Brandon Jacobs, 08.02.09

Q. How does it feel to be back to start training camp again?

A. It’s always pretty tough to get back up here and get ready to work. We all know that’s what we’ve got to do. It’s kind of hard to leave our families behind – our wives and kids. It’s good to get up here again and see all the guys and get ready to go to work.

Q. This is the last year on the contract at UAlbany – do you have a preference where you guys train next year?

A. East Rutherford. It would be pretty sweet. It’s close to home but still keep us all together – stay in hotels or do whatever. That would be my suggestion.

Q. Obviously it’s different for you coming into camp with no Derrick (Ward), just you and Ahmad (Bradshaw). How are some of the other guys looking in terms of filling that spot?

A. Derrick is gone and he started camp in Tampa yesterday and he’s doing pretty good. He ran the conditioning test there and said it was easy. Way easier than what he ever ran here. We’re going to miss Derrick, his personality, as a teammate. He was a great guy, not only for his talent, but for his personality – those are the kind of people that you don’t want to get away from you.

Q. Some of the faces from last year aren’t here anymore. Talk about a new season, going out there and moving forward, leaving last year behind.

A. We had a couple people last year who played a big part in a lot of things who are not here. We’re going to be fine. As a football team, we have a lot of talent and we have a lot of players with a lot of will and determination to make themselves better and make us better as a team.

Q. What excites you the most about this year?

A. I like that people are counting us out again this year – because we don’t have Plaxico (Burress). They’re saying that the young receivers can’t pan out and our veteran receivers can’t get it done. Plax was a special talent and it’s hard to find someone like him but we have a lot of guys here that can play and do well enough to get the job done.

Q. How concerned are you about Antonio (Pierce)?

A. We can’t do a thing about what’s going on with Antonio. We just pray and hope that he comes out of this okay so that he can play some football, but we don’t have any control of that here and we just have to get ready for camp and get ready for the grind.

Q. Is there a sense of disappointment in last year?

A. We come in here this year a team that should have been Super Bowl champions that didn’t get it done and we are a bit angrier than we were last year. We’ve got a tough job ahead of us and a tough 16 games that we’ve got to get through. Hopefully things pan out for us