ESPN NFL

Hey, so ... what's everybody watching tonight? Is "Parks & Recreation" new? Ah, I'm just kiddin'. Let's have some links.

Dallas Cowboys

Sure, the Cowboys could draft a pass-rusher tonight (or tomorrow night) and improve their future prospects in the pass rush. But Jerry Jones seems to think the pass rush is in fine hands right now, and even alluded to the surprising possibility that the team could lock up outside linebacker Anthony Spencer on a long-term deal sometime soon. Still seems to me they'd need to see more sacks from Spencer this year before doing that, but we know they value him for non-pass-rush reasons, so who knows?

Jean-Jacques Taylor says the Cowboys shouldn't trade up or down in this year's draft, since they need as many good players as possible and should be able to find usable value at No. 14 and in the later rounds as well. I agree with Jacques, as you found out if you followed the blogger mock draft on Monday. The Cowboys need depth, and a trade-up that costs them later picks isn't the best way to address that.

New York Giants

Osi Umenyiora isn't optimistic about his chances to sign a long-term extension with the Giants, and he suggests that their best plan may be to try and trade him at some point during the draft this weekend. I don't think he should be optimistic about that, either. While I believe this is the right time for the Giants to trade Umenyiora and maximize his value, it does not look as though that's something they're interested in doing.

Mark Herzlich believes the Giants' starting middle linebacker job is his to win, and surely he will get a chance to do so. There's been talk this offseason about the Giants moving Michael Boley to the middle, but their plans for how to align their linebackers remain in flux, and a lot could depend on what they see from Herzlich and their other second-year linebackers this offseason and in training camp.

Philadelphia Eagles

Paul Domowitch thinks the smartest thing the Eagles could do tonight in the first round is pick an offensive lineman. I started reading this and thought, "Paul's nuts." But as I read it, I started to come around. The offensive line played well last year, but it's already without its best player following the Jason Peters injury, and there's really no depth behind the starters. Paul's convinced me at least to the point where, if the Eagles pick an offensive lineman in the first round, I won't be sitting there going, "Whaaaaa?!?!?!?!?"

The Eagles, as you know by now, got merely a seventh-round pick in return for cornerback Asante Samuel. They were dumping Samuel and his salary, willing to take anything they could get if they could get the deal done ahead of the draft. Some fans are upset about this, because Samuel is too good a player to give up for so little. Marcus Hayes ... um, well, he appears to disagree. "Birds toss a no-hitter" is my favorite headline of the week so far.

Washington Redskins

If you combined the excitement level of the other three fan bases in the NFC East, it wouldn't approach what the Redskins' fans are feeling about tonight's first round. By 8:20 pm, Robert Griffin III should be wearing a Redskins baseball cap and smiling through interviews. Redskins fans, coach Mike Shanahan is right there with you. He can hardly contain himself at the idea of selecting Griffin tonight with the second pick in the draft.

Dan Daly writes that Griffin has come along at a fortuitous time in Redskins history -- a time at which they need him rather desperately.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The inactive players have been announced for Super Bowl XLVI, and the New York Giants' list is the same one they've been submitting every week during their run. There was some hope that rookie linebacker Mark Herzlich, who's missed the whole postseason with an ankle injury, would be healthy enough to play. But either he's not healthy or they just decided the guys who have been playing were better options.

For the New England Patriots, tight end Rob Gronkowski is active as expected in spite of spraining his ankle in the AFC Championship Game two weeks ago. What remains to be seen is how the ankle injury affects his performance and the ways in which the Patriots can use him.

The full lists of inactives:

GIANTS

• LB Mark Herzlich
• WR Ramses Barden
• RB Da'Rel Scott
• OL Jim Cordle
• DT Jimmy Kennedy
• OL James Brewer
• DE Justin Trattou

PATRIOTS

• QB Ryan Mallet
• RB Kevin Faulk
• RB Shane Vereen
• DL Ron Brace
• LB Gary Guyton
• OL Donald Thomas
• OL Nick McDonald

INDIANAPOLIS -- There are four days, 10 hours and 29 minutes until kickoff of Super Bowl XLVI, and I'm sure that, no matter which team on this blog you're a fan of, the thing can't get here soon enough. Personally, I'm having a fine time here and looking forward to the media availability Wednesday and Thursday with the New York Giants. Media day gets all the hype, but these are the days when we really get to do good work.

