GIANT NOTES
Few people know better than Norman Hand just how valuable Michael Strahan is to the Giants. The tackle has played on the defensive line with Strahan all year and has seen how the six-time Pro Bowl defensive end has inspired his teammates with passionate pre-game talks.
But while admitting that he is not the player Strahan is, as well as being soft-spoken, Hand has taken it upon himself to help make up for Strahan’s absence.
“Somebody has to fill his shoes,” Hand said of Strahan, who was lost for the season during last week’s loss to the Bears with a torn pectoral muscle. “It’s hard to fill [Strahan’s] shoes. He’s a Pro Bowler.”
But the veteran Hand scoffed at the notion that the tomorrow’s opponent, the Cardinals – or anyone else – will be able to run over the undermanned Giants. They also lost their other defensive end, Keith Washington, for the season when he suffered a torn ACL last Sunday.
“We’re still the same team, just different players,” Hand said. “I believe we’re going to shock the world.”
Hand pointed to unproven players like Osi Umenyiora as the reason the line would survive even without two starters.
“This is their opportunity,” Hand said. “That’s how I got my chance originally. Two guys went down in front of me and here I am.”
Head coach Tom Coughlin was reassured when both Hand and Fred Robbins, as well as others on the team became more vocal following their teammates’ injuries.
“I’m pleased that I’ve looked at any number of the guys that have done that this week,” Coughlin said. “The defensive line always has their own little collective group at the end of practice and I’m glad to see that Norman has and I think Fred Robbins has as well, so it’s interesting to watch this transpire to see who will put themselves in that position.”
*
LB Barrett Green won’t play for the second week in a row; he’s still suffering from a knee injury. RB Mike Cloud (back) didn’t practice yesterday, but Coughlin refused to rule him out for tomorrow’s game.
“I’m going to try to continue to just hold out and see where we are on that,” Coughlin said of Cloud, who remains questionable on the injury report. “We have some other guys ready to go if he’s not.”
Among them is RB Ron Dayne, who has been just as unproductive under Coughlin as he was under Jim Fassel.
TE Marcellus Rivers returned to practice and remains questionable.