On Ross

Tom Coughlin has no other choice than to be patient with CB Aaron Ross, whose progression from a bad hamstring strain has moved in fits and starts, to understate the fact.

He said Ross hasn't suffered a full-fledged setback, but there are days when the muscle just doesn't feel right. He'll try practicing again next week. But of course, there are no promises he'll be back.

"Whatever the training room says we can do, we do," Coughlin said. "If it doesn’t work, we go back to the drawing board. And that is where we are.

"It is a difficult thing for Aaron. He is dealing with something that is very, very frustrating for him. And so we are very much aware that he wants to play and that he wants to be out there. Quite frankly, sometimes he looks good doing things and then all of a sudden something takes place that just puts him in a mode where he is not quite ready to go as hard as he can go. So for a day or two he is back to doing very little. And I’m sure that barring anything else that takes place, they will, again, try to put him out on the field for some work next week. And we’ll just have to see."

The biggest problem here is Ross' body type. Sure, he's a football player first. But he's got a track guy's body, and that means he's tighter wound than most players. A hamstring injury, then, is going to progress slower with him than most people. And, because of his sprinter's body type, he's going to be more attuned to the twinges that go part and parcel with hamstring pulls.

Add to that the fact that this one seemed pretty severe at the outset, and it's no wonder Ross has been out so long. Until the twinges stop, don't expect to see him on gameday.

EP