Here are some of the highlights of the session New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese held with the media Friday afternoon.
Q: Are you serious about bringing Plaxico Burress back to the New York Giants?
A: We don't bring guys in just for the fun of it. If we bring a guy in, we are serious about the possibility of signing him to our football club.
Q: Do you need to see Plaxico Burress athletically to sign him?
A: Obviously he has been away and so that is not a real big concern for us. The most important thing is for him to talk to the head coach and after that, we will see where that goes.
Q: How comfortable are you with your roster?
A: I think we have a good portion of our roster in place right now. We like the guys we have right now. We are still working on it and trying to fill a couple more holes that we have. We have a couple more guys that we are waiting to hear from but right now, we like where the roster is. Obviously, there is still some work to do.
Q: Are you open to renegotiating DE Osi Umenyiora's contract?
A: I'm not taking any questions about Osi (Osi Umenyiora). Osi (Osi Umenyiora) is not here. He knows training camp opened today and he is not here. I just really want to talk about the guys that are here, that's really what's most important. I can't control guys who are not here. I have no control over that."
Q: With the abbreviated time, do you expect the rookies to be ready to contribute this season?
A: I think, as far as young guys and rookies are concerned, those guys have to learn as you go anyway. You put them in there some early in the season and hopefully they get a feel for the speed of the game. The preseason is really not the real speed of the game. It really is not it. When they get out there in the real varsity action, I think they learn as you put them in early in the season and maybe middle way through the season they have a pretty good feel for the speed of the game. You are hoping that by the ladder part of the season, those guys can help you some. I think they learn on a fly anyway to answer your question.
Q: Is the door open for the players you released to come back?
A: We always try to leave the doors open for any transactions that have been made with us. We don't try to burn any bridges with anybody so yes that door is still open. Hopefully both of them will be healthy enough to play at some point and who knows, they could be back here. So we always try to keep our door open with respect to that.
Q: What can you tell us about David Baas?
A: We like him. He is a big man and we like the versatility that he brings. He played center last year and he was a center and guard in college as well. He is a big, tough guy and very, very smart. A high test score guy so he fits everything we like at that position. He looks just like a New York Giant offensive lineman to us and we think he is going to bring a lot to the table. He will start out as the center for us.
Q: How hard is it to tell players who have given their all, the team is moving in another direction?
A: That is the hardest part of my job. When you have to go in and talk to guys like Richie (Rich Seubert) and Shaun (Shaun O'Hara), David Tyree, Toomer (Amani Toomer), those kind of guys, that we made a company decision, a football decision, to move in a different direction. That's hard because all they have done is everything we have asked them to do. It is hard to part ways with those kind of people. They have been terrific Giants and that's the hardest part of my job, I think.
Q: Are you comfortable with Bear Pascoe as your fullback?
A: Yes, he really played a fulltime role basically all of last season at that position so we know he can do that. Hynoski (Henry Hynoski) is a young kid we signed as an undrafted free agent and we like his ability as a fullback. With the percentage of fullback plays that we have and we have used in the past, I don't think that is an issue for us at this point.
Q: What are your expectations of Mark Herzlich?
A: I think Herzlich is kind of like a joker. He can play any of the linebacker spots. He can play strong, he can play the middle, he can play the weak side, he can reach the passer. If he is at his form which was 2008 when he was a monster at that time, and we are hoping that we can catch lightening in a bottle and he can be that kind of player for us.