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By RICHARD LEZIN JONES
Published: June 3, 2005
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., June 2 - Once, he was the Giants' wild card, lining up anywhere on the field except where opponents expected. In his first two seasons, Jeremy Shockey would split out wide like a flanker or split end, move into the slot where he could act like a third receiver or even line up next to the tackle in the traditional spot for a tight end.
But with the arrival of Coach Tom Coughlin last year, the traditional ruled, as Shockey was called upon to work more as an in-line blocker than at any other time since he joined the Giants. As a result, he had the lowest yards-per-catch average of his three-year career.
Now, as the Giants prepare for a crucial season after two consecutive losing years, Shockey is pleading with coaches to let him run wild again, insisting that the team open up its conservative offense and allow him to be used more as a downfield receiving threat.
"We need to get more stretch in our offense besides catching little itty-bitty 5-, 6-yard yard passes," Shockey said on Thursday, the second day of the Giants' three-day minicamp. "Everybody knows that; it's not a mystery. Everybody knows that in order to have a good offense you have to stretch the field."
Last season, the Giants' offense finished 23rd over all in the N.F.L. and 26th in passing, numbers that can be attributed largely to the installation of a new system and the turbulence and growing pains that accompanied Eli Manning's elevation to starting quarterback in Week 11.
Shockey, who had called for the ball more often early last season, but later backed off those remarks, said on Thursday that he believed the Giants could improve on those statistics this season because of three factors: Manning's development, greater familiarity with the playbook by all of the offensive players and the addition of receiver Plaxico Burress through free agency.
Shockey said he hoped that with established receivers in Burress and Amani Toomer, the Giants could force defensive coaches to pick their poison. "We all could work together," Shockey said, adding that if they were on the same page, "we can definitely stretch the field and help each other."
Shockey did not shrink from taking his share of the blame for some of the Giants' struggles on offense last year. His numbers - a team-leading 61 receptions and a career-high six touchdowns, but only 10.9 yards a reception - reflect what Shockey concedes was a mixed year.
However, he is hopeful that this season he can return to the form that he showed as a rookie in 2002, when his speed and 6-foot-5, 252-pound frame made him seem like a prototype for the tight-end position.
But after an uneven two years, in which his development seemed slowed by injuries and maddeningly ill-timed drops, Shockey appeared to slide from the ranks of the N.F.L.'s elite tight ends.
He wants to return to that club. "I'm not trying to be average," he said, adding, "I want to win, that's the most important part, but I want to be on the list with the top tight ends because I know in my heart I'm just as good as they are."
This spring, Shockey was absent from the Giants' voluntary workout program. But he said his decision to train with his former college teammates at the University of Miami was another way to help him find his former playing self.
"I just kind of went back to the basics," he said.
Although Manning and Coughlin expressed dismay over Shockey's decision to stay in Miami, Shockey played down the significance of his absence and even said that he was no longer vexed by Coughlin's rules and demanding coaching style. "Be there five minutes early," Shockey said, invoking one of Coughlin's most sacred edicts. "You don't even have to think about it now - it's all in your head."
Coughlin, speaking with reporters before Shockey's remarks during a lunch break, praised his development into a complete tight end who can catch as well as block. "And, of course, he's a nice vertical threat up the field," Coughlin said.
One play near the end of practice on Thursday indicated that might be more than just rhetoric. Shockey lined up in the slot position like a third wide receiver, sprinted off the line of scrimmage and cut to his left on a post route.
Quarterback Tim Hasselbeck threw a crisp spiral that Shockey hauled in and cradled as he sprinted for an imaginary touchdown, running wild again - for one play at least.
