T-Rock's Take: Inside the Giants

We were all huddled around Feely today, hearing him speak the same way he's spoken since a few minutes after that debacle in Seattle on Nov. 27 -- clearly, confidently and concisely. Few fans may care what a kicker has to say about his team in general, or life in general -- and if he misses three more potentail game-winning kicks on Sunday, the fans won't have to worry about him, because he'll be gone -- but Feely is an astute observer.

Outside the locker room, that means he's got an eye on trying to make people aware that life is a series of object lessons and how we handle them can help (or hurt) others. "You don't always get a chance to show people how you deal with failure," he said today, and I can follow that up by saying you don't always hear someone in a pro locker room quoting Hubert Humphrey ("Smooth water never made a great sailor.").

The most interesting thing Feely said was in private to me, after everyone had gone. He said that Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress had "a breakthrough" on the field in Philly, the sort of connection that could lead to a playing relationship that Eli's brother and Marvin Harrison have in Indy. That game-winning play was one where QB and WR looked at each other and that's all it took; Plax went from yelling at the O-line on the sidelines in the first half to heaving the ball into the stands after catching the winning TD.

If Feely's right, then it's a huge moment for the Giants. Burress walks that fine line between productive play-maker and independent malcontent, and he could have been lost had there been no comeback.

Jeremy Shockey (ankle) didn't practice today and it's doubtful he'll do much of anything before Sunday. When I'm sure he'll play.