T-Rock's Take on the Giants

Might be the first kicker ever asked to participate in the mid-week conference call with reporters... He did his usual fine job with the media, saying he never thought TC would be able to change the way he has and saying Tiki's preseason rip jobs on Eli and TC brought the Giants closer together.

Here are some quotes:

Whether he thought the Giants were cooked at 0-2: "I did. I think a lot of people felt that way because of the way the season ended last year and the fact they weren’t aggressive in free agency and let a lot of players go and didn’t really go out and try to replace those players. So the feeling was they weren’t going to be a great team this year, although I think people who knew about the team like myself knew how much talent there was. But I think, without question, that credit has to go to Coach Coughlin. I’ve talked to a lot of the guys I’m still friends with on the team and to a man, they’ve talked about the changes he’s made. And whether it was because he felt like he didn’t have anything to lose and wanted to try something different, that’s not easy for somebody to do – to change your ways. I think that has really brought that team together.

"And I think the other thing that probably did was Tiki Barber. The comments he made against Eli and against Coach Coughlin really galvanized that team and that locker room to come together."

Whether he thought TC could change: "No, I didn’t. But if you remember at the end of last year, when we talked, you guys asked me what I thought our problem was on our team and why we struggled the last half of the season and in the playoffs and I said I thought as a locker room and as leaders on our team, we talked too much and criticized Coach Coughlin too much and that a head coach needs unquestioned support at least publicly because, otherwise, you undermine his ability to lead. If you have a veteran question the head coach publicly, then those young guys are going to do that and they’re not going to listen to him the way they need to. I said we needed that and then that Coach Coughlin could probably create a more friendly environment where players wanted to play for him more and I think that’s exactly what happened. You’ve had Coach Coughlin, he took them out bowling and did little things like that to try and relate to them on a (personal) level rather than just on a football level. He knows so much about football. There have been many coaches that have coached with him that are now at other places that have told me that he knows way more than their current coach does about football. That says a lot about his knowledge of football. but I think now that he’s trying to relate on a relational level with players now, he gets a different level of commitment from those guys."

He's also hit 22 straight field goals, tops in the league. Feely said he enjoyed playing for TC and would have gladly returned, but Jerry Reese stood firm against offering Feely the big deal (three years, $2-million guaranteed) that the Dolphins did.

"Really, the decision was made by Jerry Reese. He and I had a conversation before I left and I asked him point blank, ‘Why didn’t you make more of an effort to re-sign me?’ I asked him to be honest with me and he said, ‘I think you’re on the decline of your career and you don’t have a strong enough leg anymore.’ I said, ‘Okay if that’s your opinion, I’m going to go out and try to prove you wrong.’ That’ll be my mentality on Sunday, that’s for sure."

uckily for the Giants, if it's only the Miami kicker who wants revenge, they should be safe on Sunday.

As to the questions...

-- Ahmad Bradshaw is perfectly healthy, Steve. His fumble against Green Bay cost him the return job and he's not a good enough ST player right now to make an impact, which means he's staying inactive until someone gets hurt.

-- James Butler on the bike today may mean Michael Johnson gets the call on Sunday. I don't think Butler's been good this year -- his angles and tackling are just terrible -- but he's gotten better. As Johnson said yesterday: "With the defensive line we have, it makes our jobs a lot easier." That'll make everyone look good in the secondary.

And Jonathan, no one knows what the future has in store for Butler's spot. He earned the starting position and TC hasn't seen fit to make a change yet while both he and Johnson were healthy. We'll see what goes down after Sunday.

-- Big Froe, you should know better than that. The Giants are all coming home as a team on Monday, having a very light workout on Tuesday and then they're gone for the week. I guess they're all welcome to head back to London then, but I doubt anyone would.