PITTSBURGH – If Plaxico Burress is trying to run himself off the Super Bowl champion Giants he’s doing an excellent job of it.
Incredibly, Burress is in trouble again. Tom Coughlin yanked his star receiver from the starting lineup for today’s game against his former team, the Steelers, for missing a mandatory treatment session Saturday morning at Giants Stadium prior to the team charter flight. Burress did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday because of soreness in his neck.
Burress spent the entire first quarter sitting on the bench wearing a Giants baseball cap while Domenik Hixon started in his place. After three offensive series, Burress finally came onto the field with 11:27 left in the second quarter. He finished with three catches for 15 yards.
It remains to be seen just how much more of this Coughlin and the Giants front office will take. Burress was suspended three weeks ago for not showing up for work or alerting the team about his absence and as a result sat out the victory over the Seahawks. He expressed no remorse or regrets, saying he did not attend practice because he had to take his toddler son to school.
Last week, Burress against the 49ers was called for a pass interference penalty and went ballistic on the official who made the call and was flagged for an additional 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. As he trudged off the field, Coughlin asked him what he was doing and Burress angrily cursed at his head coach.
For his antics, Burress was fined $45,000 by the NFL for verbally abusing the officials during the game, making critical comments about the officials after the game and was docked $5,000 for throwing the football into the stands after a touchdown catch.
This past week, Burress was dealing with a neck injury and thus was obligated to attend treatment sessions.