Agony of the foot? Not a problem, Ahmad Bradshaw says.
Once fearful he might miss the rest of the reason with a broken bone in his right foot, the Giants leading rusher is now predicting a return for the Nov. 28 Monday night game at New Orleans.
“Yeah, I’m comfortable enough to say I’m going to try to go [against the Saints],” said Bradshaw, who has missed the past two games and isn’t expected to play in Sunday’s showdown at home with the rival Eagles.
Bradshaw, who already has a screw in the foot, said the fractured bone in question — located near the screw — is healing ahead of schedule despite treatment consisting of little more than rest.
Bradshaw spurned surgery to repair the break because he didn’t want to potentially end his season, and the rapid pace of his recovery tells him that was the right decision.
“I probably could [practice] now, but I want to rest it as much as I can,” he said. “I’ve surprised myself with how much progress I’ve made. Time will tell, but I think I’m going to be fine.”
The Giants haven’t officially ruled Bradshaw out for this week’s game, and neither has Bradshaw, but he appeared pessimistic about suiting up again so soon. That means Brandon Jacobs and D.J. Ware will handle the ball-carrying duties again Sunday.
The Giants certainly could use the speedy Bradshaw back in uniform, considering their running game has plummeted to a very un-Giant-like 29th in the league and is averaging just 3.3 yards per carry.
Bradshaw was averaging 4.0 yards per carry with five rushing touchdowns at the time of his injury, as well as being one of the NFL’s most effective runners inside the opponent’s 20.
“You want him to be smart about it, but the sooner he gets back, the better we’ll be,” Jacobs said of Bradshaw yesterday.
Bradshaw said he remains puzzled about how exactly the injury happened in the Giants’ 20-17 home win over the Dolphins on Oct. 30.
“From the film, it didn’t look like I got rolled up on,” he said. “I felt it when I was running off the field. I guess it’s because I run on the outside of my feet, and that puts more weight on the outside of my feet.”
Bradshaw didn’t rule out having additional foot surgery after the season, saying he “isn’t even looking that far yet,” but appeared to downplay that possibility by noting the screw doesn’t need to be replaced.
“The screw’s fine, and everything in the bone is fine,” he said.
Considering how slowly he has proceeded with rookie cornerback Prince Amukamara’s broken foot (the first-round pick has yet to play after suffering the injury in early August), coach Tom Coughlin seems likely to proceed cautiously with Bradshaw, too.
Coughlin’s caution with Bradshaw could result in the running back practicing as little as one day a week after he returns to action, a possibility Bradshaw didn’t exactly embrace yesterday.
“I’m going to play that by ear, but I love to practice and love being out there with my teammates at practice,” he said.
Bradshaw’s only obstacle at this point appears to be pain and how much of it he can tolerate.
“I can take the pain of the bone, walking around on the bone and putting the pressure on the bone,” he said.
