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Giants coach Tom Coughlin knows exactly how the Michael Vick situation is going to play out, and safety Antrel Rolle knows how he wants it to happen.
There will be questions from Philadelphia all the way up the Jersey Turnpike about the status of the Eagles quarterback for the Giants-Eagles NFC East showdown on Sunday in Philadelphia, but there likely won’t be a definitive answer until game day.
Vick, who was knocked out of the Eagles’ 35-31 loss in Atlanta on Sunday with a concussion, will remain the daily hot topic as the division rivals prepare to face each other for the first time this season. But don’t expect the Eagles to clarify whether he will play until the last possible moment.
After all, why would they want to help the Giants in their preparation by tipping their hand about whether Vick will play?
Count Rolle among those hoping Vick will be ready to go.
“I want the best of the best, and he is the best,” Rolle said during his weekly WFAN radio spot yesterday. “I hope Michael Vick plays, because at the end of the day, I don’t want any excuses when we go down to Philly and put it to them the way we will.”
Predictably, an Eagles spokesperson said yesterday there would be no update on Vick until coach Andy Reid addresses the media today. Coughlin, however, has a pretty good idea of what to expect.
“I expect Michael Vick will play, and if he can play I’m sure he will,” he said yesterday.
Giants linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka said, “Our coaches will do a good job getting us prepared for both scenarios. Vick is a one-of-a kind quarterback. It’s prepare for a regular football team or prepare for Vick. As long as you have preparation for Vick, you can go back to playing what you could consider a regular quarterback.”
Giants defensive end Justin Tuck, also speaking on a WFAN interview, said, “We’re going to prepare as if Michael is healthy and is going to play. They’re not going to be able to change their offense completely … regardless of what quarterback we face.”
What Coughlin is more certain of is how he feels about his team’s win over the Rams on Monday.
Because Coughlin doesn’t do ebullient and effervescence isn’t part of his DNA, you never truly will know how ecstatic (relieved?) he was about the result.
To his credit, though, Coughlin was under no illusion that Monday night’s win was any sort of work of art by his team.
“We have lot of work to do,” Coughlin said. “We are, without a doubt, a work in progress.”
As the 1-1 Giants prepare to play the 1-1 Eagles, there is a laundry list of things to improve on, such as covering opposing receivers better, running the ball better (they’re averaging just 3.3 yards per carry) and improving on third-down offense (they were 5-of-15 on third down conversions against the Rams, an improvement from 1-of-10 in Week 1).
“I feel like we can play so much better than what we showed [Monday],” running back Brandon Jacobs said.
“A very necessary part of our plan and theme all week long was to improve from Week 1 to Week 2,” Coughlin said. “I don’t know if we improved as radically as I hoped we would.”
With the Giants moving up in class from the inexperienced Rams to the “dream team” Eagles, they realize radical improvement might be needed for them to get to 2-1 and gain an early-season edge on their hated rivals.
Memories of last year’s 38-31 Dec. 19 debacle of a home loss to the Eagles, who scored 28 points in the final 7:28 of the game, linger for all the Giants who were a part of it.
Tuck said that loss will “linger with me until I die.”
Asked if there are losses that stay with him forever, Coughlin said, “Oh, there isn’t any question that [loss to the Eagles] will be one of them.”
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com