Coughlin Hopeful

Tom Coughlin said Eli Manning took about half the snaps in practice and looked fine, considering.

"Well," Coughlin said, "the quarterback position – you have to make all of the exchanges and you have to drop back and you have to release the ball on time. So he did all of that."

Coughlin listed Manning as questionable, and he'll remain a gametime decision. But he'll go through the Saturday morning walk-through if his heel doesn't regress overnight.

"When he comes in in the morning we will see where he is," Coughlin said. "And if he is where I think he will be – made some progress overnight – he will come out and go through the jog through. I see no reason why he wouldn’t do that if he can."

Beyond that, Coughlin would not be pinned down to any odds on Manning playing. Nor would he indicate whether he thought sitting his starter against the lowly Raiders would be a smart idea.

"I’m not going to put any pencil to anything that someone else says," Coughlin said. "I’ve pretty much said exactly what I am going to say about this. We will evaluate him every day and if he gets to the point where the medical people think he can play and not be subject to injury, then the chances are that he would play.

"He wants to play in the worst way."

Backup David Carr sounded like he was ready to resume his spot on the bench after taking the other half of the practice snaps.

"“We split it right down the middle,” Carr said. “It was good to see him out there after being absent for the last couple of days. He looked good. His mechanics look good. It wasn’t like he was favoring it or anything. I think that was designed for him. I don’t think he wanted to come out yesterday or the day before and not look right. That would have been disheartening for everybody, including himself.”

Certainly sounds like Manning is getting ready to start. Then, the question would be how long to leave him in. If it's still a game at halftime, Manning would have to stay in the whole game unless the heel situation became unbearable. But if the Giants are blowing out the Raiders at the half, it might be wise to get him out of there and let David Carr take over for the second half.

Meanwhile, Coughlin termed TE Kevin Boss and his sprained right ankle as "doubtful." But LB Clint Sintim (groin), RB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot and ankle) and WR Domenik Hixon (knee) all practiced and looked good. LB Bryan Kehl, who practiced despite surgery on his left index finger, is out.

EP