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Shockey's Ankle

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Shockey Hopes to Recover in Time to Face Eagles

Pro Bowl tight-end dealing with ankle injury that kept him out of season finale.

By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

 

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January 3, 2007

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – A year ago, Jeremy Shockey missed the final regular season game with an ankle injury, but returned to play the Giants’ postseason game a week later.

 

The Pro Bowl tight end hopes to have similar recuperative powers this season.

 

TE Jeremy Shockey is trying his best to recover from an ankle injury in time to play against the rival Eagles this Sunday in Philadelphia.

Shockey was not in uniform when the Giants defeated the Redskins Saturday in FedEx Field, 34-28, a triumph that effectively clinched a playoff berth. Indeed, Shockey wasn’t even in Washington, having been left at home to receive treatment on the sprained ankle he suffered the previous week against New Orleans.

 

The Giants return to action on Sunday, when they visit NFC East rival Philadelphia in a Wild Card playoff game in Lincoln Financial Field. Shockey, the Giants’ leading receiver this season, is hopeful he will return to action as well.

 

“I did everything last week I could to make that game,” Shockey said today. “You lose and you’re out. I want to be with the team. I felt bad not making that trip. So I want to do everything I can this week to get back and to push it. We’ll see how it feels and get an early signal in the week and just move from there.”

 

Shockey did not practice today and is listed as questionable for the game. Coach Tom Coughlin said Shockey “hopefully will be able to work tomorrow.”

 

Coughlin was asked if Shockey’s ankle has improved.

 

“The swelling is down considerably from what it was last week,” Coughlin said. “He improves each day. We’re just going to have to see about that.”

 

Coughlin seemed amused when a reporter asked if Shockey has expressed a desire to play this week.

 

“He wants to play very badly, yeah,” Coughlin said. “I appreciate that question. That brought me right back down a little bit. Now my adrenaline is a little bit under control.”

 

But is the swelling in Shockey’s ankle? The Giants certainly need Shockey, who this season caught a team-high 66 passes and was selected to his fourth Pro Bowl in five NFL seasons. Those catches accounted for 623 yards and a career-high-tying seven touchdowns.

 

When the Giants and Eagles last played on Dec. 17, Shockey led the team with eight receptions. He had two catches before hurting his ankle late in the game the following week against the Saints. That injury forced Shockey to miss the Redskins game, just as he sat out last season’s finale in Oakland, a victory that clinched the division title. Shockey returned the following week to catch three passes in the Giants’ loss to Carolina in a Wild Card game.

 

“I want to play every Sunday,” Shockey said. “I felt bad I couldn’t play last (week). It’s the nature of this sport, getting hurt. You have to deal with the injuries. It’s the one thing I don’t deal with very well. It’s getting better every day and hopefully I’ll be able to do something this week.

 

“I feel better than I did a week ago. It feels sore. It’s progressing and I’m going to take it one day at a time.”

 

Shockey said his yearning to play is not amplified because it’s a playoff game against a division rival.

 

“Whoever we face, it’s always about us in here,” Shockey said. “It’s about being smart with your body and stuff. Obviously, last week I wanted to play really bad and I felt bad about it. I’m doing everything I can to get back into it.”

 

Shockey clearly does not want to miss a Giants-Eagles game, particularly one played in January.

 

“This is definitely a game that’s got some significance,” he said. “It’s always a battle. These guys won the division this year. They are the champs of our division. We give them all the respect in the world. They’ve got great players. It’s really not about them. It’s about us – us playing well together and giving ourselves a chance to win. That’s what we’re going to do this week.”

 

It will be harder to do without Shockey. If he can’t play, the Eagles’ secondary can focus most of its attention on wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who led the Giants with 988 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Burress was limited to three catches in the final two games and he will certainly find more Eagles nearby if Shockey is not on the field to divert their attention.

 

“There’s not more pressure on me,” Burress said. “I just go out and continue to do what I’ve been doing. That’s going out and try to be as effective as I can (blocking) in the running game and go out and make big plays. I’ve had some success against those guys and I just hope that continues.”

 

Both of Burress’ 100-yard games this season were against the Eagles. On Sept. 17 in Philadelphia, he caught six passes for 114 yards, including a game-winning, 31-yard strike from Eli Manning in overtime. Three months later, Burress again caught six passes, for 120 yards. He also had a six-catch, 113-yard day that included a 61-yard touchdown against Philly on Nov. 20, 2005.

 

“I have to be ready to go out and perform and do my job,” Burress said. “They’re probably going to use some different schemes in the secondary to prevent me from making big plays. I have to go out and try to track the football and pull in those big plays if I can.”

 

NOTES

Guard Rich Seubert returned to practice after missing the last two games with a leg injury. Coughlin would not say if Seubert will step in at left guard for Grey Ruegamer, who started for the first time last week in Washington. David Diehl moved over to left tackle.

 

“We’re going to have to see how Rich is,” Coughlin said. “Rich has not played in awhile. I thought Grey played well the other night. We’re fortunate enough to have the two guys. I think that we’ll see throughout the course of the week how Rich is going to come back from a practice and whether or not he’s able to turn around and go right again. So we’ll just judge that as we go.”

 

Seubert is also listed as questionable. He and Shockey are the only Giants on the injury report.

 

Cornerback Corey Webster was placed on injured reserve yesterday because of a torn labrum in his hip that will require arthroscopic surgery, as well as a turf toe injury that has hampered him for several weeks.

 

Tiki Barber was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 234 yards and three touchdowns in Washington in his final career regular season game. Barber has announced his retirement, effective at the end of the season.

 

Barber’s 234 rushing yards are the most by a player in his final regular-season game, easily surpassing Hall of Famer Cliff Battles’ mark of 165 yards set in 1937. The 200-yard performance was the fifth of Barber’s career, moving him into sole possession of second place on the all-time lost, behind Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson. Barber’s three touchdowns were a career high. He scored on runs of 15, 55 and 50 yards and became the first player in Giants history to record two touchdown runs of at least 50 yards in the same game.

 

Barber led the Giants and finished second in the NFC with 1,662 rushing yards, the highest total by a player in his final season. The former record was held by another Hall of Famer, Jim Brown, who rushed for 1,544 yards in 1965.

 

This is Barber’s seventh career Player of the Week Award and second this season. He also won after rushing for 185 yards and catching three passes at Atlanta in Week 6. Barber was also honored in October when he was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month.

 

The other Giant to win the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week award this season was Manning, who also was selected after a big game on the road: a 371-yard, three-touchdown outing in Philadelphia.

 

Today is Manning’s 26th birthday.

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Posted
On a side notes, yesterday I was playing Madden 2007 on X-Box 360 at my friends house, I threw the ball up to Plaxico, over threw him.

 

Plaxico waved his hands in the air, I know he does that shit in real life, didn`t know he did it in X-Box.

 

... it's in the game

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