T-Rock's Take: Inside the Giants

First, the news: Simeon Rice is arriving in New York City on Tuesday for a physical on Wednesday, then a trip up here to Albany to meet with Jerry Reese.

Asked if Michael Strahan shows up before Wednesday whether Rice's visit is moot, Reese said: "Not necessarily."

Quick highlights from the afternoon practice...

In response to a couple of commenters, I would put Eli in the "Pretty Bad" catgeory for today. Yes, he wasn't to blame for the morning problems, but he made a couple off-target throws this p.m., one over Burress' head and one to a wide-open Toomer that turned him around and allowed James Butler to bust it up. He's not in the throwing rhythm that Lorenzen is, that's for sure.

Anthony Wright had the two best deep passes of the day, a 45-yard strike to Marco Thomas that left E.J. Underwood in the dust and a terrific play-action throw to Anthony Mix for a TD.

Sam Madison missed a couple plays with a cramp in his left leg, but returned.

The catch of the day goes to Rich Seubert, who ran a route on a fake field goal and made a diving catch over Mathias Kiwanuka on a throw from holder Jeff Feagles. Shades of January, 2003 in San Fran? Nah... Let's move on from that.

Now, to the comments:

Mighty -- Mitchell has shown good instincts, nearly picking off three passes in the four practices. Everyone loves this guy as a person and as a player; Wilkinson is still a work in progress. I'd say Gerris has to show a lot more to make this a real battle for the WLB spot.

Joe -- Can't say I know why Giants Online got gassed. Feel free to contact the Giants and get your own answer. I certainly enjoyed my appearances.

Ralph -- Aaron Ross has had a few good moments, but overall he looks like a rookie just getting his feet wet. Been burned a couple times and committed a couple penalties. Mix had the nice catch from Wright today, but I think after two days Brandon London has shown more athleticism.

Mike -- See above for Wilkinson. Blackburn is running MLB with the 2s and hasn't done anything eye-catching yet, though his unit's front seven has been on the ball against the run. Josh Huston made both his field-goal tries this afternoon from 30-35 yards, and his kickoffs this morning were consistently deeper than Lawrence Tynes'. Guy Whimper hasn't been terribly noticeable, which may be a good thing -- no one's blown by him yet except for Reggie Torbor, who bulled past Whimper this morning.

That's all for tonight. No practices tomorrow, but there is player availability. I'll try to have something new for you.