Thomas injury has Ross back as Giants starter; Williams signed

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Veteran Brian Williams, 32, who has played with Minnesota, Jacksonville and Atlanta, was signed by the New York Giants Wednesday to address their urgent needs at the cornerback position.

"He is a veteran who knows how to play," coach Tom Coughlin said of Williams. "He has been a good physical blitzer, and we are in need of someone who can learn quick and go from there."

Williams has played in 128 regular-season games with 99 starts. He has 19 career interceptions. Last season, he played in all 16 games with one start for the Falcons.

To make room for Williams, the Giants waived linebacker Kenny Ingram.

The Giants secondary has been in a state of upheaval during the preseason. Starter Terrell Thomas, last year's leading tackler on the team, was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered during last weekend's preseason game against the Bears. And first-round pick Prince Amukamara is sidelined with a broken foot.

Aaron Ross is another player who will be counted on to fill the gap in New York's secondary.

Ross came to training camp as the somewhat forgotten man among the cornerbacks.

Corey Webster and Thomas were the returning starters and general manager Jerry Reese didn't hesitate to take Amukamara in the first round when the Nebraska cornerback was available with the 19th pick overall.

It left Ross in no man's land. The Giants' first-round pick in 2007 was down on the depth chart and fighting the stigma of being injury-prone the past two seasons. He missed a good part of 2009 with hamstring issues and battled a painful foot injury most of last season.

Three weeks into training camp, though, Ross is no longer an afterthought. With Amukamara and Thomas sidelined, Ross is back in a starting role and anxious to show people what he can do.

"Being out there on the outside and being able to make plays and show the coaches I can make plays, and the fans, the media, it is exciting," said Ross, who has the added motivation of being in the final year of his contract.

Ross said his biggest concern this season is staying healthy. If he does, he has no doubt about his ability to play.

"I am really confident in myself to tell you the truth," Ross said. "I know what I can do. As long as I stay healthy I know that I am fine. Coaches haven't seen me healthy in two years, the fans or you guys. Of course, y'all forget.

"But I know what I can do."

Ross had three interceptions in each of his first two seasons, but has not had one since 2008.

"I think I am a decent player," Ross, 28, said. "They drafted me here for a reason. So, as long as I am healthy, I believe I can be a positive impact on the field."

Ross, who is married to track star and Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards, is taking added precautions to stay healthy. He used to keep stretching to a minimum. His approach is totally different now.

"I have a guy coming in that stretches me, gets the knots out, pretty much everything," Ross said. "I put everything in the basket and am letting it go."

The injury to Thomas also has given opportunities to players like Michael Coe, rookie Darnell Burks and first-year pro Joe Burnett, who had little chance of making the roster at the start of camp.

"My mindset has always been to prepare to play and try to get comfortable doing everything and when you get the opportunity, be ready," said Coe, a former Arkansas Razorback, who is now No. 3 on the depth chart after spending part of last season with the Giants. "You never know the circumstances. You have to have the mindset of trying to absorb as much as you can.

"I am a lot more comfortable in this defense. It's similar to the one I had in college."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Carroll says Hasselbeck still Seahawks' starter

RENTON, Wash. -- Pete Carroll spent part of Monday just watching.

The Seahawks coach wanted to see how Matt Hasselbeck reacted in meetings to the blunt criticism of all the mistakes he's made recently. Then Carroll sat down with Hasselbeck to make certain he was in the right state mentally after having been booed off the field less than 24 hours earlier.

With a division title still obtainable -- even at 6-8 -- Carroll decided he's going to stick with his veteran quarterback instead of making a change to unproven backup Charlie Whitehurst.

"We're going with Matt. Matt's been our quarterback, he's given us a chance all throughout, the best chance to finish off right and I'm excited in that sense he's going to pull this thing together," Carroll said Monday afternoon. "We've got to play well around him. We've got to take care of the quarterback in all ways, protection-wise, running the football, we need to play better on defense so it's not all tuned where the focus is to one guy and people can try and point the finger."

Carroll put to rest what could have been a lingering debate all week as the Seahawks prepare to play at Tampa Bay on Sunday in a game that could end up being relatively meaningless to their chances at an NFC West title. If St. Louis beats San Francisco at home on Sunday, then it doesn't matter what the Seahawks do against the Buccaneers, the NFC West title will be decided on Jan. 2 when the Seahawks host the Rams.

And unless an injury occurs or Hasselbeck's horrid turnover rate continues, Carroll made clear that Hasselbeck will be the Seahawks quarterback for the final two games.

"I was very specific to our team and Matt today about how to handle it and giving us a chance to keep staying with the game plan and giving our special teams and our defense a chance, and our offense as well, a chance to get back into it by not overtrying, by not trying to force the issues," Carroll said.

Hasselbeck was pulled in the third quarter of Sunday's 34-18 loss to Atlanta after throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble that resulted in a Falcons touchdown. Whitehurst replaced Hasselbeck and played well, scoring on a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter that prompted chants of "Charlie" from the fans who remained.

