Excited about the idea of the Giants feasting upon rookie quarterback Matt Barkley?
Calm down.
Multiple reports indicate Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who has missed the last two games after he strained his left hamstring running against the Giants, will return to the lineup and start Sunday when the Eagles face the Giants at Lincoln Financial Field.
Vick took the first-team reps during Tuesday’s practice and said he was “optimistic’’ he would be able to play Sunday. “I wish I could give you a definitive answer,’’ he said on the team’s website, “but I can’t right now.’’
Vick was injured late in the first half of the Eagles 36-21 victory on Oct. 6, and his replacement, Nick Foles, shredded the Giants in the second half. Foles started the past two games, but was forced out of Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys with a concussion. Barkley, in his first NFL action, replaced Foles and was dreadful, throwing three fourth-quarter interceptions.
In the first encounter, Vick hurt the Giants with his legs, rushing seven times for 79 yards. He only completed six of his 14 passes for 105 yards. The Eagles are 2-3 in games started by Vick this season.
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Did finally winning a game relieve the pressure on the Giants? Not quite, insists Antrel Rolle. “I think the pressure is on now more than ever,” Rolle said Tuesday during his weekly WFAN spot. “In my eyes we have to win out. That’s the way I look at it, I’m sure that’s the way our team looks at it.’’
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Center David Baas likely has a strained medial collateral ligament, a knee injury that figures to keep him out several weeks. … The Giants have allowed three punt returns for touchdowns this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the most given up the by Giants since 1959, when four opponents scored on punt returns. Each of the punt returns was at least 80 yards, the first time the Giants have ever allowed three 80-plus yard returns in the same season. The last team to do it was the 1968 Jets.
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Tom Coughlin did not think WR Hakeem Nicks reinjured his dislocated left middle finger after dropping a pass versus the Vikings. “If he did, he kept it to himself,’’ Coughlin said. … Josh Freeman’s 37.7 completion percentage was the lowest against the Giants since two days before Christmas in 2007, when in the rain, wind and snow in Buffalo, Bills quarterback Trent Edwards hit 34.6 percent of his passes (9-of-26). … Rolle insists his hit on WR Jerome Simpson, ruled a 15-yard personal foul, was “absolutely not a penalty’’ and said he will appeal if he is fined. “Once I got home and I watched the game again last night, I saw that I hit him with my shoulder blade and he actually ducked into the hit because I was pretty high,’’ Rolle said.