New York Giants Training Camp concludes with what promises to be a brief walk-thru this morning at the University at Albany. The team will then head down the Thruway to New Jersey for Saturday's preseason game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and will conclude preseason practices from the Meadowlands.

This also means, sadly, my access to the team on any type of regular basis has also come to an end.

With that in mind, I thought I would offer some final impressions of the team and the now-concluded 2010 Giants Training Camp.

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[Note by Ed Valentine, 08/19/10 10:12 PM EDT : Coach Tom Coughlin said in his post-practice presser that both Kenny Phillips and Keith Bulluck will play Saturday night against Pittsburgh.]

New York Giants Training Camp at the University at Albany concludes with a brief walk-thru Friday morning. Thus, this will be your final practice report for this year.

To be honest, not a lot of highlights today. The Giants did a lot of 'scout team' type stuff in preparation for Saturday night's preseason game against Pittsburgh. But, hey, nobody got hurt. Regardless, here are a few notes from the workout.

• Eli Manning, baseball cap and all, did a little bit -- a very little bit -- of work during practice. He threw a handful of passes during offensive drills and did some individual work. Just enough to loosen up that valuable right arm.
• New quarterback Dominic Randolph took a handful of snaps. To be honest, he looked like a guy who the Giants just yanked off the street who had not thrown a pass in several months. Randolph was, understandably, unsure of what he was supposed to do at times. When he did throw the ball he was all over the place, leading one sideline observer to say "what is this, a defensive back drill?"
• Ramses Barden, Jim Sorgi, Jerome Johnson, Chris Snee and Michael Johnson did not practice. In fact, Snee was nowhere to be found. Makes you wonder if he has already been given permission to return to New Jersey.

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Eli Manning's New York Giants teammates had a little fun at his expense Wednesday, mocking the stitched up quarterback.

Center Shaun O'Hara was, as you might expect, the ringleader. He showed up for lunch wearing a huge bandage on his forehead, mimicking the smaller bandage Manning was sporting.

• I noted here Wednesday that both Gerris Wilkinson and Phillip Dillard got some snaps with the first team at outside linebacker spots. Coughlin spoke about both guys during Wednesday's meeting with the media.
  
  On Wilkinson.
  
  "It was earned by the way he played the other night. He had some physical tackles, he did well on special teams, and he did well in the open field tackling a back in the backfield," Coughlin said. "So you want to be able to encourage the guys that do that."
  
  On Dillard.
  
  "It's just we're down a linebacker so we're going to have to do this with one less guy now that Chase (Blackburn) is out," Coughlin said. "So they're going to have to learn everyone's place."
• Speaking of Blackburn, he expects to miss a couple of weeks, but is relieved that his knee injury is not more serious.
• Sort of an odd scene right before lunch in the media access area. Media darling Victor Cruz, the undrafted free agent from UMass who starred in Monday's preseason victory over the New York Jets, came in, was mobbed by reporters and quickly escorted to the podium where major interviews are done. About a minute later, Sinorice Moss came in, cast an expressionless glance at what was going on and proceeded to go eat. Not one person talked to Moss.
  
  On his way out, though, a handful of reporters grabbed the veteran wide receiver and asked him about Cruz' success. Moss, unflappable, said he has heard this stuff before.
  
  "I've been asked these questions many times throughout the years," Moss said. "I take the same approach - a positive attitude and a smile. I know what I bring and I know what I'm capable of doing. That's why I have the smile on my face all the time."
  

Meet your new starting quarterback for the New York Giants ... Rhett Bomar. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is Bomar Time!

Bomar is the only healthy quarterback the Giants have heading into Saturday's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bomar was the only quarterback practicing Wednesday afternoon for the Giants, and he may be the only one cleared to play Saturday night.

We know about Eli Manning and the famous 'Cut,' which, incidentally, Manning refused to show off on Wednesday. He wore a baseball cap which covered his stitched up forehead during a media interview early in the day and during practice later in the day. Coach Tom Coughlin said Wednesday Eli will not play Saturday. Backup Jim Sorgi apparently has a shoulder injury -- possibly the same shoulder he hurt last season. He was non-committal when asked if he could play Saturday. He did absolutely no throwing during Wednesday afternoon's workout at the University at Albany. Coughlin was uncertain about his status, according to reports.