Step count: My pedometer tells me I took 16,687 steps on Tuesday, bringing my total since arriving at my downtown Indianapolis hotel Sunday afternoon to 41,380. This website I found tells me that's about 19.6 miles, and it doesn't count my treadmill time. (Haven't missed a day!) So I'm doing the legwork for you guys, in case you were worried, which I kind of don't think you were.

Too much Giants? I don't know. I mean, they're in the Super Bowl. I'll continue to monitor Eagles, Redskins and Cowboys news as it happens, but for this week, it's basically Giants. Except for the links, where all are equal and the Giants only come first because we do the links in standings order.

New York Giants

If Ian O'Connor is writing on Mark Herzlich, I'm reading it, and so should you. I'm big on guys who can tell cancer to kiss their butts.

The Super Bowl could be the last game in Giants uniforms for Osi Umenyiora and Brandon Jacobs, but as Ohm Youngmisuk writes, they're not thinking beyond Sunday just yet.

Philadelphia Eagles

Rich Hofmann wonders if the Eagles really wanted Steve Spagnuolo or if they just offered him a job out of kindness and to go through the motions, knowing he'd get better offers and not force them to figure out how to rearrange their coaching staff. Totally worthwhile question, and we may never know the answer.

Andy Reid also sort of addressed the DeSean Jackson issue, which now looms as the biggest offseason question still facing the Eagles. Jackson is supposed to be here in Indianapolis on Thursday. I'll keep you posted if I bump into him. My bet is he's played his last game as an Eagle, but what do I know?

Dallas Cowboys

Tim MacMahon has 46 reasons the Cowboys aren't in Super Bowl XLVI, and he did them in Roman Numerals, which I completely dig.

The Cowboys want Laurent Robinson back. Robinson's agent wants to see if he can get Robinson the biggest deal possible off his coming-out season in Dallas. The dance begins.

Washington Redskins

All-time Redskins great Darrell Green is not overly excited about the current state of the franchise. I feel Green's pain, to paraphrase a great fellow Hoya, but I still think, if you take the long view, you have to be encouraged about the direction.

Mike Jones writes that it's too early for the Redskins to decide if they want to pursue Peyton Manning, which is true. They need to know first that he's healthy and not going to retire. But we can be something close to 100 percent certain that he'll be released by the Colts before March 8, and if he is healthy, I still think he makes sense for the Redskins if they can address their other needs in the draft and free agency.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers are about as healthy as they can be for Sunday's divisional round playoff game. The Giants' inactives list is the same as it was last week, and the Packers have only one injured player, linebacker Robert Francois, who will be inactive.

Active for the Packers will be wide receiver Greg Jennings, who missed the past couple of games of the regular season due to injury, and starting tackles Chad Clifton and Bryan Bulaga, who also battled injuries during the final few weeks of the season. It will be interesting to see how healthy the tackles are and how they hold up against the Giants' edge pass-rushers.

Active for the Giants will be wide receiver Mario Manningham, who had struggled with knee problems in the second half of the season but was active for the first playoff game last week, and cornerback Aaron Ross and running back D.J. Ware, each of whom suffered concussions in last week's victory over the Falcons. Linebacker Mark Herzlich, still out with an ankle injury, is the injured player on the inactive list.

Full list of inactives:

GIANTS

WR Ramses Barden

RB Da'Rel Scott

LB Mark Herzlich

OL Jim Cordle

DE Justin Trattou

DT Jimmy Kennedy

OL James Brewer

PACKERS

QB Graham Harrell

CB Davon House

LB Rob Francois

OL Herb Taylor

TE D.J. Williams

DE Howard Green

LB Vic So'oto

The New York Giants you see before you -- a team that has made it to the divisional round of the NFC playoffs -- are not the same New York Giants we watched for most of this season. Their enthusiasm and effectiveness bear little, if any, resemblance to that of the team that lost five of six games from mid-November to mid-December. What's the difference? Well, there are many. And each day this week, leading up to the playoff game Sunday in Green Bay, we'll take a look at a player or players who have helped turn these Giants from a mid-pack pretender to a Final Eight contender.

