New York Giants news and notes: Of course, it's about Eli

You would never believe it if I told you lots of the questions following Wednesday's New York Giants practice were about the availability of Eli Manning for Sunday's game despite plantar fasciitis. But, they were so I am telling you anyway.

Here is Eli discussing his availability after not practicing.

"There are no guarantees really, just have to take it day by day, see if it gets better so you never know what can happen. It has been improving every day so hopefully it will continue to do that," Manning said. "Compared to how it felt on Monday, it feels a lot better, so I am happy with the progress. I am happy that it is improving, that I am walking around better, having less pain, so that is all good stuff."

Tynes says he has "plantar alignment"

I am glad Tynes still has a sense of humor after his struggles thus far this season. I will be even happier when he stops missing field goals he should be making. Tynes thinks he might have found a reason for his struggles.

Tynes said he and special-teams coach Tom Quinn have discovered a problem by looking at film of his mechanics from 2007 and last season. Tynes’ plant foot (his left one) was at the ideal spot six inches away from the ball. They compared it to film of his recent kicks and saw lately his plant foot has been 10 inches or more away from the ball.

"That could be a pretty big reason why I’m swinging across or I’ve missed a couple left and have left some out ot the right," Tynes said. "That was encouraging, for sure, to see that."

Tynes knows where his left foot should be all the time, but like any craft that requires exact mechanics, it’s easy to fall into bad habits. The key is getting rid of them quickly, which is something punter Jeff Feagles is able to do.

"You always have to stay on top of what you’re doing," Tynes said. "Jeff’s been in this thing 22 years and he’s still (working on his mechanics). There were a couple of weeks between camp where he was working on simple stuff he had just forgotten. It’s a never-ending process."

It's pretty ugly in the land of the silver and black. How ugly? Well, defensive end Richard Seymour, recently of the perennial power New England Patriots was asked about Oakland and responded "Well, the weather's nice."

Seymour tried his best to put a positive spin on both the Raiders' struggles and his place with his new team.

"When I came to New England it wasn’t a team that was always contending. We were coming off a 5-11 season. It is just something that we built over the course of time," he said. "We definitely have talent. But, as we all know, talent alone isn’t going to get the job done. It takes a group of guys that are all on the same page and are trying to fight for the same common goals. I think that is definitely what it takes. Like I said, we have that talent in the locker room but we just have to put it out on the football field.

Tom Cable was asked about preparing for the Giants with the uncertainty surrounding Manning. I got a kick out of his telling response.

"Well, our issues are us, quite frankly. We are 1-3 and disappointed in that. And so we really can’t worry too much about what is going on with someone else.," Cable said. "We have to worry about us right now. And that has kind of been our thing."

Other Injury News

Tight end Kevin Boss said he is "seeing improvement every day" in his injured ankle. Bryan Kehl is lobbying for a chance to play Sunday despite having surgery Monday to repair a broken index finger. Gotta love the young man's attitude.

"I think I can, but we will see if they let me," Kehl said. How would he tackle an opposing player? "I have two arms, I have another hand and two shoulders. I’m not worried at all. I have two other fingers. No problem, I mean guys play with broken hands all the time."

Even More Stuff to Read

• Matt Mosley of ESPN says Giants' cornerback Bruce Johnson is the most surprising rookie in the NFC East.
• Pierce: Defenders need defending too