EXTRA POINTS
The Jets announced the signing of defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson to a three-year contract extension. Last season, Henderson's first as coordinator, the Jets' defense finished seventh over all and had the N.F.L.'s fifth-best run defense, after having the league's fifth worst in 2003.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/03/sports/football/03giants.html?pagewanted=all
Published: June 3, 2005
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., June 2 - Once, he was the Giants' wild card, lining up anywhere on the field except where opponents expected. In his first two seasons, Jeremy Shockey would split out wide like a flanker or split end, move into the slot where he could act like a third receiver or even line up next to the tackle in the traditional spot for a tight end.
But with the arrival of Coach Tom Coughlin last year, the traditional ruled, as Shockey was called upon to work more as an in-line blocker than at any other time since he joined the Giants. As a result, he had the lowest yards-per-catch average of his three-year career.
Now, as the Giants prepare for a crucial season after two consecutive losing years, Shockey is pleading with coaches to let him run wild again, insisting that the team open up its conservative offense and allow him to be used more as a downfield receiving threat.
"We need to get more stretch in our offense besides catching little itty-bitty 5-, 6-yard yard passes," Shockey said on Thursday, the second day of the Giants' three-day minicamp. "Everybody knows that; it's not a mystery. Everybody knows that in order to have a good offense you have to stretch the field."
Last season, the Giants' offense finished 23rd over all in the N.F.L. and 26th in passing, numbers that can be attributed largely to the installation of a new system and the turbulence and growing pains that accompanied Eli Manning's elevation to starting quarterback in Week 11.
Shockey, who had called for the ball more often early last season, but later backed off those remarks, said on Thursday that he believed the Giants could improve on those statistics this season because of three factors: Manning's development, greater familiarity with the playbook by all of the offensive players and the addition of receiver Plaxico Burress through free agency.
Shockey said he hoped that with established receivers in Burress and Amani Toomer, the Giants could force defensive coaches to pick their poison. "We all could work together," Shockey said, adding that if they were on the same page, "we can definitely stretch the field and help each other."
Shockey did not shrink from taking his share of the blame for some of the Giants' struggles on offense last year. His numbers - a team-leading 61 receptions and a career-high six touchdowns, but only 10.9 yards a reception - reflect what Shockey concedes was a mixed year.
However, he is hopeful that this season he can return to the form that he showed as a rookie in 2002, when his speed and 6-foot-5, 252-pound frame made him seem like a prototype for the tight-end position.
But after an uneven two years, in which his development seemed slowed by injuries and maddeningly ill-timed drops, Shockey appeared to slide from the ranks of the N.F.L.'s elite tight ends.
He wants to return to that club. "I'm not trying to be average," he said, adding, "I want to win, that's the most important part, but I want to be on the list with the top tight ends because I know in my heart I'm just as good as they are."
This spring, Shockey was absent from the Giants' voluntary workout program. But he said his decision to train with his former college teammates at the University of Miami was another way to help him find his former playing self.
"I just kind of went back to the basics," he said.
Although Manning and Coughlin expressed dismay over Shockey's decision to stay in Miami, Shockey played down the significance of his absence and even said that he was no longer vexed by Coughlin's rules and demanding coaching style. "Be there five minutes early," Shockey said, invoking one of Coughlin's most sacred edicts. "You don't even have to think about it now - it's all in your head."
Coughlin, speaking with reporters before Shockey's remarks during a lunch break, praised his development into a complete tight end who can catch as well as block. "And, of course, he's a nice vertical threat up the field," Coughlin said.
One play near the end of practice on Thursday indicated that might be more than just rhetoric. Shockey lined up in the slot position like a third wide receiver, sprinted off the line of scrimmage and cut to his left on a post route.
Quarterback Tim Hasselbeck threw a crisp spiral that Shockey hauled in and cradled as he sprinted for an imaginary touchdown, running wild again - for one play at least.
EXTRA POINTS
The Jets announced the signing of defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson to a three-year contract extension. Last season, Henderson's first as coordinator, the Jets' defense finished seventh over all and had the N.F.L.'s fifth-best run defense, after having the league's fifth worst in 2003.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/03/sports/football/03giants.html?pagewanted=all