Today: LB Chase Blackburn

The Giants decided not to bring back Blackburn last offseason opting instead to go with a rookie corps at linebacker even once Jonathan Goff and Clint Sintim went down with preseason injuries. But the November injuries to Michael Boley and Mark Herzlich were too much, and so the Giants called their old friend and brought him back Nov. 29. He started the very next game -- the one against the Packers on Dec. 4 -- and came up with an interception of Aaron Rodgers. He wasn't even on the flip card yet, and he wasn't wearing his old uniform number. A week earlier, he was working out the details of a substitute math teaching gig in Ohio. It's possible his was the most surprising interception Rodgers threw all season.

"I think he'll know who No. 93 is this time," Blackburn said earlier this week.

Blackburn's return has brought stability to the Giants' middle linebacker position, which never attained that following the Goff injury. Rookies Greg Jones, Jacquian Williams and Herzlich all took their turns in the middle, but things remained unsettled, as they often do with rookies, and the Giants suffered for it. Had Herzlich not injured his ankle, they might have continued to roll with the rookies. They take the middle linebacker off the field on passing downs anyway, and they don't view it as the most essential position in their defensive scheme.

But having Blackburn back and manning the middle has helped in ways the Giants didn't foresee. The most important element he brings is familiarity. He's played here before. He knows the scheme, the system, the terminology.

"Think about it," Boley said. "You bring in a guy in Week 13 and he's never been here before, he has to spend a lot of time just learning what things are called. He's catching up. But with Chase, there was no catching up. The stuff we do is exactly the same as it was when he was here before. So he just slid right in."

The Giants' defense still runs off the big guys up front -- the four-man pass rush. And the play of the secondary is likely to matter more and get more attention this week in the playoff game in Green Bay. But Blackburn's contribution since he arrived Week 13 has been quietly significant, if for no other reason that it's allowed the Giants to stop moving pieces around as much as they were before he returned. He's made plays. He's fit in. He's been everything the Giants needed when they went out looking for a substitute linebacker in late November. And more, almost certainly, than they expected.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Everybody wanted to know about New York Giants cornerback Aaron Ross, who came out of Sunday's game with a concussion. Well, Ross has passed all of his tests and was cleared to practice with the Giants on Wednesday. It appears he'll be all set to play and start Sunday's playoff game against the Packers in Green Bay.

The only Giants who missed practice were running back D.J. Ware, who also had a concussion Sunday, running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who's only been practicing once a week for the past couple of months because of his foot injury, and linebacker Mark Herzlich, whose ankle injury has kept him out for a while. Ware has a history with concussions, so it's possible he might not be able to make it back in time for Sunday's game. The Giants have used Ware in the screen game and to take some of the pressure off of Bradshaw's bad foot, but they may not be able to count on him this week.

The Ross news is good for the Giants, who can't afford to be any more shorthanded in the secondary than they already are. If Ross couldn't play, that would mean more reps for rookie cornerback Prince Amukamara, who's been a favorite target of opposing quarterbacks when he has played this year. Having Ross healthy along with fellow starter Corey Webster, and then spotting in Amukamara as needed, gives the Giants their best chance against the aerial assault of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.

New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck didn't practice Friday, held out due to a shoulder injury. But Giants coach Tom Coughlin told reporters in East Rutherford that he did not expect it to be an issue in Sunday's playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons, and Tuck was listed as probable on the final injury report.

Also listed as probable were tight end Jake Ballard, running back Ahmad Bradshaw, running back Da'Rel Scott, defensive end Osi Umenyiora, cornerback Corey Webster and offensive lineman Tony Ugoh, all of whom the Giants listed as having practiced on a "limited" basis. The only ones among those that bear a second look are Ballard, who has missed the past two games with a knee injury but was able to practice some this week, and Webster, who has a hamstring injury that just cropped up this week. But the Giants believe both of those players will be healthy enough to play, and Webster is not concerned about possibly being limited in the game.

