ALBANY — To the Giants, it might as well have been “Hardly Knocks.”
Sorry, HBO, but the Giants didn’t tune in. At least that’s what they say.
“It wasn’t a must on anyone’s list,” center Shaun O’Hara said of Wednesday night’s “Hard Knocks” debut featuring the Jets and bleeping Rex Ryan.
“I missed it,” Eli Manning said.
It almost seemed as if the Giants were instructed to: A) not watch the show, or B) say they did not watch the show. Or maybe they simply weren’t interested. Left tackle David Diehl said he was too busy playing the “Mortal Kombat” video game with O’Hara.
“I don’t know that show,” Tom Coughlin claimed.
General manager Jerry Reese did not watch and was unaware that on the first episode his GM counterpart with the Jets, Mike Tannenbaum, was seen badly muffing a punt, falling down in the process.
“No, you won’t see me fielding any punts, probably,” said Reese, who played at Tennessee-Martin. “I’m not that curious, but if I’m flipping through the stations and it’s on, I’m sure I’ll stop and take a peek.”
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Reese said there’s been an alteration to the FieldTurf in the middle of the field at New Meadowlands Stadium after complaints that the surface was too soft.
“Instead of changing the logos every time the Jets play and the Giants play . . . we took those trays out and left the NFL logo so you don’t have to change trays and pat it down every time you change it up,” Reese said.
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WR Steve Smith said a recent MRI exam revealed nothing seriously wrong with his strained groin andhe hopes to be back on the practice field early next week. Smith won’t play in Monday night’s preseason opener. “Nothing serious,” he said. “I’ve had hip stuff, showed on the MRI, I’ve been playing with it for years.”
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LBs Clint Sintim and Jonathan Goff had interceptions in practice. . . . WR Derek Hagan hauled in a pass from Rhett Bomar then had the ball slapped out of his hands by S Michael Greco, who also gave Hagan’s head a whack. Hagan was shaken up. “He seemed to be fine once he got walking,” Coughlin said. . . . CB Terrell Thomas is “fighting his way through some leg stuff” according to Coughlin and did not work. S Michael Johnson sat out with back spasms.