Last week was our first trip to the Meadowlands after the stadium was
rebuilt. We were mixed. It had been a long journey deciding whether to
keep the tickets or sell them.

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Giants’ center Shaun O’Hara‘s ankle and Achilles issues have subsided enough for him to return to action. He plans on playing through the pain and frustration…..

Q: How did everything feel today?
A: Today felt good. It felt good on a number of different levels. Obviously being back out on the field and being out with the boys is always a good feeling. I thought it went well today, and it wasn’t a rigorous practice by any means. It was just good to get out there to run around and sweat a little bit.

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Newly acquired Giants QB Sage Rosenfels and WR Darius Reynaud are doing their best to brush up on the Giants’ playbook and the team’s way of doing things.

Rosenfels: “I’m excited to be here. Great team, great organization. I’m doing the best I can to learn this offense as quickly as possible, there’s a lot. If I have to play, I have to be ready. There’s no excuse to not be ready. I have to be in that playbook as much as I can, and that’s pretty much what I’m doing. I’m in the playbook, I’m watching film, just trying to learn this thing as much as I can.”

Reynaud: “It’s (the playbook) totally different from what we are doing in Minnesota. The schemes are totally different. As soon as I got here, they gave me this book, and I’ve  been right at it ever since.”

LISTEN

Sage Rosenfels

Darius Reynaud

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The Giants practiced this morning on a beautiful, clear Labor Day here in the NY/NJ area.  C Shaun O’Hara, TE Travis Beckum and LB Chase Blackburn were back on the field.

CBs Aaron Ross (heel) and Corey Webster (groin) and LBs Gerris Wilkinson (groin) and Phillip Dillard (hamstring) were not.

Coach Tom Coughlin was optimistic that Ross could return soon. “He’s getting better. The reports are good. They have some things they got to work out with him in terms of his comfort level with the shoe. He’s getting there.”

Coughlin was asked if carrying only two TEs on the roster was a concern, especially since one of them is Travis Beckum, who is not known as a blocker.

“Well it is…but on the practice squad we have two tight ends that are an up/down away…but right now there are two guys.  What’s really important for us is ‘can Beckum go in practice? And stay out there?’ That’s a big factor right now.”

The coach said newly acquired punt returner Darius Reynaud “ is a receiver. He’ll take snaps as a receiver” and he would only line up at RB unless he’s needed.  “He’s played both” Coughlin said before stating that Reynaud was “the punt returner for sure.”

Uniform number changes: WR Victor Cruz will no longer wear No. 3.  He’s now No. 80.  QB Sage Rosenfels will wear No. 18 and WR Darius Reynaud No. 15.

READ: Tom Coughlin Monday Presser

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And you thought the Albert Haynesworth soap opera was over? Less than a week away from the Redskins’ opener against Dallas, it now appears that the defensive end won’t start the game because the coaching staff isn’t happy with his play. His status is anything but certain. From The Washington Post:

Two team sources said Haynesworth probably would have had a key role, even if he did not start, against the Cowboys this week if he had fared well in the preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals. Haynesworth’s play was described as “awful” by the sources, who said it wasn’t as much a matter of blown assignments (Haynesworth did not have many) as his lack of effort and failure to adhere to the principles of Washington’s new 3-4 scheme.

Practice was closed to the media Saturday, but a team source said Haynesworth participated in few plays. After lining up primarily at right end recently, Haynesworth was moved back to nose tackle. And in an even more telling sign about Haynesworth’s standing on the team, the two-time all-pro was taken out of the nickel package. He had started in that defensive alignment for the final two weeks of the preseason.

Meanwhile, head coach Mike Shanahan is confident that quarterback Donovan McNabb (ankle) will start the opener.

“Yeah, I feel very good about him being ready to go,” Shanahan said in the Washington Post. “In fact, I think he’ll be able to practice in the next couple of days. And I feel very good about the direction he’s headed.”