Linebacker Mark Herzlich is listed as "out" and will not play due to the ankle injury that caused him to miss the final five games of the regular season.

As for the Falcons ... well, they listed 18 guys as probable, and all 18 of them practiced Friday, so that's just silly to even look at that list. The two key names higher up on on Atlanta's injury report are those of linebacker Stephen Nicholas, who has a toe injury and missed four of the Falcons' final five games, and cornerback Brent Grimes, who missed four of those last five games with a knee injury. Nicholas is listed as doubtful and Grimes as questionable. According to the estimable Pat Yasinskas, the Falcons appear to have some hope that Grimes will play but little hope that Nicholas will.

Just two of our four teams played Sunday, as the NFL rolls along through its funky-scheduling part of the season. The result? A whale of a battle for third place in the NFC East between the Eagles and the Redskins. As we've been doing, we present the links in order of the current standings, with the Giants scheduled to play their Week 12 game tonight in New Orleans.

Dallas Cowboys (7-4)

The Landry Hat likes Rob Ryan, but it doesn't think a whole lot of his defense to this point, and it's hoping he has something cool up his sleeve the rest of the way that we haven't yet seen. I don't know. I think the Cowboys' defense has been pretty good for most of this season and that it's biggest problem is health. I think it looks a lot better with Mike Jenkins on the field, and maybe the issue is depth and not scheme. My $0.02.

It appears the cheerleader who got knocked over by Jason Witten in the Thanksgiving Day game has been told to drop her Twitter account. I have nothing, really, to say about this, but it's getting a lot of attention, so I figured I'd at least offer you guys a chance to talk about it.

New York Giants (6-4)

Linebacker Michael Boley didn't make the trip to New Orleans with the team and will miss his second game in a row tonight with his hamstring injury. That means more from Mark Herzlich, who earned praise from defensive coordinator Perry Fewell for his performance last week against the Eagles.

The Giants' pass rush hasn't played up to its own lofty standards in recent weeks, and the players involved said they're determined to do better. Fair enough, but I think this brings up one of the issues with the Giants. When they don't sack the quarterback, their defense is rather ordinary. The fact that the pass rush has gone south a little bit and they're all of a sudden losing games is alarming. Shouldn't other parts of the defense be able to pick that part up?

Philadelphia Eagles (4-7)

Phil Sheridan is asking "What now for Andy Reid?" after the loss that extinguished even the faintest of playoff hopes for the Eagles. Phil asks, "And what could possibly happen over the final five weeks to convince those disgusted, chanting fans that it would be a grand idea to bring Reid back for a 14th season?" I guess my answer is that, given the success Reid had in the first 12 years, I still don't understand how fan dissatisfaction can really be enough to force the firing of Reid unless the organization is convinced they can hire someone who's better, and I don't know who that is.

Hard to imagine, though, even if Reid does survive, that he'll bring back the same coaching staff. The assistants are apparently fighting with each other on the sideline during games. Yeah, getting pretty ugly in Philly,

Washington Redskins (4-7)

The key for the Redskins the rest of the way is finding out what they have for next year and beyond. And to that end, as Jason Reid writes, Roy Helu did a lot to help his own case Sunday as he also helped the Redskins win a game.

Santana Moss only caught four passes in his return from a broken hand, but don't underestimate the impact his return had. The Redskins missed him as a blocker and as a leader even as they missed him as a receiver, and I don't think it's a coincidence that they broke their losing streak in the game in which he returned to action.

The New York Giants may have to play Sunday night's game against the Eagles in Philadelphia without linebacker Michael Boley, who's been a vital veteran playmaker on their defense all year. Boley has a hamstring injury, has not been able to practice this week and is officially listed as doubtful for the game. Should he miss the game, the Giants will look to someone -- possibly everyone -- from their group of four rookie linebackers to fill in for him. Ohm Youngmisuk has the story on ESPNNewYork.com:

The Giants have spent the week prepping their rookie linebackers for more playing time, which they say will help. Fewell also says he will have a veteran wear the helmet with a headset to relay plays into the huddle so that the rookies won't be overloaded.

