Giants cornerback Corey Webster yesterday was placed on season-ending injured reserve with toe and hip injuries he suffered Saturday night against the Redskins.

Webster started 10 games this season before missing four games with turf toe. He returned to face the Redskins but didn’t make it out of the game. He’s been replaced in the lineup by veteran R.W. McQuarters, with rookie Kevin Dockery moving into the nickel-back role.

Webster is the fifth Giants starter to be placed on injured reserve, joining linebacker LaVar Arrington, receiver Amani Toomer, defensive end Michael Strahan, left tackle Luke Petitgout, and kick returner Chad Morton.

To replace Webster on the roster, the Giants signed rookie cornerback R.J. Cobbs off their practice squad. Cobbs, who played at Massachusetts, was a star at Parsippany Hills High School, about a 30-minute ride from Giants Stadium.

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Tom Coughlin said if TE Jeremy Shockey (sprained ankle) needed to practice yesterday he wouldn’t have been able to take the field. Coughlin is holding out hope Shockey, one of two Giants Pro Bowl seclections (along with RB Tiki Barber), will be able to work today in some capacity. … The Giants filled the opening on their practice squad by signing DB Dennis Davis (Georgia Tech), who spent a week on the practice squad in late October. … The Eagles re-signed QBKoy Detmer, who likely will become their new holder.

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Having quarterback coach Kevin Gilbride on the sideline calling plays, as opposed to deposed offensive coordinator John Hufnagel calling plays from the press box, helps streamline the operation.

“Kevin is a great teacher,” Barber said. “He tells us specifically what we’re doing wrong and how we can correct it, but also what we do right, so he’s positively reinforcing our psyches. It is beneficial on the sidelines, because if something happens I can immediately come over and say, Kevin, they did this, we need to run that play again; if they do it again we’re gonna make a big play. That happened last week and he heeded it.”

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There’s a theory out there that the Giants, having squeezed into the playoffs with an inferior record of 8-8, have little or no pressure on them as the No. 6 seed in the NFC going into Sunday’s game against the No. 3 seed Eagles, the champions of the NFC East. The Giants do not accept that theory.

“The pressure’s just starting,” FB Jim Finn said. “There’s no such thing as the pressure’s off. ”