So, Wednesday was Bomar Time during Giants Training Camp. Manning said he expects to practice Thursday, but didn't seem likely to play. Wearing a helmet is an issue as it would rub on his stitches. So, Bomar Time is likely to extend right through Saturday evening against the Steelers.

Prior to practice Wednesday, Bomar was besieged by the media, to the point where he had to climb the podium generally reserved for players the media most wants to speak with. Telling because I think it might be the first time in the entire camp anyone has spoken to Bomar.

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For all practical purposes, New York Giants Training Camp at the University at Albany is over. Sure, there will be three more practices in Albany following tonight's preseason opener against the New York Jets, but the heavy lifting has been done. Whatever coach Tom Coughlin wanted to accomplish is Albany has -- or has not -- been done. Too late now.

With that in mind, and before the Giants take the field for a much over-hyped, over-anticipated and over-talked (yes, I'm inventing new words now) about game against the blabbermouth Jets let's review what has happened in Albany. That, of course, means it is time for a training camp edition of 'Kudos & Wet Willies'.

So, let's get started.

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One of the questions New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin was asked Friday was who he would use to return punts and kickoffs during Monday's preseason opener against the New York Jets.

"We want to take a look at Danny [Ware], Andre [Brown], and I want to take a look at, if [Victor] Cruz is ready to go, we'd like to take a look at him. We just have a couple of nicks that cause us not to be able to do it the way we want to," Coughlin said. "Punt return, I'd like to see Aaron [Ross] back there, [Victor] Cruz can do that, too, I really don't know who the third will be right now, let's see who's healthy enough to be back there but we've rotated a bunch of guys in there."

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OK, so I said I wasn't going to write for the rest of the day. But, I have to do something between now and later on when the wife takes me out to dinner. So, I'll spend some time keeping you guys occupied.

Really, I just wanted to make sure you guys noticed what Jets coach Rex Ryan said today about Monday's preseason opener against the Giants. When asked how much his starters would play, Sexy Rexy said "we may extend them a little bit."

This is the kind of position Ryan's bluster about being the biggest show in town has put his team in. Whether he will admit it or not, he has to go to an undesirable length to try and win Monday night's game.

Even though my good buddy JohnB over from Gang Green Nation indicated otherwise when he appeared on 'New York Giants Talk' Thursday night, it appears that the outcome of the game does indeed have some importance to the team in green.

General Manager Jerry Reese said Thursday he is fine with the fact that there is not a lot of buzz about the Giants as the preseason begins.

"I'm not sure if that we've been overlooked, but it's been relatively quiet here. We kind of like that. We're just going about our business trying to get prepared for the season," Reese said.

Echoing coach Tom Coughlin, Reese downplayed the significance of Monday's preseason opener against the New York Jets.

"I think there are going to be a lot of excited people there, and everybody wants to see the new stadium," Reese said. "It's our first preseason game so players are excited about getting out there and playing against somebody else. It should be a fun atmosphere, but again, it's a preseason game. You just want guys to execute what's been going on at training camp so far and want them to play hard and have fun out there.

"You go into every game wanting to play hard. Jets-Giants it's always a little bit of a bragging right, but it's still a preseason game. It's not like it's a regular season game. You'll see our guys play hard. But it'll be played just like the rest of the early preseason games. You'll get your first group in there for a couple series and then you'll see a lot of young players in the game-probably both sides of the ball."

Asked about the injuries suffered by the Giants during training camp thus far, Reese said the Giants are no different than the other 31 teams in the NFL.

"It's all over the league. Just read it. Go to any of the 32 teams and you'll see a bunch of injuries on the injury list. It's just part of training camp. We just try to do what's best for our players, but injuries are part of training camp and part of football and that's just the way it is," reese said. "We'll just try to get through it as best we can and when the season rolls around, we'll try to pick the best group of guys and healthy guys ready to go."

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