three different places. I don't think the players love that, but it is what it is.

Philadelphia Eagles

Jason Babin didn't like the way the Bears tried to block him on Monday night. He didn't realize it, he says, until he watched the tape of the game, but he says Bears tight end Kellen Davis delivered an illegal block and that it appeared to be a coached play. And while it's easy to say that sounds like whining because the Eagles lost, Babin's not really like that, and he delivered this opinion in a very matter-of-fact way, by all accounts. I doubt anything comes of it, but it might be worth watching.

Bleeding Green Nation says "Whatever" to the notion that DeSean Jackson is being held in check by defensive schemes designed to take away the Eagles' big-play potential. It points out the drops, which are a problem, and a big sign that something's just off with Jackson as he continues to hold out hope for that big new contract.

Washington Redskins

The nature of the Redskins' offense right now is flux, and to that end rookie wide receiver Leonard Hankerson is on the rise while Anthony Armstrong's once-bright star is on the wane. Rich Campbell details the reasons why in a story that includes the quote, "I don't think I'm in no dadgum dog house," which is my early nominee for quote of the day.

The players on the Redskins' defense are being asked to do a lot while the offense struggles, but Rick Maese writes that they're embracing the challenge.

The New York Giants are getting ready to start the challenging portion of their schedule with a matchup against the Patriots on Sunday in New England, and news out of Giants camp Thursday indicated that they might have to move forward without the help of top running back Ahmad Bradshaw.

Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger reports that Bradshaw cracked a bone in his foot Sunday against the Dolphins and is out indefinitely. Mike also reports, according to his sources, that Bradshaw has been telling teammates he might only miss two weeks while the possibility exists that he might need season-ending surgery:

In any case, it's obvious the Giants are headed to New England with Brandon Jacobs set to carry the load. Jacobs has struggled this season and gained only 10 yards on four carries against Miami but vowed earlier this week to have a changed attitude that will result in his "scoring these touchdowns" moving forward.

Tom Coughlin told reporters during his Thursday press briefing that no decision has been made on whether Bradshaw will have surgery, and that he's played with stress fractures in the past. And ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Twitter that a "person familiar with Bradshaw's injury texted this: 'Not serious injury -- should play Sunday. No surgery (needed).'"

So, stay tuned, I guess. But if Bradshaw is out for an extended period of time, there are a couple of ways to look at it. First, the Giants weren't running the ball worth a darn anyway, ranking 30th in the league this season in rush yards per game. They were winning without much of a statistical contribution from Bradshaw, and so it's fair to think they could go on winning without him -- especially since they have depth at the position with Jacobs, D.J. Ware and Da'Rel Scott.

But while he hasn't run for many yards this season, Bradshaw is an asset in the passing game. He's a good receiver out of the backfield and is regarded as one of the very best running backs in the league in blitz pickup and pass protection. They'll have to replace more than his rushing yards if he has to miss significant time.

Also, with the schedule turning much more difficult the rest of the way, one could argue that the Giants aren't going to get by running the ball as ineffectively as they have so far and asking Eli Manning to carry the offense. I mean, if one were inclined toward pessimism, that is, one could argue that.

Click here for a complete list of the New York Giants' roster moves.

Biggest surprise: Four rookie linebackers made the team. And yes, I know some of you were telling me that would happen Friday, but I expected Adrian Tracy to make the team and I was wrong. He was one of three 2010 draft picks -- including fellow linebacker Phillip Dillard and punter Matt Dodge -- among Saturday's cuts. But in part because of the way they played on special teams, rookies Mark Herzlich, Greg Jones, Jacquian Williams and Spencer Paysinger made the team. That's the corps of backup linebackers behind starters Jonathan Goff, Mathias Kiwanuka and Michael Boley.

Running backs D.J. Ware and Da'Rel Scott made the team while 2009 draft pick Andre Brown was cut. Devin Thomas made the team as a wide receiver over Michael Clayton based on a strong preseason showing. And the Giants basically keep three tight ends -- Travis Beckum, Jake Ballard and Bear Pascoe -- with rookie Henry Hynoski slated to be the starting fullback.

