Brandon Jacobs Sending Mixed Messages About His Knee
By JOSH ALPER
Updated 2:45 PM EST, Tue, Nov 18, 2008
Brandon Jacobs has been all over the airwaves promoting a video game today and that's led to a lot of questions about the status of his knee. He had an MRI yesterday, which didn't show any major damage, and his answers today may need an MRI of their own to get to the truth.
He told ESPN this morning that there was still swelling in the knee but he could and would play if he so chose. Then he told a Sirius radio show that it was his call and that he was good to go before returning to ESPN where he said it was the team's call and they haven't made a decision just yet.
We all know, well Lawrence Tynes knows, that Tom Coughlin doesn't like it when players decide their roster status for themselves, so Jacobs' indecision may be a cause of the team telling him to keep his mouth shut. A little gamesmanship never hurt anyone. Having the Cardinals prepare for the bullish Jacobs and getting the swifter Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw would certainly be to the Giants' advantage.
There's a chance, however, that Jacobs had other motivations for saying he was ready to play. He's a free agent after the season. While it seems likely that the Giants will re-sign him, interest from another team or three would drive his price up. Jacobs only played 11 regular season games last season, his first as a starter. Another injury would make him seem less durable than you'd like in a starting tailback getting a big contract and take away some of the outside bidders that would drive his salary higher. If he doesn't play, at least he has it out there that it was the team's call and that he's tough enough to muddle through.
Either way, if Jacobs is less than 100% it is in his and the Giants' best interests for him to miss the Arizona game. A knee with any swelling doesn't need 10 hours on a plane, especially if he's going to be used in a limited fashion, and they have enough cushion to go with backups for one game. Especially when Ward and Bradshaw aren't your typical backups.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Nov 18, 2008 2:41 PM EST
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