Michael Vick breaks his hand against the Giants Sunday. (AP)

Posted by Will Brinson

Here's the good news -- Michael Vick's right hand is broken. The bad news, of course, is that he has a broken hand. The Eagles quarterback suffered the injury in Philadelphia and was replaced by backup Mike Kafka.

Kafka's first pass was, unfortunately, an interception. And given the state of the game -- the Eagles are struggling mightily in the red zone, Vick looked horribly inaccurate to begin with, and the Giants are, you know, winning -- this is horrible news for Eagles fans.

And the Eagles -- this is the second-straight game that Vick's left because of injury, which would be considered fluky except the biggest knock on Vick is that it's difficult to stay healthy playing the way he plays.

Exacerbating that fact is the Eagles porous offensive line which has been heavily exposed by a ferocious Giants front four.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Michael Vick suffered a concussion on Sunday night in Atlanta, and that put his status for Week 3's game against the Giants in serious jeopardy. Good news for everyone involved -- well, except Tom Coughlin, but he expected it -- since Vick appears prepped to start Sunday, as he's at Eagles practice on Thursday, taking snaps with his helmet on.

Vick was "symptom-free" earlier in the week, but the Eagles wouldn't confirm that he'd play, mainly because of the potential for regression and the possibility that he could display symptoms later.

With the Giants banged up, Andy Reid actually has an interesting quandary on his hands.

As Pat Kirwan notes in our preview below, Reid could always run backup Mike Kafka, who looked good in relief action against the Falcons, out as the starter this week and use Vick only if and win the Eagles struggled.


Of course as Pat also notes, Vick is very likely to start -- Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer correctly points out that Vick returning to practice as early as Thursday is a "clear sign" that Reid intends to play him against the Giants.

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Posted by Will Brinson

If you value your personal health, here's some professional advice: don't play football for the New York Giants. Tom Coughlin's squad suffered another season-ending injury today, when they announced that wide receiver Domenik Hixon would miss the rest of the year with a torn ACL.

Hixon, you might recall, made an outstandingly awesome circus catch in the end zone to close out the first half. Unfortunately, that's when he tore his ACL as well -- Hixon limped off the field and didn't return from the half.

It's the second-straight year his season ends with a torn ACL.

The loss is tremendous for the Giants, who use him on special teams and, obviously at wideout. With Mario Manningham suffering a concussion and Hakeem Nicks still banged up, Eli Manning's receiving corps looks dangerously thin at the moment.

Veteran Brandon Stokely and second-year wideout Victor Cruz (who had a crucial drop on a third down against the Rams) will have to step up as injuries continue to mount for the Giants.

The timing of Hixon's injury couldn't be worse, either, as they're slated to go against division rival Philadelphia this week. Yes, the same Eagles team that currently employees Steve Smith, one-time leading wide receiver for the Giants.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Following his departure Sunday night due to a concussion, there was much concern that Eagles quarterback Michael Vick might be absent.

As it is right now, though, things look pretty good -- Vick didn't show any symptoms of a concussion after taking the NFL's baseline test on Wednesday and participated in the Eagles walkthrough even though he didn't participate in practice. 

Still, that doesn't mean that Vick is necessarly cleared for Sunday's game against the Giants quite yet.

"It's hard to give you the future because you have to do things the right way and go through the process," coach Andy Reid said.

Additionally, just because Vick didn't show symptoms Wednesday doesn't mean they can't pop up in the future, as trainer Rick Burkholder noted, adding that Vick would visit an indepedent neurologist in the next day or so.

"Just because he doesn't have symptoms today doesn't mean he won't have symptoms tomorrow," Burkholder said. "You can't predict."

Beause Vick was absent, backup Mike Kafka reportedly took most of the first-team snaps during practice. It's also believed that Vince Young will be cleared to play sooner rather than later.

"We're pretty fortunate to have three quarterbacks who can play the game," Reid said. "My message to all three of them was: 'Get ready accordingly."'

Tom Coughlin, on the other hand, is just preparing for Vick. The Giants said on a conference call Tuesday that he fully expects to see Vick on the field come Sunday.

"I expect Michael Vick will play and if he can play, I am sure he will," Coughlin said.

The issue, of course, is whether Vick is even allowed to play. Before he can step foot on the practice field, the quarterback must clear a battery of concussion tests administered by an indepedent doctor, per the NFL concussion protocol.

If Vick doesn't show any further concussion symptoms, he'll have been clear since Wednesday, which means he can return to practice on Friday.

Week 3 NFL Preview

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Provided Vick has cleared the tests and provided he'll play, it's not surprising to anyone, especially the two coaches involved. Clearly Coughlin never thought about gameplanning with Vick not playing in mind, and it's highly unlikely that Andy Reid did either.

"He remembered everything," Reid said about talking with Vick after the game. "He recalled everything. I tried to quiz him and see where he was at. He was frustrated that he wasn't able to finish. He had a vested interest in finishing."

