Cuts? A little reading material first

Our man Jim will be keeping you updated on all of the moves today -- and probably tomorrow -- as our New York Giants trim down to the mandated 53-man roster. Jim loves 'Twitter,' so I know he will be all over it while I enjoy my last summer weekend in the Adirondacks.

In the meantime, here is a little reading material for you.

• During his Friday conference call, coach Tom Coughlin was asked if he felt the team had answered its questions at wide receiver. 

We have made progress along those lines, without a doubt.  I think the last two weeks you would have to be not paying attention to not realize that it has been the objective to try to uncover this aspect of our team to the point where we could answer some of those questions for ourselves and go ahead and have the diversification on offense that we need.  And so that took place.  We’ll see.  Moving forward we will see. But it has been encouraging.  And guys have gone through their little phases of being up and down. And the last couple of weeks it has been pretty much up.  And it is going to have to stay that way.

• Antonio Pierce said he is not worried about how the Giants will fare with new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan.

"I have been in the league nine years, I have had seven defensive coordinators. I have been with the Giants for five years and I have had three defensive coordinators. Most of the guys on this team are the same guys I have been playing with for the last five years, so they are used to change. When you get a new defensive coordinator you go in and adapt to it. It is no different than when you get a new position coach, or new strength coach, or a new person that is your nutrionist, you just adapt to it. I think what Sheridan has done, he has done a great job, and he has put his foot down," Pierce said. "I don’t think there is much of a concern about worrying about a new coordinator. There is not much difference between what Spags ran and what Sheridan is going to run. There is a different approach, how they see the game and how they are going to call it. But, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. He can call offensive plays. We have to go out there on defense and we have to stop the guy from running the ball and catching the ball."

• Eli Manning was asked about the possibility that Super Bowl hero David Tyree will be cut.
  

"David is a guy who really conducts himself at a true professional level. He always has a great attitude. He is always in great spirits. He is great with the young receivers or all the receivers, on working with them or trying to be a good example. He practices as hard as anybody. He has been a great teammate, a great friend of mine since I have gotten here," Manning said. "Honestly, I will always have a special place in my heart, not only because of the play he made in the Super Bowl, but just the person he is and the friend he has been for me. I don’t know what is going to happen in the next day or two, it’s a tough situation, but he has been a great teammate and we just have to see what is going to happen."

• Eli was, of course, also asked about his comfort level with the receivers heading into the season.

"I think we definitely have gotten better as a receiving corps, as an offense in the passing game, this training camp. There is still going to be a learning curve. I think we can still improve on some areas and get better as the season goes. I think the more game-time experience that we get together, the stronger, the better we will become," Manning said. "I think we are at a good spot right now, I think that guys are confident in their ability. It is good to see some guys make some plays last night on the ball, jump up and make some of these catches from Hixon, Nicks and Sinorice. Kevin Boss had a couple of big plays. Guys are on the same page on what to do and making the right reads. Some young guys even, late in the game, were making some great reads and had some chances to hit some big plays. I think we have definitely improved and are ready for the start of the season."

• Don't hold your breath hoping Stoney Woodson, the seventh-round pick who was recently waived/injured, will be brought back to the practice squad. The National Football Post reports that Woodson and the Giants have reached an injury settlement, and that Woodson is fielding calls from interested teams.