FanHouse Barry Cofield

The NFL season is four weeks away, so FanHouse is at Giants training camp for Stop 5 and Mile 996 of Dan Graziano's five-camp, 1,100-mile road trip.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- There is professional pride and there is the truth, and there are times when the former must step aside for the latter. That's what's happening here at Giants training camp, where the defensive line is throwing a twice-daily party in 11-on-11 team drills. They bat and intercept throws. They crash through holes. They live in the backfield. They mix up formations as if the base 4-3 has become too easy and no longer holds their interest.

The third week of the preseason is typically the time when starters see extended action, sometimes playing into the third quarter. it also seems like the time when most injuries occur, although that could just be the recency effect.

Whatever you want to call it, Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora got a got a golf cart escort off the field during last night's Jets game after suffering a knee thingy. The good news is that the X-rays came back negative (Umenyiora will still undergo an MRI), but the bad news is that the Giants' defense is a totally different unit without it's sack leader (three consecutive years!) on the field.

"I feel really comfortable we can try to hold on while he's out, but we definitely hope it's not for an extended period of time," defensive tackle Barry Cofield said.

"Obviously you can't replace Osi Umenyiora, but I feel we got guys who can fill in that role and give us some quality play," added Tuck. "We're not thinking like that right now. We're thinking Sept. 4, No. 72 [is] going to be right there at his normal spot at right end."

The New York Post's Paul Schwartz points out that there aren't many options behind Umenyiora -- moving Mathias Kiwanuka back to end after teaching him to play outside linebacker is probably the best option -- but I'm surprised I didn't fire up the internets this morning to read that coaxingMichael Strahan out of retirement was at the top of New York's to-do list.

Or maybe when Strahan says he's retired he actually means it. Novel concept, that.

To get you ready for week 16, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the New York Giants/Buffalo Bills preview.

2007 Records:

New York Giants: 9-5 (2nd in NFC East)
Buffalo Bills: 7-7 (2nd in AFC East)

Last Game(s):

Redskins 22 - Giants 10
Browns 8 - Bills 0

When the Bills have the ball: Buffalo has had some major success running the ball in recent weeks and it's unlikely they'll stray away from that this weekend. The combination of Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch has proven quite formidable, and if the weather report holds up (rain and high winds), the Bills will need that duo to have a huge game.

Defensively, the Giants should know exactly what's coming. Unless their own offensive coordinator switches sides before kickoff, it's going to be all about the ground game. In fact, no team in the league other than the Giants would pass 52 times when the winds are above 25 miles per hour.

To get you ready for week 12, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the New Minnesota Vikings/New York Giants preview.

2007 Records:

New York Giants: 7-3 (2nd in NFC East)
Minnesota Vikings: 4-6 (t-3rd in NFC North)

Last Game(s):

Giants 16 - Lions 10
Vikings 29 - Raiders 22

When the Vikings have the ball: Minnesota's gameplan is a simple one: run, run and run. They have the best ground attack in the entire league and it doesn't matter who they put back there; both Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor get the job done.

However, they have a bit of a challenge this week. The casual fan may not realize this, but the New York Giants have one of the best rush defenses in the NFL, allowing only 91.3 yards per game. And if they have any chance at winning this game, that unit, led by Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield, will have to step-up huge.

The field presence of Eli Manning made no difference today, as the Giants secondary was picked apart for the second week in a row. Despite having as many offensive injuries as New York, Brett Favre was able maneuver a near back-up squad to a 35-13 victory.

The Giants now fall to 0-2 on the season, and have to be left wondering if defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was the answer. While Tim Lewis didn't fare much better last year, New York's secondary is almost laughable. Through two games, they are by far the worst in the league and showed no indications that they are improving. They were scorched for 286 yards today, and once again, their achilles heel was the tight end -- something the Packers rarely use. On the plus side, their defensive tackles, Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins, played quite well this afternoon.

Offensively, the Giants were all over the place. They looked good early on, and then completely fell apart toward the end. All Giants fans can do is take solace in the fact that Manning played decent outside of his pathetic interception, Derrick Ward looked good, Anthony Mix performed well in garbage time and the offensive line appears to be much more capable than people expected coming out of preseason.

Giants Training Camp Notebook is a cliff notes style post aimed at giving Giants fans up-to-date news about the most recent training camp practices.

- Quarterback Eli Manning had another brilliant practice with the exception of one errant pass. He has really turned it on of late and has been demonstrating the leadership that so many claim he needed to.

- Although the Giants have given defensive tackle Manuel Wright a surprise opportunity, they aren't taken any chances with him. It's been made clear by Giants brass that they have high expectation and if Manny doesn't give the effort, he will be sent packing.

- David Diehl got beat by defensive tackle Barry Cofield for a sack today. I think Diehl has now been beaten by every single Giants defensive lineman. Well, that may be a stretch, but he has not been very impressive to date.

While second-year player Barry Cofield won't be moving to an entirely new position, he will be moving from nose tackle to right defensive tackle.

Cofield, who rarely saw action at nose tackle at Northwestern, was thrust into that role last season and had both ups and downs. He wound up starting all 16 regular season games there last year but never really hit his groove.

"In college I was an end for the most part, so I don't consider myself a guy who needs to be in a four-point stance and hitting the center," he said. "I feel I can get off the ball, get in the backfield; I feel like I'm athletic enough. It will make it so teams can't settle in, make it so neither one of us gets the same looks every time. As a nose you're gonna get banged up, you're gonna get double-teamed all the time. The center will have to block me and Fred [Robbins] coming from different sides."

It didn't take long for the Giants new defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, to recognize that athleticism. This move assures Cofield of majority playing time and better utilized his unique blend of size and speed. Now, playing along side Osi Umenyiora, Cofield can feel free to rush the quarterback and should see drastically better numbers across the board.