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Antrel Rolle thinks Giants beat 'Skins 95 times out of 100. (US PRESSWIRE)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

Silver lining for Giants fans: according to safety Antrel Rolle, if New York played Washington 100 times, they'd win 95 of them. Dark cloud: Sunday's 28-14 no-show performance included one of the five losses. Appearing on WFAN 660 Tuesday, Rolle offered up his analysis when asked what coach Tom Coughlin's message was to the team following their impotent effort against the Redskins.

“His message was something that I think that we all understand," Rolle said, according to NorthJersey.com. "His message was definitely something that we all understand, something that we all can relate to. We as a team and as an organization, we know that the Washington Redskins is not a better than us. We know that hands down. If we played them 100 times, they might win five.

“And they won that day. And it never leaves a good taste in your mouth when you lose to an opponent that you know you’re better than. And we understood where things went wrong. I don’t think we played a good game at all as a team. I don’t think that we played good on special teams, on defense or on offense.”

We don't have any problem with Rolle's comments -- he should think the Giants are better than their opponent even if it's not true. And let's be honest, even with a boatload of injuries, New York was facing Rex Grossman. As a defense, you always have a chance for a big play if Grossman's under center. At least that used to be the case. Grossman's looked like Good Rex for much of the preseason and he was efficient and accurate against the Giants Sunday. The fear, of course, is that Bad Rex can take over Grossman's body without much warning and a perfectly good outing can quickly turn into a four-interception afternoon.

Even Rolle, perhaps grudgingly, acknowledged that Good Rex showed up in Week 1.

“He moved around the pocket pretty well. Rex looked very comfortable in the offense that he was running. Do I think that’s going to be the case next time around? Absolutely not. But on that given day, they were the better team. There’s nothing else you can say about it.”

And then Rolle went on to say more, conceding that losing key players to injuries certainly didn't help the Giants' chances.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. We understand the caliber of guys that we lost. That goes first and foremost. But at the same time, the game still has to be played. We’re still going out there to complete. We’re still going out there to try to get a win. I don’t care if it’s the six-stringer in there or it’s the All-Pro in there, I expect the game to be played at the end of the day. … We don’t hold pity on ourselves because no one else is going to."

For now, the Giants are 0-1 against Good Rex. Next up: the St. Louis Rams, another team hit hard by injuries.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Each Saturday, we’ll take the best -- and most clever -- odds collected by bodog.com for the upcoming week and give our take. This is important stuff, perhaps the most important post you’ll read all week. Because if you can’t lose money while watching a game in which you have absolutely no effect, what’s the point of watching sports at all?

Top-five Super Bowl picks

New England Patriots 11/2 
     
Green Bay Packers 7/1

Philadelphia Eagles 15/2  
    
San Diego Chargers 11/1

New Orleans Saints 12/1

Bottom-five Super Bowl picks

Cleveland Browns 100/1

Washington Redskins 100/1 
             
Carolina Panthers 125/1

Cincinnati Bengals 150/1

Buffalo Bills 150/1

The big change in the Super Bowl odds has to do with Peyton Manning and the Colts. Bodog’s head oddsmaker Adam Young explains: "When someone as important to a team as Peyton Manning is questionable for one or more games to start a season we are almost forced to pull down their season win total and divisional odds and in turn those of the Texans.  We have left up the Super Bowl odds with the Colts moving up from 16-1 to 20-1 and the Texans down from 28-1 to 20-1."

So, my advice: don’t put your money on the Colts. Instead, I’d put your money on New Orleans to win the whole thing.

Will Tiki Barber play in a game in the 2011 regular season? 
       
Yes 3/1   

Nope. Only the Dolphins have thought enough of Barber to give him a workout, and we’re not flabbergasted enough to think that somebody else will be that desperate to give him another chance.

Who will be the first coach fired in the 2011 regular season? 

Jack Del Rio 3/1

Tony Sparano 7/2

Gary Kubiak 11/2

Marvin Lewis 15/2

Tom Coughlin 15/2

Mike Shanahan 10/1

Norv Turner 10/1

Lovie Smith 12/1

Andy Reid 15/1

Field 2/1

You have to think the decision to release David Garrard and start Luke McCown until Blaine Gabbert is ready to play will seal Del Rio’s fate. At least with Garrard as the starter and with Manning out for the time being, you’d think the Jaguars would have a chance at the postseason and the chance to save Del Rio’s chance. There’s no chance now.

Terrelle Pryor -- total starts at quarterback in the 2011 regular season  
    
Over ½ (+110)

Under ½  (-140)

It’s the Raiders. Of course you go with the over.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Remember the last time an NFL player did an interview with Men's Journal? Yeah, that went pretty well for James Harrison.

Plaxico Burress may be in some similarly hot water over his interview with the magazine, scheduled for the October 2011 issue, though at least he's only ripping the guys he worked with while playing for the Giants.

