NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

The Giants lost their best (and kind of their only) return man when Domenik Hixon got caught in the sticky new turf during the first day of mini-camp. It was a non-contact injury.

I’m told that it’s normal for new turf to be somewhat sticky but why would the Gmen be practicing on it if it was a problem? Of course it depends on who you ask. The Jets say it’s fine. But the Giants…

….several players noted that the stadium’s FieldTurf, an artificial surface widely used in the N.F.L. and in college football, felt plusher and softer than surfaces they were accustomed to.

“This turf kind of snagged his foot,” Coughlin said after Tuesday’s practice. “He didn’t get it up out of the turf.”

Reports say Eli is starting. Nice. The following Giants are inactive for today’s game vs. the Raiders:

Ramses Barden
Danny Ware
Kevin Boss
Adam Koets
Chris Canty
Aaron Ross
Michael Boley
Bryan Kehl

So it seems Hixon will play. That’s cool. And Moss. That’s not so cool unless the guy finally does something to warrant a 2nd round pick.

We might see Clint Sintim in action finally. Maybe a bit of Travis Beckum as well.

A question emerging from the Jets preseason win over the Giants:

Hixon came up pretty big last year replacing Plax but he hasn’t looked great this preseason and that bobble turned interception was messy.

Steve Smith also looked strong last year. He’s been pretty reliable this preseason as well but when he missed that bomb from Eli Manning…

Manningham had a drop too, to be fair, but did anyone else think that he and Nicks looked as good as our other guys?

This article praises Sinorice Moss and Domenik Hixon. Since Steve Smith is already solid, if those 2 guys emerge as real weapons, and a case can be made that Hixon already has emerged, then the Giants receiving corps should be able to get the job done.

You might say that the same three guys plus Toomer didn’t get it done at the end of last season, but I blame Manning more than anyone for the playoff loss.

Everyone will be counting on Domenik Hixon to come up big with Plax out. This article is very encouraging. His old coaches say he has what it takes. Let’s hope we see some of it today against the Eagles!

The defense dominated even without Fred Robbins. The offense took care of business even thought he refs let the Redskins defenders get away with much more than the Giants. In fact, if it were not for a penalty on Corey Webster on the play where he had an interception, the Giants could have had a shutout. It seemed like Webster’s hand may have come close to or grazed the receiver’s facemask. However the refs let the Redskins get away with a more obvious hands to he face…

The Giants receivers had little trouble getting open against the Redskins secondary. That might be because the Redskins were trying hard to stop the run. They had some success there as they managed to slow the Giants’ running game down. They certainly didn’t stop us from running the ball, however.

But certainly the best part of the game was watching our defense have their way with the Redskins. A close second was watching Hixon turn into a star.

Warner saw a lot of pressure so I’m not blaming the guy but Manning certainly outperformed. The Cardinals put up an awful lot of offense – I’d much rather watch the Giants defense dominate than an offensive shootout – but I’ll take a win on the road any way I can get it. And remember, since they used to suck every year, Arizona is a solid team, now 7-4.

Jacobs was out, Plax was in. Plax hurt his hamstring – hopefully not too much worse than before.

Domenik Hixon had a huge game returning and was solid receiving.

The referees had a horrible game. Is this really the best the NFL can do? I don’t understand how the officiating can be so bad for so long.

And they actually played defense! Michael Johnson comes up with a huge game thanks to two interceptions. The first one ledt to Giants points and the second one saved points (it was in the end zone). Plus the 49ers couldn’t run the ball to save their lives which was a beautiful thing.

So credit the Giants defensive line for having a nice rebound game. The secondary did well. The linebackers were good enough. If our defense gives up 10 (we won’t count the special teams thing against our d) points our offense should be able to score a few more.

The ugliest play would have to be the blocked field goal returned for a TD. But thanks to Feagles and Hixon our special teams looked OK besides that play.

Hopefully Tuck will be as angry as I am about his fine for grabbing Bulger’s facemask last week. Sure Tuck grabbed the facemask but…

1. He was being held
2. Bulger ducked into it
3. It was clearly accidental

Anyway, if he’s angry he might kick some extra butt…

Also have a Giants.com article on the secondary for you.

And this article on Hixon’s return game. Did you know that punt returners have to study punters?