ALBANY – Leadership takes on many forms and doesn’t always have to be trumpeted. Eli Manning is never going to lead with his mouth, but he did make a statement yesterday with his legs.
First, he attracted hoots and howls from teammates after scrambling on a busted play, and later Manning could be seen running a penalty lap after practice. Manning wasn’t required to do so, but he said he had “a mental lapse for one little play” early and out of almost everyone’s sight, but he used the honor system to punish himself. “I didn’t want to take any heat,” Manning said, “and I can use the conditioning also.”
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Will Demps, demoted to a backup safety spot as James Butler works with the first team, said the competition for a starting job has just begun. “My track record speaks for myself,” Demps said. … Mathias Kiwanuka, making the transition to strong side LB, was beaten badly on long completions to Jeremy Shockey and Darcy Johnson.
… New LT David Diehl had his share of struggles in the morning with DE Osi Umenyiora. … Rookie TE Kevin Boss made a nifty grab of a Jared Lorenzen pass, reaching out and over SS Michael Stone.
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It was a rough start of training camp for RB Brandon Jacobs before he even got here. First, he had to leave behind his wife, Kim, and five-month old son, Brayden.
“You ever see a grown man cry?” Jacobs asked. “You seen me cry, I’m not going to lie. I don’t think I can leave my boy again. It was tough for me.”
And then, Jacobs hopped in his car and proceeded to get pulled over for speeding on Route 17.
“He didn’t give me a ticket,” Jacobs said. “The guy was nice. They run your plates, it’s not like they don’t know who you are. He was like, ‘Oh my God, you better run the ball this year.’ I said ‘That’s what you pulled me over for?’