Haynesworth is a different story.

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From Vinny Di Trani, Bergen Record…

“…Charles Scott added to practice squad. RB from LSU was drafted by Eagles, traded to Cards….”

The 6′, 238 lb Scott was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 6th round of this year’s NFL Draft. He was signed to a four-year, $1.88 million contract in June but then was traded to the Arizona Cardinals on August 30 for 2010 sixth-round draft pick Jorrick Calvin.  The Cardinals released Scott yesterday.

According to sources, Scott had a monster junior year at LSU, gaining All-SEC honors.  His senior year was derailed by injury…“Suffered a fractured clavicle on his 34-yard run in third quarter against Alabama and missed the remainder of the regular season … Had surgery the week after the Alabama game … Made his 22nd straight start at Alabama … Racked up 83 yards rushing on 13 carries at Alabama, including a season-long 34-yard scamper on his last run of the night before being injured .”

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After three off days, the team will hit the field this morning for practice.  The roster, of course, is a bit different after trading draft choices to Minnesota for QB Sage Rosenfels and RB Darius Reynaud on Friday and parting ways with 24 others on Saturday.

The Giants signed seven players back to their practice squad yesterday: QB Rhett Bomar, DT Nate Collins, TEs Jake Ballard and Bear Pascoe, OL Jim Cordle, CB Seth Williams and S Sha’reff Rashad.

An eighth player – RB Shawnbrey McNeal, formerly of San Diego, was reportedly signed as well, but that news was incorrect.  The team still has one opening to fill.

The Giants will spend the week preparing for the season opener vs the Carolina Panthers at NMS on Sunday.  CB Aaron Ross (foot) and C Shaun O’Hara (ankle) are the two players most in danger of missing Sunday’s game.

Ross is likely to be inactive, but O’Hara will be evaluated this week to see if he can go. If not, it will interesting to see who the Giants play in his place: Adam Koets or Rich Seubert.

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The biggest criticism yesterday after the Giants announced their 53-man roster were; “Only two quarterbacks?” and “The Giants have only two TEs on the whole roster?”

Well, today the team took care of that by claiming back QB Rhett Bomar and TEs Bear Pascoe and Jake Ballard.  These players, mind you, are not Giants’ property just players that get paid to practice with the team.

Any club can still claim them for their own 53-man roster.  That seems unlikely at this or any other moment this year.  The best part of this news is that Bomar got extensive playing time this summer and should something befall one of the team’s two QBs on the roster, the experience won’t be as foreign to him.

Pascoe and Ballard have been under the tutelage of Mike Pope for some time, so they understand the Giant way of doing things as well.  Should Kevin Boss or Travis Beckum go down, Giant fans can rest assured there is relief in the wings.

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The Giants signed the maximum eight players to their practice squad today.  Six of the players signed were cut by the team yesterday: QB Rhett Bomar, TE Bear Pascoe, S Sha’Reff Rashad, DT Nate Collins, CB Seth Williams and OL Jim Cordle.

The other two players added were TE Jake Ballard, who was cut by the Giants last month at camp, and RB Shawnbrey McNeal, who was let go yesterday by the San Diego Chargers, but that was  still unconfirmed by his agent.

The Giants had intended to re-sign RB Andre Brown, but he was claimed off waivers by the Denver Broncos earlier today.

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From Dan Pompei of The National Football Post….

Jason Pierre-Paul was considered one of the most raw players to be chosen in the first round in April. He also has missed time with a groin injury. But that does not mean the Giants are not expecting big contributions from him this year. They think he is fully capable of being an impact rookie. Pierre-Paul has destroyed Giants tight ends in practice this year, and his willingness to take to coaching has the Giants convinced they made the right choice. General manager Jerry Reese told me Pierre-Paul has everything you look for in a defensive end, including instincts. What Pierre-Paul has to adjust to is the speed of the game and NFL blocking schemes.

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