Tom Coughlin is the primary object of Burress' scorn, in case you weren't aware that they didn't get along while working with each other.

"He's not a real positive coach," Burress said. "You look around the league, the Raheem Morrises and Rex Ryans — when their player makes a mistake, they take 'em to the side and say, 'We'll get 'em next time.' But Coughlin's on the sideline going crazy, man. I can't remember one time when he tried to talk a player through not having a day he was having."

OK, so it's not exactly breaking news that Coughlin can yell a lot or rub players the wrong way. In fact, it's kind of his M.O. Plax's biggest beef seems to be the way he handled his -- ahem -- "situation."

"After my situation happened, I turned on the TV, and the first words out his mouth was 'sad and disappointing,'" Burress said. "I'm like, forget support — how about some concern? I did just have a bullet in my leg. And then I sat in his office, and he pushed back his chair and goes, 'I'm glad you didn’t kill anybody!' Man, we're paid too much to be treated like kids. He doesn't realize that we’re grown men and actually have kids of our own."

Plaxico's Predicament

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First off, salary and maturity can absolutely be mutually exclusive. Just ask Lindsey Lohan.

Secondly, if your future job security and success is tied to a group of men and some of those men misbehave in a (technically) criminal way, and you're the type of guy who loves discipline, you are going to be sad and disappointed. In short: I'm not entirely sure what Plaxico wants from Coughlin and/or expects him to do. He's Tom Coughlin.

But he's also got some beef with Manning who, apparently, was the only player on the Giants not to shake Plax's hand when the receiver visited the Giants this past offseason.

"I was always his biggest supporter, even days he wasn't on, ’cause I could sense he didn’t have thick skin," Burress said. “Then I went away, and I thought he would come see me, but nothing, not a letter, in two years. I don’t want to say it was a slap in the face, but I thought our relationship was better than that."

I mean, maybe it was awkward because Plax and Eli used to really good friends and then he, you know, went to jail. Ever had a friend go to jail? The first time you see them isn't all "What's up bro?!?!" and whatnot. It's actually kind of awkward.

Whatever, the real point of the matter is that Plax is stirring up some unnecessary controversy, just like the last time he did an interview.

Brutal honesty is cool. Baring your soul is necessary for everyone.

But it's not necessary in the context of a magazine feature, even if the whole idea behind said feature is redemption and change and Burress' struggles over the past few years.

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

When it comes to injuries, the Giants haven't caught a break this preseason. There was Osi Umenyiora's well publicized knee ("Is he hurt? Is he faking? Oh, it is legit…"), and the team lost cornerback Terrell Thomas last week when he blew out his ACL. There's also first-round pick, cornerback Prince Amukamara (broken foot), second-round pick, defensive tackle Marvin Austin (torn pectoral muscle), and now we can add linebacker Clint Sintim's name to the list.

Sintim, a 2009 second-rounder, suffered a ruptured patella tendon in his right knee during Thursday's meaningless preseason game against the Patriots and he will be out for the year. This comes nine months after he tore his ACL against the Rams last December.

His teammate Michael Boley called it “heartbreaking” and head coach Tom Coughlin called it “devastating," according to the New York Daily News' Ralph Vacchiano.

“You’ve got to feel badly for a guy that’s coming back off a serious knee (injury),” Coughlin said after the game. “Works his tail off, really didn’t say a word the whole preseason, just did what he had to do, worked on the field. And then to see that happen tonight. It was devastating.”

Sintim has struggled to stay healthy during his short NFL career. “It’s tough, especially when you know what he went through over the course of this offseason,” Boley said. “Then something terrible like this happens again, it’s heartbreaking.”

Unfortunately Sintim is familiar with the rehab process. “That’s the way football is,” he said, via Vacchiano. “I’m going to give myself a couple of days and I’m going to get back on the grind.”

“He’ll bounce back,” Coughlin added. "But to have to go through what he’s got to go through again in terms of the rehab, etc., we feel real bad for Clint.”

Sintim's injury could pave the way for Mark Herzlich to backdoor his way onto the roster. The former BC standout and cancer survivor was signed as an undrafted free agent in late July, though the New York Post's Paul Schwartz writes that Herzlich is still a long shot for the final 53.

"Staying around won't be easy. Another undrafted rookie linebacker, Spencer Paysinger, started [against the Patriots Thursday night] as the Giants went exclusively with backups. Two other rookies, Greg Jones and Jacquian Williams, got on the field on defense before Herzlich; Williams was a terror with three sacks. In the cruel reality of football, Clint Sintim, went down in the third quarter with a season-ending right knee injury. That roster spot might now belong to Herzlich, a sinister irony. When Herzlich was receiving cancer treatments, he often spoke with Sintim, then a linebacker at Virginia."

"I feel really badly for him," Herzlich said. "I told him we've been through worse, man. It's all about coming back and keeping your mind on the goal."

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