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."
Defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka admitted that players do have some concern about the FieldTurf at the New Meadowlands Stadium in the wake of Domenik Hixon's season-ending knee injury suffered during mini-camp.
"It was an injury that happened without any contact and I think the turf did play a big role in that. So we're concerned about it, we know that our front office is looking into it and they're doing everything that they can," Kiwanuka said. "So we've just got to be able to go out there and play football but the pre-season is about getting your team together and making sure you keep everybody healthy and you can't worry about that while you're on the field. But it is a concern."
The Giants are decimated at tight end, with only Bear Pascoe available out of the five tight ends on the 80-man roster. The team might like to get some help there, but Coughlin said Thursday there really isn't any to be found right now.
"Do you know where we can find them? You know how many teams in the league are looking for tight ends? Seriously, you saw when Dallas [Cowboys] got just about wiped out the other night. It's a nice idea but it's not novel, that idea has been used way earlier, but the search goes on and to be honest with you, it's not a real fertile position when trying to find players that are out there," Coughlin said. "You're always thinking ‘How long is the guy going to be out?' and when you do get him back, ‘is he better than what you're bringing in here?' That has to be said, too."
If you missed 'New York Giants Talk' Thursday night you can download the podcast or simply click the player below. Pat Traina of Inside Football and I spent some time talking New York Jets with John Butchko of Gang Green Nation.