Dockery and Ross

A few more updates for you.

Don't expect to see CB Aaron Ross anytime soon, at least not in Dallas. That hamstring isn't progressing, and he's getting extremely frustrated.

"You feel like an outsider looking in," Ross said the day after Terrell Thomas took his place at right cornerback. "I'm trying to stay positive. But I don't know how much longer it'll take. It's very frustrating."

What makes matters even worse is that Ross took the same platelet-rich blood therapy that speeded defensive tackle Chris Canty's hamstring to health. He said he feels a difference in the pre- and post-therapy muscle, but not significant enough to get him out of the rehab circle and into practice.

"Chris was telling me how good he felt," Ross said. "I begged the doctors to do it. I'm willing to try any treatment that gets me out there."

As far as Dockery goes, he thinks his own hamstring might be ready for Dallas. Holding him out after a slight setback last week was more of a precaution, he said.

"I'm feeling good," Dockery said. "I'm hopeful I can go Wednesday. It was definitely a smart thing to do to take that extra week."

Meanwhile, Tom Coughlin will be happy just to get one of them back this week. But he's taking a wait-and-see approach.

"We are hoping," he said. "But these things – I’m too far along to be speculating on that kind of stuff, to be honest with you. We have a day tomorrow where we can take them out and work with them and maybe run them and see what that is going to be like. But until we go on the practice field, until we see those guys work, I’m not going to speculate."

No need for great worries yet. Both Thomas and rookie nickelback Bruce Johnson did credible jobs. Johnson, in particular, made a shoestring tackle on Clinton Portis that saved a huge gain, perhaps even a touchdown. And that opened Coughlin's eyes.

"I was proud of him; I really was," Coughlin said. "He was competitive as heck and he showed me outstanding mental toughness. He may not have realized it but it was a pretty big game. He walked right out there and went right to work – tackled the runner, was in the right place the majority of the time."

My guess is that Dockery gets back in there against Dallas.

EP