Boley has had the headset in his helmet all year as he's been charged with relaying the defensive calls in place of injured middle linebacker Jonathan Goff. The only remaining veteran in the linebacking corps is Mathias Kiwanuka, who plays defensive end on passing downs and likely has enough about which to worry. So I wonder if the veteran who gets the headset might be a safety. The Giants have been successfully mixing and matching since the early part of training camp and believe they can figure it out.

But someone still has to play, and while rookies Greg Jones, Spencer Paysinger and Jacquian Williams have seen some playing time this year, the Giants are cognizant of not trying to give them too much responsibility too quickly. That's why they're likely to rotate snaps along with fellow rookie Mark Herzlich, whose playing time so far this year has come entirely on special teams.

If Herzlich plays at linebacker, it would be another milestone moment in his comeback from Ewing's sarcoma, a rare bone cancer he beat after missing all of the 2009 season at BC. "They are rotating a lot of guys in right now," Herzlich said. "I'm eager. It is all about getting that one shot and seizing it. Whenever that occurs for me -- I'm confident that will occur at some point -- I will be ready."

Herzlich was a dominating college player in 2008 before his illness, and the Giants signed him as an undrafted rookie in the hopes that he might someday be able to flash that ability again once he was back to full strength. It appears that Boley's injury might offer Herzlich a chance to show what he's got sooner rather than later. It's been a next-man-up kind of year for the Giants, and at 6-3 and with a depleted Eagles team coming to town Sunday night, there's no reason for them to think one or more of their rookies can't continue the trend.

The New York Giants' injury situation may have reached the point of absurdity.

Multiple reports have surfaced Tuesday afternoon that Jonathan Goff, the Giants' starting middle linebacker, has a torn ACL and will miss the entire 2011-12 season. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports via Twitter that the team is planning to sign former Giants linebacker Kawika Mitchell to replace him.

This is really ridiculous now, and you have to wonder how much more of this the Giants can possibly take. They've already lost starting cornerback Terrell Thomas and backup linebacker Clint Sintim for the year with ACL injuries. Cornerback and first-round draft pick Prince Amukamara is out for the first month or so with a broken foot. Defensive tackle and second-round pick Marvin Austin is out for the year with a torn pectoral muscle. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora is coming off knee surgery and will miss at least the first week and probably more. And that's just the defensive damage report. On offense, they're reasonably healthy but did lose wide receiver Steve Smith and tight end Kevin Boss to free agency and didn't replace either one.

The Giants have maintained all along that their developmental depth was strong and they would be able to handle injuries, but the fact is their relatively inactive offseason and the injuries that have dogged them since the lockout ended have left them thin at several key spots, none more so now than linebacker. They believed they were set with Goff, Michael Boley and Mathias Kiwanuka as starters, and the four reserve linebackers they kept when they made their cuts Saturday were all rookies. Now, it looks as though they could bring in Mitchell, who played for the Giants in 2007 and for Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell in 2008-09 when both were in Buffalo, to add some veteran presence. But Mitchell isn't a middle linebacker. So if he's there to add depth and not to man the middle, you could see a rookie such as Greg Jones or Mark Herzlich get some time at that middle spot, or the Giants might look again to the waiver wire for someone like Keith Bulluck or Lofa Tatupu.

Regardless, five days from the regular-season opener in Washington, the Giants had hoped their rotten injury luck was behind them for this year. There is a lot of talent on their roster, and especially on their defense. But they're reaching the point where you have to wonder if this is too many injuries to overcome. I've never been big on Goff as a starting middle linebacker, but he was their starter. Without him, they will scramble, and likely be worse than they would have been with him. If this was the first of these injuries, it'd be easy to say sure, they can take it. But it's not. Far from it.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first week of the NFL regular season. The first real game is scheduled for the day after tomorrow, and we are five days away from the start of play in the NFC East. I have no doubt that you are pumped, fired up and ready for some hot, fresh Tuesday links.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys may have something in the regular-season opener against the Jets that they didn't have all preseason -- at least one of their starting cornerbacks. Mike Jenkins says he doesn't see any reason he won't be ready to go, and he downplayed the idea that the lack of preseason game action cost him a chance to get up to speed on new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's defense. We'll see about that. All along, those in the know have said the defense would look better once it had its cornerbacks. If not Terence Newman, at least Jenkins should be there once the games start counting.

