So much of the conversation this week leading up to Sunday’s first-place showdown with the Cowboys involves the Giants’ ability to improve their coverage on Dallas tight end Jason Witten, a player who ravaged them in the season-opening 45-35 loss.
There was a time when that sort of talk centered on Jeremy Shockey, the Giants’ own tight end, who is no longer as productive as the top pass-catching players at his position.
“I was used at that point at one time in my career,” Shockey said yesterday. “I’m sure other people were jealous. Obviously there’s only a couple of people who can do it every years, like Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates. I’m not jealous at all, there’s no reason to be jealous.”
Shockey remains a vital part of the Giants’ passing attack. He’s second on the team in receptions (31, six fewer than Plaxico Burress) and receiving yards (358, three yards more than Amani Toomer). Shockey also has two touchdown catches. The numbers pale in comparison with the first half of Witten’s season, as he leads the Cowboys in receptions (45), sits behind Terrell Owens in yardage (617) and has five touchdowns.
“I’ve always respected how he plays,” Shockey said. “We talk all the time on the phone, he’s an exceptional player.”
But Shockey deflected the notion that there’s a competitive fire to show himself to be the best tight end on the field this weekend at Giants Stadium.
“He’s a great player, I’m not really competing him against me, the race is against myself, not against anyone else,” he said. “It’s not about me, it’s about the whole team. I’m going to say all the right things in this interview. My time, everyone’s time will come, you’ll have a time to make a play in the game and when your number’s called you got to be accountable and make it.”
Shockey has developed into more of a classic tight end, with full-fledged blocking responsibilities. Last Sunday night, as the Cowboys mauled the Eagles 38-17. Witten on national television came up with a highlight-film play in the fourth quarter. He caught a pass on the Eagles 35-yard line and had his helmet knocked off in a collision, but he didn’t go down, rumbling helmet-less until he was finally tackled at the 6-yard line.
It was the sort of play that once endeared Shockey to Giants fans.
“It’s a great play,” Shockey said. “They showed it on every TV station. I was watching the History Channel and they showed it.”
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After taking part in a limited portion of practice for the first time since mid-September, Burress yesterday did not work, resting his sprained right ankle. “We didn’t expect him to,” Tom Coughlin said. “He is a little bit sore but that was to be expected.” . . . RB Derrick Ward (groin) and WR Steve Smith (hamstring) remain out. . . . Coughlin shot down a suggestion that the Giants are turning this into a make-or-break game. “We are not doing that at all,” he said. “We are assuming that we have eight games to go. This is an important game.”