ALBANY – Early during yesterday’s Giants practice, three passes were thrown in the direction of receiver Plaxico Burress, one after another. It was the first time Burress had a football sent his way since Aug. 2, when he sprained his right ankle.
Burress was able to return to the field with four practice sessions remaining in training camp, trying to run out the rust in time for Saturday night’s preseason game against the Jets.
“This is probably the best I’m going to feel at this point, so I’m going to go out and give it a push,” Burress said. “It’s going to be sore for a while, it’s going to be something I’m going to have to fight through.
“I think I’m fortunate to have a chance to go back out there. Everybody knows you got to take the bumps and bruises along the way. As long as you can keep your head level at times like this . . . you can get a little bit frustrated, you just got to keep fighting. I’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of me because I’ve missed going into three weeks.”
Burress is from the Virginia Beach area and considers Michael Vick a friend, making Vick’s impending guilty plea on dog fighting charges difficult to watch from afar.
“Mike’s a great friend of mine – I love him to death – it’s unfortunate what he’s going through,” Burress said. “I tried to [call Vick] a few times; I really wouldn’t expect to talk to him at a time like this, he’s going through something that’s demeaning to him and his family.”
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CB Sam Madison said his pulled left hamstring is not nearly as severe as the injury he had last season that kept him out of four games, but Madison isn’t likely to return any time soon. “I’m not putting any timetable on it,” Madison said. In his place, CB Corey Webster worked with the starting defense.
TE Jeremy Shockey experienced tightness in his left hamstring during Sunday’s game against the Ravens and sat out practice yesterday. It doesn’t sound as if he will be ready to work today. . . . Rookie WR Steve Smith was on the field two days after suffering a concussion while catching a TD pass in his first game. DT Jonas Seawright (concussion) was not cleared. WR Sinorice Moss (ankle) was out again.
