Here are some New York Giants notes for your Thursday morning. There is plenty to talk about, even though the Giants have already begun their off-season.
Giants safety Antrel Rolle reflects on up-and-down season | NJ.com
"I have to get in the mind-set of being able to transform myself from being up as opposed to playing back deep," Rolle said. "I caught myself a couple of times not being the player I'm used to being back there, just because I'm playing up so much that I kind of lose focus of the things I'm used to targeting, as far as having the vision of the entire field as opposed to getting tunnel vision like on a quarterback or a particular receiver perhaps."
"Absolutely," Rolle said when asked if he can learn to make those adjustments. "But it's kind of hard to grasp that through the course of the year because you're trying to grasp the game plan, you're trying to grasp the concept of teams and things of that nature.
"So when I have more time to myself, I'm going to be able to put in my mind, ‘Look, you're going to have to be able to do this, do this, do this, do that.'
"Next year will definitely be a better season for me. I've always been a climber. I've never been a person that declined. I'll look to get better."
Rolle made 87 tackles, one off his career-best, but had just four passes defensed, his lowest total since his rookie season when he played just five games and one interception. He had four picks for Arizona in 2009. Pro Football Focus rated Rolle at -10.1, and even worse a -12.1 in pass coverage, for the season. That was easily the worst overall score of any Giants defender.
Even though he was named to the Pro Bowl, I think we all know Rolle needs to play better in pass coverage. I think part of that will be that the Giants need to find ways to let Rolle be more a play-maker in the secondary and less of a 'box' safety in run support. In other words, let him do what they brought him to New York to do.
Giants say Seubert faces long recovery after knee surgery
Giants offensive lineman Rich Seubert on Tuesday had what the Giants are terming successful surgery to repair a dislocated right kneecap and also fix ligament and tendon injuries.
Broncos join teams interested in Giants' Fewell
Finishing off his first year with the Giants, Perry Fewell will be busy in the next week or so. The Panthers, Browns and 49ers have asked permission to speak with Fewell about their head-coaching vacancies.
New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora had a resurgent 2010 season, with 11.5 sacks and a record-setting 10 forced fumbles. The master of the 'strip sack' played his best football since the Super Bowl season of 2007 and answered those (like myself) who thought he was no longer capable of being a difference-maker on a consistent basis. Umenyiora joined Kim Jones and Ed Coleman on WFAN Radio to talk about the just-concluded Giants' season.
Are Romo and Manning 'elite' quarterbacks? - NFC East Blog - ESPN
ESPN.com's Clayton believes that Romo and the Giants' Eli Manning both belong in the "elite" category. What's his definition of elite?
"These quarterbacks complete better than 60 percent of their passes, have 4,000-yard passing potential and demonstrate fourth-quarter comeback ability. These players can carry a team to the playoffs," writes Clayton.
Clayton included 12 quarterbacks in his "Elite Division."
Matt Mosley of ESPN has posted a season wrap-up of the Giants and he pretty much came away with the same conclusions everyone else did. Eli Manning threw too many interceptions, and the Giants need help at linebacker and offensive line.
SB Nation New York's Howard Megdal takes a poetic look at the Giants' decision to keep Tom Coughlin.
From the NFL PR Dept., here are milestones accomplished by the Giants this season:
- QB ELI MANNING passed for 4,002 yards and became the first quarterback in franchise history to pass for 4,000 yards in consecutive seasons.
- Manning set franchise records for the most completions (1,838), attempts (3,169), passing yards (21,465) and passing touchdowns (148) in a player's first 100 games as a Giant.
- With 22,646 career passing yards, Manning joined PHIL SIMMS (33,462) as the only Giants quarterbacks to pass for 20,000 yards. He is the first quarterback in franchise history to reach 3,000 passing yards in six consecutive seasons.
- In Week 5, WR HAKEEM NICKS joined AMANI TOOMER as the only players in franchise history to record at least 12 catches (12), 130 yards (130) and two touchdowns (2) in a single game.
Final thought
I am stunned at the outpouring of support for bringing Plaxico Burress back to the Giants. And, no, I won't change my mind. If the powers that be make that choice then I will root for Burress to succeed, but I believe it would be a huge mistake. Inside Football's Pat Traina wrote about Burress on Wednesday, and had this to say:
"... My personal feeling is that they're not going to bring Burress back next year. He'll be 34 years old and who knows what kind of shape he's in. The goal is to get younger and faster. Also, with the uncertainty of the labor situation, teams just don't know what parameters they're going to have to work with regarding salary caps, minimum salaries, etc.
Look, Jerry Reese is naturally going to say that they'll explore all avenues - I wouldn't expect him to say anything else. But that doesn't mean he'll act on every one."
That's pretty much what I said. Now, we just wait to see what happens.