FanHouse PlaxicoBurress

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- They may not yet have looked it this preseason, but the Giants are good. As currently constructed, they must be counted among the favorites in the NFC when the season begins in two weeks. Their biggest problem, however, is the same one they had last December -- their downfield deep threat is headed to prison and they don't seem to have anybody on the roster with whom to replace him.

So soon after the Plaxico Burress fiasco, the Giants don't necessarily want to pursue disgruntled Denver receiver Brandon Marshall. But they haven't ruled it out either, and how could they? You watch the Giants play, and the deficiency is obvious. They may well be one star receiver away from being a Super Bowl team. Which is why Saturday's game -- a game in which Steve Smith and Mario Manningham were dropping passes left and right -- would have gone down as another lost night if not for the spectacular fourth-quarter performance of first-round draft pick Hakeem Nicks.

Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress says in an interview to be aired Tuesday night on ESPN's E:60 that he deeply regrets his decision to bring a loaded gun into a nightclub in New York City, and that he knows he has himself to blame for the two-year prison sentence he expects to receive after pleading guilty to felony weapons charges.

To think, when the Steelers announced that Mike Tomlin -- not Russ Grimm -- would replace Bill Cowher, the biggest concern was that the former Vikings defensive coordinator who had learned the intricacies of the Cover-2 while serving as Tony Dungy's secondary coach in Tampa Bay would get rid of zone-blitz architect Dick LeBeau and scrap the 3-4 defense.

The plan was for Ben Roethlisberger to ride the pine as a rookie. That changed when Tommy Maddox went down two weeks into the 2004 season. Five years, two Super Bowl championships and one helmetless asphalt head-butt later, it's all worked out.

NFL Twitter nation had plenty to say this week about three very different stories: The return of Brett Favre to the Minnesota Vikings, the two-year jail sentence Plaxico Burress has agreed to, and the purchase by Venus and Serena Williams of a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins.

Your questions and comments, and my responses, in our NFL Twitter mailbag are below.

The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.

Michael Tunison, one of the founding writers of Kissing Suzy Kolber, joins HausCast to talk about his new book, "The Football Fan's Manifesto." Mike explains to Brinson why you have to pick a team by age of 8, then talks about how much team merchandise is too much for superfans, before the conversation turns to the recent Plaxico Burress news. Also find out what it would mean to own a Tommy Maddox Fathead, and if Ben Roethlisberger likes to fake injuries, play up the drama queen angle and use it as motivation during the season.

Moving pictures promo for Mike's book, as well as the podcast audio, after the jump.

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's daily gathering of links from around the web, covering the goings-on in NFL Training Camp which have an impact on fantasy value.

'Tis the season for the NFL to have breaking news almost every other day it seems. Thankfully, for Plaxico Burress, maybe - just maybe - the whole Brett Favre lovefest in Minnesota will overshadow him on this dark day. OK, who are we kidding? His story is sure to trump most anything for the next few weeks. The same Plaxico Burress who caught the winning touchdown from Eli Manning in the Super Bowl is going to prison for two years.

Yup, the same Plaxico who we used to draft on a regular basis in fantasy football is now rendered useless. And thus let's cue up the "who is gonna take Plaxico" jokes for our fantasy drafts. Shameful. This certainly leaves one to ponder if this is it for another once promising Michigan State WR. Bottom line, don't draft Plaxico.

Now, what happened around the camps, because isn't that what's most important?

Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges and accepted a two-year jail sentence on Thursday, leading to a strong reaction from NFL Twitter nation -- both regarding the sentencing and regarding Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision not to suspend Burress beyond his prison term.

Your questions and comments, and my responses, for our NFL Twitter mailbag are below.

Hours after former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell gave him a sliver of good news: Burress will be reinstated to the league as soon as his two-year jail sentence is completed.

That means Burress will be free to sign with an NFL team for the 2011 season, when he'll be 34 years old. It's far from a sure thing that Burres will stay in shape and still be physically capable of playing by then, and it's far from a sure thing that any NFL team will sign him, but Burress now knows that it's at least possible he'll be able to resume his NFL career in two years.

Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress has pleaded guilty to weapons charges and agreed to serve two years in prison, bringing to an end a case that began last year when Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg in a New York nightclub.