Not Coming Off It

For those of you who want to see more of Brandon Jacobs than you already have, don't hold your breath. Tom Coughlin said he's committed to the Jacobs-Bradshaw rotation, which now apparently includes Danny Ware to some extent.

When asked whether it was fitting that Jacobs, running at a 6.1-yard per carry average yesterday, got the ball only 11 times, Coughlin only allowed that perhaps 15 would have been more appropriate. We at Ernie Palladino's Giants Beat, however, have long maintained that Jacobs needs to carry between 20 and 25 times for the offense to get the full impact of his contributions, whether he's gaining large chunks of yards or not. So it was curious to hear Coughlin offer such a low number on his carries.

"The rotation is going to take place," Coughlin said. "We did end up with 29 runs, which is good. And Brandon was the back in the game there after (Terrell Thomas' interception).

"I would hope it would be 15 (carries) at six yards a carry, but we're going to continue to utilize all the backs we can. Funny, you guys weren't talking about this a couple of weeks ago when he wasn't playing that well."

Actually, we were. But back then, we were wondering where the real Brandon Jacobs had gone, and whether Ahmad Bradshaw had supplanted him as the featured back. Now that he seems back to his old self, the question becomes how much to use him. And we say, "a lot," if only because of his ability to wear down the defense in the late going.

EP