The offseason program starts up in two weeks, the organized team activities begin next month and a veteran minicamp arrives toward the end of June. That’s a considerable workload for the Super Bowl champion Giants, but their top running back, Ahmad Bradshaw, is expecting to sit it all out.
“I don’t plan on it,’’ Bradshaw said yesterday when asked if he will participate in the OTA practices or the minicamp. “I just want to rest as much as I can.’’
That might not be the most heartening news for the Giants as they prepare, for the first time since 2005, for a season without Brandon Jacobs in their backfield. Jacobs has signed with the 49ers, and Bradshaw, the Giants’ starting and only proven running back, is recovering from an injection procedure to his right foot.
“By the time training camp comes I want to practice every week,’’ Bradshaw said yesterday during an appearance at the opening of the new NFL Shop at Draft Store in Manhattan. “I want to start the season off right.’’
Bradshaw missed four games last season because of a stress fracture in his right foot, a break that developed despite the presence of a screw inserted in 2010 to help stabilize the bones. Back on Feb. 28, Bradshaw said he traveled to Charlotte, N.C., to see noted foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson, who removed bone marrow from Bradshaw’s hip and injected it into his right foot to help hasten the healing process of the bones.
“I feel great,’’ said Bradshaw, who admitted it was painful to have the bone marrow removed from his hip. “I feel tremendous after a month and they say it takes three months. Right now I have a lot of confidence I’ll be able to be a pound-for-pound back and be able to hold my own out there.’’
Bradshaw, if able, may be asked to carry a greater load this season now that Jacobs is gone. Even though he anticipated Jacobs’ departure, Bradshaw continues to come to grips with the exit of his good friend.
“He was a big brother, he led me through so much,’’ Bradshaw said. “He showed me so much about the game, outside the game, about saving money. To lose him — man, I’ve lost a brother in my younger days and it hurts — to go through this without him … , him not being a part of the team anymore and not go through this with me, it’s going to be tough.’’
As for replacing Jacobs, Bradshaw expressed confidence in D.J. Ware and Da’Rel Scott — practice squad back Andre Brown is suspended for the first four-regular season games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing substances — but admitted, “I have no clue what they’re going to do behind me. I’m not sure who they’ll bring in. Hopefully nobody.’’
As the Giants career receiving leader, Amani Toomer knows enough about the position and about the personnel on the roster of his former team to know that the loss of Mario Manningham is not a good thing.
“I think they’re going to miss that third play-maker,’’ Toomer said.
The Giants knew they were going to lose Manningham in free agency and they did, as he signed a two-year deal with the 49ers that could be worth as much as $7.3 million. It was not the sort of starting receiver money Manningham was seeking.
“I talked to him last week, he said the Giants didn’t come back to him,’’ Toomer said, “so I think they felt like they felt last year with Steve Smith and with Kevin Boss, that they have somebody on the roster that can fill that position.’’
Antwaun Molden, a 27-year old cornerback who played last season for the Patriots, visited yesterday with the Giants. Molden, a four-year NFL veteran, was a 2008 third-round draft pick of the Texans out of Eastern Kentucky. He will also meet with the Seahawks. … The Giants also brought in linebacker Quentin Groves, a former second-round pick of the Jaguars who spent the past two seasons with the Raiders. Groves, 27, has 22 career NFL starts.
The Giants yesterday signed Stevie Brown, a 24-year old safety. Brown, a 2010- seventh-round pick of the Raiders out of Michigan, played in 15 games as a rookie and played eight games last season for the Colts before landing on injured reserve.