Oh, and speaking of Ryan, he was asked about last season's foot-fetish controversy involving his brother, Jets head coach Rex Ryan, and he says Rex is "a little freaky," that it's no big deal, that everybody's got something weird and that he's probably worse than his twin brother is. I think this is the rare journalistic occasion on which follow-up questions aren't necessary or recommended.

New York Giants

Mark Herzlich says he wants "to go from being a feel-good story to making an impact on the field." He'll get his chance as part of the Giants' rookie quartet of backup linebackers. The Giants like a lot of things about this group, from the way they play on special teams to how hungry they are to make their contribution. If the Giants are suddenly strong at linebacker in a couple of years, you'll be seeing a lot of stories about how Herzlich and the rest of this group grew up together.

In case you were holding out hope, Osi Umenyiora has been ruled out of Sunday's opener against the Redskins, and Mike Garafolo thinks there's a chance he might not be ready until the Week 3 game against the Eagles as he continues his recovery from knee surgery. In the meantime, as you know, they go with Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul as the starting defensive ends, which should be fine assuming Pierre-Paul looks as good as he did in preseason.

Philadelphia Eagles

Danny Watkins was happy to meet newly signed guard Kyle DeVan, who played for Eagles offensive line coach Howard Mudd in Indianapolis, because he believes he can benefit from picking DeVan's brain. But Watkins, the Eagles' first-round pick from April's draft, also knows DeVan is there to step in and play if he continues his preseason struggles.

It's unclear whether Vince Young, signed to be Michael Vick's backup quarterback this season, will be ready for the Eagles' regular-season opener Sunday in St. Louis. Young pulled his hamstring in Thursday's preseason finale and didn't practice Monday. In this notebook, Jeff McLane also says the Eagles do not plan to add a veteran middle linebacker this week, which means it looks like Casey Matthews has the job.

Washington Redskins

Mike Shanahan says Rex Grossman won the quarterback competition over John Beck "by an edge," and that he hopes Grossman plays well enough that he won't have to reconsider or shuffle the two in and out of the starting job as the season goes along. Obviously, I have no idea how to handicap the chances that he will, since I was reading him wrong all along and believed he'd start Beck. Grossman could prove capable, or the thing could be a mess all year. Those would seem to be the two options at this point, since it seems as though Shanahan doesn't feel any more strongly about Beck than the rest of us do after all.

Jason Reid says the important thing now is for Shanahan to stick with his decision, and not start flip-flopping these guys at the first sign of trouble. I agree, of course. You're selling your team, at its most optimistic and excited point of the season, on Grossman as its leader. You have to show faith in him if you expect it from them.

Big week ahead. All kinds of stuff for you that we'll be trying out during the season. But it is of course Tuesday, and that means we chat at noon ET. That's the important part.

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.

Good morning to ya. Special shout-out to the Giants and Cowboys fans, and a promise that I haven't forgotten you and will be doing "Observation Deck" for your teams' Thursday night game at some point today. Problem was, all four NFC East games were on at the same time and I haven't had time to watch them all yet. The posts on the Redskins and the Eagles are up, though, if you feel like doing some scouting.

If not, we have links.

Dallas Cowboys

Jerry Jones said after Thursday's game that undrafted running back Phillip Tanner will be on the team. Tanner looked great all preseason and earned a spot. The question is what this means for the Cowboys at running back. Is there a chance Tashard Choice gets traded, or even cut? Or do they go with four tailbacks -- Felix Jones, DeMarco Murray, Choice and Tanner? Jones' comments made it sound as though they were expecting to carry all four, but he didn't commit to that and some things could still need to be sorted out there.

