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S Michael Johnson wasn't wearing pads for a second consecutive practice, but he said he did a few things. Non-contact, of course. And he fully expects to be in the secondary come Sunday.

"Of course," he said.

The burner he suffered last week is still nagging him a bit. But he said he felt better today than yesterday, which is a good sign. Can't substitute mental reps for the real thing, however. But Johnson is an aggressive enough player that he can make up for a lot of tactical mistakes with speed and hustle.

As for the possibility of starting, fellow starting safety Kenny Phillips said it's a sure thing.

"Oh, he's definitely going to be out there," Phillips said. "Michael's a tough guy. He wouldn't miss a game for the world."

Speaking of Phillips, he and his troublesome left knee took a full practice after doing limited work the day before. Tom Coughlin said he looked good and moved well. He even made a two or three interceptions.

"He was all over the place," Coughlin said.

Meanwhile, Phillips said the training staff will continue managing the knee. He admitted it could come to sitting out one practice every week. But it's too early to lock into that.

"It's something we've got to monitor," Phillips said. "It's just hard to say. The training staff and coaches did a good job monitoring my situation. They gave my a physical day off yesterday. It wasn't a mental day off, so when I was able to go out there today I could go full speed, I took advantage of it."

As for taking days off, he's not really looking forward to that. But things are what they are.

"I have to talk to the trainers and see how they want to do it," Phillips said. "Right now, that's how it is."

EP