*Coach Ben McAdoo recaps the Giants' win over the Lions after viewing the game tape: *
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Ben McAdoo opened his conference call with the media this evening by saying "our focus is on Philadelphia (where the Giants play Thursday night)." But he first discussed Janoris Jenkins and Shane Vereen, two key players who were injured yesterday in the 17-6 victory against the Detroit Lions.
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Jenkins, the cornerback who has been one of the Giants' best defensive players this season, left the game early in the second quarter after he was kneed in the back covering an incomplete Matthew Stafford pass to tight end Eric Ebron.
"It was a nasty collision," McAdoo said. "We took every precaution we could afterwards. Everything checked out. Right now it's a painful bruised back."
The coach said "it's too early to tell" if Jenkins will play in Philadelphia. If not, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is expected to play a larger role, as he did yesterday.
Vereen is officially the Giants' hard-luck injury story of the season. He tore his triceps on Sept. 25 vs. Washington and missed nine games. Vereen was activated off injured reserve on Dec. 10, but re-injured his triceps on Sunday, his second game back.
"It's unfortunate," McAdoo said. "He worked his tail off to get back to where he was. I'm disappointed for Shane."
Asked what is next for Vereen, McAdoo said, "we're going to have more to talk about on Shane moving forward. It's too early, to my knowledge, I don't know of any surgical procedures or anything needed yet. I need to speak to the training room."
The Giants held meetings and a jog through today as they began preparing for the Eagles. They can clinch a postseason berth with a victory. But McAdoo would not say if he will talk about that to give his team extra incentive.
"We're excited for the game this week," he said. "It's a division rival. You could throw the records out the window. It's going to be a physical game on a short week. We need to focus on taking care of the task at hand and focus on taking care of each day and the plan for each day. Then going out and kicking the ball off on Thursday night."
As always, McAdoo's more concerned with getting his team ready than talking about the rewards the players will derive from a particular game.
"We know (Philadelphia) and they know us," he said of facing the Eagles on a short week. "That helps and makes it very competitive. The challenges are trying to get the reps physically so guys can see it and take a look at it on their feet. You want to be smart with how much they get on their feet. We will do some things and dial the speed down a little bit. We need to makes sure we put our preparation in off the field, on the film as much as possible. Different guys learn different ways, so we need to do the best we can in tailoring the plan to the players and their learning styles. We'll keep them sticking and moving as much as we can. In and out of the meeting rooms with film and slides. Whatever we can do to help them learn."
Defensive tackle Damon Harrison said today McAdoo regularly discusses the ultimate goal - the Super Bowl - in team meetings.
"We talk about everything is out in front of us," McAdoo said. "We have to make sure we are taking care of the task at hand, and that is the important thing for us. We make sure that we focus our attention and we have to be where our feet are, especially in a week like this where every second counts. We can't waste a second of any day leading up to the ball game. We have to make sure we are where our feet are and dial into our preparation."