Really crummy break for receiver Raymond Radway, who broke his leg going up for the ball with three seconds left in the final preseason game. I don't know if Radway would have made the team or not, but he showed some things early in the preseason, and it's a shame to see a guy suffer that level of injury on a play as completely meaningless as that one.

New York Giants

And speaking of crummy breaks, what an awful thing to have happen to Giants linebacker Clint Sintim, who was coming off a torn ACL in his right knee and may have torn it again Thursday night. At the very least, Tom Coughlin said, Sintim has a torn patella tendon and is out for the year. This is just the latest in a string of significant injuries to the Giants' defense this preseason and it obviously hurts their depth at linebacker, where they didn't have a lot to begin with. But mainly, you really feel for Sintim, who was apparently pretty emotional about it in the locker room after the game.

Undrafted linebacker Mark Herzlich picked up a sack and has impressed the Giants' coaching staff this preseason. He's not a sure thing, but he's certainly got a very good chance of making the final roster and could even be helped by the Sintim injury, though his most likely contribution is more likely to be on special teams.

Philadelphia Eagles

Andy Reid continues to express confidence in rookie kicker Alex Henery, who didn't have the greatest night Thursday. I don't imagine the Eagles will go out and look for a veteran kicker at this point, partly because the Cowboys seem to have signed them all anyway, but also because they're kind of all-in with Henery after releasing David Akers to make room for the rookie.

Danny Watkins talked his way into Thursday night's lineup and looked... like a rookie, again, writes Jeff McLane. This is what the Eagles have at starting right guard heading into this season -- a guy who's still learning, getting better and making mistakes along the way.

Washington Redskins

Jason Reid says John Beck has all the votes he needs to be the Redskins' starting quarterback. Basically, Jason says, the only vote that counts is Mike Shanahan's. And Jason has wisely been reading this thing correctly all along. Shanahan wanted Beck to show he wouldn't be a complete mess if he got the job. Surely, in spite of Thursday's downer, Beck has shown that. They like his speed, his athleticism, his quick release and the decision-making ability he's shown. Lots of people watched Thursday and thought Rex Grossman had won the job already. I still think it's Beck, and has been Beck all along.

Oh, and earlier Thursday, the Redskins announced plans for a new indoor practice facility that will keep them from having to scrounge for a college facility or some other place to use when the weather prevents them from practicing outdoors, as it did four times last year. This is a nifty new 20th-century notion for the Skins. I hear they're also planning to put more than one bar on the face masks this year...

OK, back to watching these awful final preseason games. I do this for you guys, you know, because I love you. And for no other reason.

Observations from the Giants 41-13 preseason victory over the Chicago Bears on "Monday Night Football":

We preach all the time that preseason games don't matter, but so few people really take it to heart. Fans like to hang on every play, to wonder whether or not it matters that Eli Manning doesn't look sharp, or to try and figure out whether or not Brandon Jacobs deserves more carries than Ahmad Bradshaw. But in the end, there are no accurate judgments to be made off of these games and the only thing that actually matters in any of them is that nobody gets seriously hurt.

And that's why, regardless of the final score or the potentially very encouraging way the rest of the team played during the game itself, Monday night's victory over the Bears was a disaster for the New York Giants.

Shortly before halftime, Giants starting cornerback Terrell Thomas collided with Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and limped off the field. At halftime, Giants coach Tom Coughlin revealed to ESPN's Suzy Kolber than Thomas had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and would miss the entire season.

This is devastating news, first and foremost, for Thomas, one of the very good guys and leaders on the Giants' roster and a player who has one year left before free agency. Thoughts go out to him, and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

But it's also awful news for the Giants, who earlier this preseason lost cornerbacks Prince Amukamara and Bruce Johnson to major injuries (and later in this game saw Brian Witherspoon carted off with a knee injury). Amukamara is out for at least a couple of months, Johnson for the year and now a team that was already struggling for depth at cornerback has lost one of its starters. They've gone from hoping Aaron Ross could be a reliable No. 3 corner and play as their extra defensive back in passing situations to hoping Ross can be a reliable starter and probably using safety Deon Grant in that role as they did last year. The Giants weren't deep to begin with, and they came out of their second preseason game with a major hole on the roster and in the starting lineup.

