FanHouse Kevin Dockery

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The New York Giants were an afterthought in 2007, but made their way to a Super Bowl title. In 2008, the Giants found a way to earn home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs, only to last one game. Their playoff loss to Philadelphia was certainly disappointing, but the fact that they earned the top seed after the drama they went through was impressive in itself. Now, it's time for the Giants to re-tool, reload, and get back to the Super Bowl.

We learned several things during the Super Bowl. Among others, we learned Eli Manning isn't going to get booed at Giants Stadium any more, we learned that its not a good idea to trademark perfect season phrases before you win all your games, we learned David Tyree's name and we learned that signing Asante Samuel isn't a good idea for the New York Jets.

That last one might take you by surprise, so I'll explain. The Giants dominated perhaps the best passing attack in league history with a cornerback crew consisting of the rookie Aaron Ross, the achy Sam Madison, R.W. McQuarters, James Butler Corey Webster and Kevin Dockery. No slight on any of those guys, but there's not a Lester Hayes in that group. The Giants dominated because of the way their defensive line and linebackers got after the quarterback. Take away a QB's time and protection and you take away a good chunk of his effectiveness.

That's why the Jets should forget about forking over heaps of cash for Samuel and concentrate on upgrading their anemic pass rush this offseason. He's a fine corner but the Jets could have a dozen of them and it wouldn't make a whit of difference if they don't start treating offenses the way the Giants treated the Patriots on Sunday. Samuel is a fine player but he shouldn't be wearing a Jets jersey next season.

When Tom Coughlin and the New York Giants refused to lie down for the undefeated New England Patriots, they knew and understood the potential consequences. Unfortunately, those consequences landed three key starters on the sidelines.

Although the news on center Shaun O'Hara and linebacker Kawika Mitchell seems positive, it's the news regarding starting cornerback Sam Madison that has everyone worried.

According to Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger, Madison didn't suffer an abdominal strain as previously reported; he actually suffered a pulled muscle in his rib cage. It's an injury that supposedly causes tremendous pain and has kept the veteran out of practice all week.

In addition to Madison, cornerback Kevin Dockery (hip) missed practice again yesterday, leaving Aaron Ross and Corey Webster as the primary starters and R.W. McQuarters as the backup.

Should Madison and Dockery both find themselves on the sideline this weekend in Tampa Bay, the Giants will be forced to start Webster as they did in practice. And unfortunately, that's exactly what Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia wants to hear.

Would it be a New York Giants football game without a few devastating injuries? If you answered no, you're right on, and I'm not here to disappoint you.

Defensive end Osi Umenyiora and running back Brandon Jacobs have both been lost for the night, possibly longer, after suffering a pair of knee injuries. While both players were able to walk off under their own power, the Giants have already scheduled them for MRI's tomorrow.

Due to Umenyiora's injury, Michael Strahan, who had been serving as a reserve, was forced back into his starting role. Normally, William Joseph would have taken that spot, but he also suffered
a back injury prior to the game, and is unavailable.

In replace of Jacobs, the Giants have turned to a running back by committee.

Update: Cornerback Kevin Dockery was carted off with an ankle injury.

The most frustrating part of being a Giants fan over the last three years has been the overwhelming amount of injuries. Not once in those three years have the Giants managed to play through a season without a significant injury. In fact, they'd consider it a good year if they only suffered a single significant injury.

Unfortunately, with a little over a week to go until the regular season begins, the Giants are once again facing those injury demons. It began early in the offseason when fullback Jim Finn was placed on injured reserve with a torn labrum and was promptly followed by cornerback Michael Stone going down with a hip injury.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the Giants lost tight end Darcy Johnson (knee), wide receiver Michael Jennings (Achilles), defensive tackle Marcus Bell (knee) and defensive end Dek Bake (back).

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.

- After an impressive performance on Saturday against the Carolina Panthers, defensive end Justin Tuck found himself working with the first team today. Although Tom Coughlin didn't admit it, Tuck will probably be the "go to guy" should Michael Strahan choose to retire.

- Eli Manning looked quite promising in practice today; his passes were crisp and accurate. After struggling early in camp, Manning seems to have turned it around. And although the box score only showed a three for five in Saturday's preseason game, Eli also demonstrated a new found field awareness. Albeit slowly, Eli is starting to give Giants fans a reason to be hopeful.

- Cornerback Kevin Dockery and some defensive coaches got an ear full from Coach Coughlin this afternoon after Dockery put Jared Lorenzen on the ground. Lorenzen, who was wearing a red jersey, appeared to be injured on the play and eventually left practice. He was later seen with a wrapped knee.

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.

- Many people thought cornerback Kevin Dockery was going to "break out" last year, but unfortunately that never happened. However, with the new season comes a new opportunity and so far Dockery is making the most of it. He had another good practice yesterday and his constant motor is earning him a ton of respect in the locker room.

- The Giants have a huge dilemma on their hands that doesn't involve injuries. Its punt returns and who is going to field them. They tried a variety of people yesterday including Michael Jennings, Ahmad Bradshaw, R.W. McQuarters and Sinorice Moss. Rookie Aaron Ross is also a consideration.

- Brandon Jacobs leads as intensely as he plays. Yesterday during sprints, he happened to notice that fullback Robert Douglas was merely jogging and it was on from there. Jacobs lit into Douglas and you can bet that he'll never jog during sprints again.

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.

- Injury problems continued to hound the Giants yesterday. In a matter of mere-moments they had to cart two, count them, two players carted off the field. The first was linebacker Gerris Wilkinson, who appeared to injury his right knee in 9-on-7 drills. The second was offensive lineman Todd Londot, who hurt his left ankle in the same drill. To make matters worse, safety Gibril Wilson also had to sit out with back spasms.

- There was some good news that came out of yesterday's practices, however. Quarterback Eli Manning looked very impressive and was making a lot of quality throws.

- Rookie wide receiver Steve Smith continues to blow people away. He had another great day of practice yesterday which included an "amazing catch" for a touchdown over Kevin Dockery.

Giants Training Camp Notebook is a cliff notes style article aimed at informing Giants fans about the ongoings of the day. It combines reports from both the morning and afternoon practices.

- As I mentioned yesterday when long snapper Ryan Kuehl suffered a leg injury, the Giants can't seem to escape the injury bug. Unfortunately, it sunk its fangs into another one today. Defensive back Kevin Dockery went down in the morning practice with a concussion that was so bad he couldn't even attend team meetings. Tom Coughlin claimed he was "real concerned" about it.

- Brandon Jacobs has come exactly as advertised so far. He appears to be very quick and quite decisive. He hits the holes hard without hesitation and has been bowling people over. That theme continued today when he completely demolished Gibril Wilson (or Antonio Pierce depending on what you read) in route to a score.

- Osi Umenyiora continued his dominance of Guy Whimper and David Diehl today. That's both good and bad for a variety of reasons. It's great to hear that Umenyiora is looking like a pro bowler, but it's bad to hear that Whimper is terrible and Diehl is struggling.