No-brainers: Dodge had a very good preseason, has a lot of talent and probably will find work somewhere. But once the Giants brought in Steve Weatherford, who has been one of the best punters in the league the past two years, Dodge's days were numbered. Weatherford will be the punter, and the bad memories of Dodge and DeSean Jackson can begin to fade. Health issues cost Sage Rosenfels the backup quarterback job, which goes back to David Carr.

What's next: I think they need to sort through the Eagles' castoffs. In particular, tight end Donald Lee and nickel cornerback Joselio Hanson make a lot of sense for the Giants, as the former would fill a huge hole and the latter would allow them to keep Antrel Rolle at safety. Personally I always think they need linebacker help, but they disagree and they like their rookies, so I guess we'll see.

OK, there are a number of reasons this took all day and you don't want to hear any of them. It suffices to say I am ecstatic to be done watching preseason football for another year and more ready than ever for the real thing.

As for our New York Giants, who finished their preseason by scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter for a meaningless 18-17 victory over the Patriots in New England ... I don't know. I'm trying to be open-minded about what I see, but what I see with the Giants is almost all disheartening. They just do a lot of things wrong. And yes, it was all backups Thursday night, and if David Carr ends up playing significant minutes at quarterback they're cooked anyway. But there were a couple of things that could matter if they leak into the regular season, and I'm 100 percent certain the Giants' coaching staff feels the same way.

For example, when one of your biggest areas of concern is special teams and you get banged for an illegal wedge penalty on the return of the opening kickoff, that's not a good thing. When you're trying to find a No. 3 receiver and one of the candidates (Domenik Hixon, in this case) fumbles on the first play from scrimmage, that's not a good thing. When you're trying to use a rookie punt returner and the kid can't catch the ball, that's not a good thing.

The Giants had holding penalties and illegal-hands-to-the-face penalties that stopped offensive momentum. They had another significant injury, this one a season-ending ACL tear for linebacker Clint Sintim. They fumbled at the Patriots' 1-yard line. They're effectively playing without a useful tight end. Tom Coughlin's challenges aren't even working.

Now, I continue to believe preseason doesn't mean anything -- that it has no predictive value at all in terms of what will happen once the real season starts. The Giants could snap awake nine days from now and start playing well enough to make everyone forget how inept in so many facets of the game they looked in the preseason. But what we have right now to evaluate is what they've done over the past month, and not even the most myopically optimistic Giants fan can credibly say the preseason went well for them.

Some specifics on what I saw in the Giants' (mercifully) final preseason game of this year:

1. Give Jerrel Jernigan credit for toughing it out. And give the Giants credit for sticking with the rookie even as he continues to struggle with the most critical part of punt returns -- actually catching the ball. He ripped off a 42-yard return on his first chance of the night, which showed why they're giving him all of these chances. But then he muffed two in a row, and there's all kinds of footage of Coughlin and Aaron Ross and everybody you can think of working with Jernigan on the correct form to use when catching a punt. I guess I wonder how hard it is to learn something like this and why they believed he'd be a good punt returner if he didn't already know it. But once the ball is in his hands, it's clear Jernigan can do some things with it. So it appears as though they'll keep giving him chances, even if it could cost them early on. The night had a happy ending for Jernigan, as he made a tremendous catch on the two-point conversion pass that sealed the victory. You had to feel good for the guy, after the month he's had.

2. Tyler Sash looks like an athlete. The rookie safety looked quick and nimble and decisive as he came up with two sacks (one of which forced a fumble) and moved well all over the field. There were a couple of times where Tom Brady and the Patriots' offense ran some tricky looks that caught Sash out of position, but that's bound to happen and there are worse things than getting schooled by Brady in a preseason game. You still get the lesson, and it doesn't count against your record.

3. I like Da'Rel Scott better than Andre Brown. It's not personal. I don't even know Andre Brown. I'm just talking about what they look like when they run. Brown looks fine when he has room to run, but he doesn't blow you away as anything special and he doesn't look as though he does much to make it difficult to tackle him. Scott seems to have more speed, keeps his feet moving better and runs with more determination. He earned those 65 yards he got on that fake-punt touchdown, and with cuts looming tomorrow, that's the kind of play that makes it hard for a coaching staff to keep a guy off the roster.

