Going Back To Work

Eli Manning said he expects to play Saturday in Baltimore, but how long will be left up to Tom Coughlin.

For now, he's just happy to be back at practice, even if it involves wearing just a baseball cap.

"It’s no fun sitting out in our practices last week," Manning said. "Last week was a short week and I didn’t miss too much. I like being out there for the games, and it’s preseason so just trying to be smart and get it to healed up now where you have a little time so you don’t have to keep dealing with it week after week."

Manning said he hasn't tried putting on a helmet yet, but that could come Wednesday. The 12 stitches in his forehead came out last week, and he has mostly left the wound exposed to the air for healing purposes. But once he puts the helmet on, he'll undoubtedly have an extra pad in there to keep the gash from re-opening.

"It really stayed open," Manning said. "I put a little Band-Aid on before I went out. The walk through, I’ll have a little bandage on today just because I’m wearing my hat and don’t want any rubbing or anything. But basically since Friday, it’s been open and just letting it kind of heal on its own.

"I mean it feels fine. The stitches are out. I’m not wearing a helmet today for practice so I’ll just be in a hat. It feels fine. It’s not hurting. It’s closed so as long as I don’t get hit today I should be all right."

As for getting the helmet back on, Manning said it's still in the planning stages.

"Well we’ll work with it," he said. "We’ll get a little plan. I haven’t put a helmet on yet, but kind of plan to put the helmet on Wednesday. We’ll figure out a best the plan to get it protected."

EP