So that's all that matters from this game, period. But if you want to know what else I saw that might have a chance to matter down the road if by some coincidence regular-season developments jive with preseason performance in specific areas, here you go.

1. On the bright side, Ross looked very good. He knocked down two Jay Cutler passes intended for Roy Williams on third down early in the game. He made another play on a receiver later to prevent a touchdown (though he may have pushed off on that coverage). He made a nice tackle on Marion Barber behind the line of scrimmage in the third quarter. You could do worse than Ross as a fill-in cornerback when one of your starters gets hurt, and it's encouraging that he played well. But again, the Giants were figuring on Ross as their third corner, not one of their top two.

2. Oh, and X-rays on William Beatty's foot were negative. Which is a good thing. Beatty didn't have to take on Julius Peppers all night as we expected, since the Bears moved Peppers over to the other side to terrorize Kareem McKenzie and the Giants' overmatched tight ends. Beatty looked better overall in this game, holding his own and keeping his man off the quarterback, though he still looks a little grabby to me. You don't like to see a left tackle reaching quite as much as Beatty does to try and prevent the edge rush. He's got to do a better job of getting his whole body in front of his guy, or he's going to be a walking holding penalty.

3. Giants' special teams looked better. Devin Thomas is really showing his speed and athleticism on kick returns. Matt Dodge and Steve Weatherford both bombed huge punts all night. There was good kick coverage, including a big tackle by receiver Victor Cruz as he continues to work to try and secure a spot in the receiving corps. Jerrel Jernigan doesn't show much on punt returns, but the Giants had so many problems on special teams last year that if they can get it down to just one, Coughlin is going to be ecstatic.

4. How did those receivers keep getting open between Corey Webster and Kenny Phillips? It happened twice in the first half, and Cutler hit it for a big gain each time. It looked as though the receiver got by Webster and Phillips didn't get over in time to help. There are three possibilities that I can see: 1. Webster let his man go by him without making sure he had the safety help; 2. Phillips was supposed to help but was slow getting over; 3. Phillips went with the tight end up the seam after the tight end got by middle linebacker Jonathan Goff, which would kind of lead back to (1.) though with some blame to be shared by Goff. Either way, I'm certain it'll be discussed in detail in meetings this week. The Giants will obviously need mistake-free play from Webster and Phillips with as vital a piece as Thomas now missing from the secondary.

5. Victor Cruz, preseason wonder. Domenik Hixon had the big touchdown catch, but I really believe the Giants are trying to bring Hixon along slowly as he's coming back from his knee injury. And if that's the case, it opens up opportunities for guys like Cruz to get more reps at wide receiver. Cruz lined up with the starters in the team's three-receiver sets at the start of the game, and he did a lot of good, athletic, impressive things, just like he did last year in the preseason. As long as he keeps contributing on special teams, he's a good bet to make the roster. And if he does and Hixon is still being babied come the regular season, Cruz should get a serious chance to show whether or not his preseason success can carry into the regular season this time.

6. Some notes on the sure things. Manning looked fine, though I wouldn't put him in John Beck's class as a preseason quarterback. (Easy, folks... I kid because I love...) Brandon Jacobs looked especially spry on his touchdown run. And how about Justin Tuck's downfield tackle on Matt Forte? Tuck's a beast, but I couldn't help thinking a linebacker or a safety should have made that unnecessary. Overall, the Giants' defense looked very good, especially when it came time to keep the Bears out of the end zone in goal-line situations. Mark Herzlich's interception on the fourth-down play late in the fourth quarter was the most fun of the stops.

7. Still could use a tight end. Not that this is a Priority No. 1 at this point, but Travis Beckum and Bear Pascoe have been fully underwhelming at a key position for the Giants' passing game. We saw Manning audible at the line a few times and look to check it down, but with Steve Smith in Philadelphia and Kevin Boss in Oakland, he's still looking for reliable options to serve as safety valves. There was a third-down throw on which he and Mario Manningham couldn't connect that made you think he missed Smith. But two more preseason games to go and work still to be done, as is the case with every team.