4. I like Devin Thomas, too. Specifically, I like what he does after he catches the ball. He seems to know where his feet are and what he needs to do to find the sideline or the extra yard or two he needs. He seems like he knows how to keep his body between the ball and the defender and protect it while making those moves. He's got the skills in the return game, and the speed, but I was surprised how much I liked him Thursday night as a receiver.

5. The Sintim injury hurts. But there are rookies to take his spot, and it might help someone like Mark Herzlich or Spencer Paysinger make the roster and/or claim more playing time. The Giants liked the way Sintim had been playing, and he was their clear first option off the bench in the case of an injury to one of their starting linebackers. Now it's not as cut-and-dried, and they'll hope somebody from the rookie group can step in when they need to spell a starter.

It's Friday, folks, and that means you can expect your normal Friday goodies -- Fired-Up Friday debate, a video mailbag, and the latest NFC East entry in our "Dream Team of Tomorrow" project. I may not be around all day to mix it up with y'all in the comments (as I'm trying to sneak in a day or two off before the lockout ends and those become unattainable), but I won't leave you hanging on content. I'd never do that to you. You want proof? Here, right on time, are your links:

Dallas Cowboys

Calvin Watkins texted me Thursday morning to complain that I hadn't linked to him in the Breakfast Links. I pointed out that I had, in fact, done so on each of the previous two days, but Calvin was inconsolable. So, since I can't stand to see a grown man cry, here's Calvin's call for the Cowboys to scrap San Antonio and hold their training camp at home in Irving, Texas. He makes a good case, but that would represent a dramatic change in plans for a team that usually likes to hold its training camp in more than one time zone.

Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers of the Packers refused to sign a Dallas Cowboys hat that an autograph-seeking fan handed him at this charity golf tournament that he and Tony Romo and a bunch of other celebrities are playing in. It's okay, though, because the Packers fan who was interviewed about it said it was.

New York Giants

Da'Rel Scott, the running back the Giants took in the seventh round, couldn't tell LaDainian Tomlinson that he was his favorite player as a kid. But he told Mike Garafolo, who spoke to Scott about what it was like to work out with Tomlinson this summer.

John Brennan of The Record took a look at which Giants fans are making out well and which fans aren't when they go to re-sell their personal seat licenses. The answer: Depends on where the seats are located. Interesting look at an issue that's caught a lot of people's attention in this area over the past couple of years.

Philadelphia Eagles

Been lots of talk about how the lockout will affect the rookies who haven't been able to spend any time working out with their coaches or teammates. But Les Bowen looks at the ways in which all this time off will affect second-year guys, such as Eagles linebacker Jamar Chaney and backup quarterback Mike Kafka, who are expecting this to be a big step-forward season. From Chaney: "Usually by the time training camp comes around, you pretty much already know the defense." But not this year, Jamar. Not this year.

The Eagles' team site recently took a look at the safety position, mentioning rookie Jaiquawn Jarrett, Kurt Coleman and the oft-forgotten Marlin Jackson as possible starters opposite Nate Allen. Assuming, of course, as they do not, that Allen is healthy. It seems as if the Eagles think they have enough coverage at the position that they can get away with releasing Quintin Mikell and not making this a free-agent priority. But maybe we'll see soon.

Washington Redskins

Nice job by BurgundyBlog.com getting Redskins first-round pick Ryan Kerrigan to sit for an interview, though I must admit I don't remember any journalism classes in which we were told it was OK to tell your interview subject you were about to urinate in your pants. Seriously, Kerrigan plays along and BB draws out some nice stuff about the transition from 4-3 defensive end to 3-4 outside linebacker as well as Kerrigan's technique for forcing fumbles. Good stuff for Redskins fans to chew on as they continue to await the end of the lockout.

Former Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell weighed in recently on the current quarterback controversy in Washington, saying Donovan McNabb has acted like a pro by keeping his opinions to himself and adding, "Truth be told, I'm glad I wasn't put in that kind of situation."

Happy Friday, everybody. That's the news and I am out of here.