Carroll said Whitehurst's performance makes the coach more confident if he needs to turn to Whitehurst.

Hasselbeck has continually violated what Carroll preaches the most, taking care of the ball. In his last four games, Hasselbeck's been responsible for 13 turnovers -- three fumbles and 10 interceptions. His fumble in the end zone on Seattle's first offensive play of the second half Sunday was recovered by Jonathan Babineaux for a touchdown and a 24-10 Falcons lead.

Hasselbeck followed up with interceptions on Seattle's next two possessions.

And this performance came after he had the first five-turnover game of his career -- four interceptions and one fumble -- a week earlier at San Francisco. It hasn't helped that Seattle's fallen behind in both games and Hasselbeck has admitted feeling as though he needed to force things.

"Looking back, I seem to do stupid things when we're losing. When we're down by two touchdowns or more, that's where I have to be way smarter. That's where I've really failed recently. That's on me. I know better. You have to learn the lesson the hard way, and I just have to be smarter in those kind of situations."

Carroll said he was pleased with how Whitehurst played when he entered, but the decision to continue with the struggling Hasselbeck is another statement on how the Seahawks view Whitehurst. Seattle traded a second-round pick to San Diego and signed Whitehurst to an $8 million, two-year deal with incentives last offseason with the hope he would compete for the starting job that Hasselbeck clearly won.

Whitehurst was 8 of 16 for 83 yards in about one quarter of action on Sunday.

"He did handle himself very well yesterday, did a nice job handling the situation, and if we need him we'll call on him," Carroll said. "Maybe just in that sense I feel better about him, you know, under those circumstances."

On the Seahawks' injury front, the team placed special teams captain Roy Lewis on injured reserve with a lingering knee injury that will require surgery. Carroll remains hopeful cornerback Marcus Trufant will be able to play Sunday at Tampa Bay.

The team also signed defensive back Marcus Brown to the active roster.

Lewis had been bothered by the injury for a few weeks.

Trufant left Sunday's game with back spasms. Carroll says this is not related to the back injury that cost Trufant the first six games of 2009.

Cornerback Walter Thurmond is expected back this week after missing Sunday's game with a hamstring injury. Defensive tackle Junior Siavii's status is unknown after he suffered a stinger in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Lions' Stanton suffers shoulder injury; Schwartz mum on starter

Detroit Lions quarterback Drew Stanton has a separated shoulder, reports the Detroit News, citing a source.

Stanton suffered a Grade 3 separation of the AC Joint in his left shoulder in the second quarter of the Lions' 23-20 win over the Buccaneers. The injury is to his non-throwing shoulder and he played through pain for the remainder of the game Sunday, leading the Lions on the game-winning drive in overtime and finishing with 252 yards and one touchdown.

"Drew showed a lot of toughness out there," coach Jim Schwartz said in his news conference Monday. "He suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter and finished the game with it, played the best game that I've seen him play."

Stanton was backed up by Shaun Hill, who started eight games earlier this season after regular starter Matthew Stafford was injured. Then Hill broke his index finger and was replaced by Stanton, who has started the last three for the Lions.

Hill returned to practice last Wednesday for the first time since injuring his hand. He was impressive in relief of Stafford, throwing for 2,206 yards with 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in nine games, eight as a starter.

On Monday, Schwartz gave no indication of who would be under center against the Dolphins, saying he would wait until "probably Sunday" to make a decision.

He even mentioned Stafford as a possibility.

"We'll keep an open mind on all three guys and by the end of the week we'll have a pretty good plan to go forward," Schwartz said. "Drew definitely played well but we have a lot of other considerations."

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Mangini waiting to reveal starter after McCoy impresses in win

BEREA, Ohio -- Browns coach Eric Mangini isn't ready to hand the offensive reins over to rookie quarterback Colt McCoy just yet.

Mangini said Monday that he's been impressed and pleased with McCoy, who won his second game on Sunday when the Browns (3-5) thrashed the New England Patriots, 34-14. McCoy, thrust into the starting lineup because of injuries to Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace, is 2-1 in three starts with wins over Drew Brees and Tom Brady, two of the NFL's top quarterbacks.

Mangini, though, was not ready to name McCoy his starter for Sunday's game against the New York Jets (6-2).

"He's making the discussion harder and harder each week," Mangini said.

Mangini wants to wait to see what kind of progress Wallace and Delhomme have made before he has a thorough analysis on McCoy's role for the remainder of the season. He plans to meet with offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and team president Mike Holmgren before announcing his decision.

McCoy was 14 of 19 for 174 yards and did not throw an interception against the Patriots. He also did not have a turnover in his previous start, when the Browns stunned the New Orleans Saints.

Mangini believes McCoy has won over the trust of his teammates, some of whom may have been leery about starting a rookie.

"The guys have seen now that, given that responsibility, he can respond to that responsibility," Mangini said. "You don't know with a rookie how that's going to go. He becomes more and more trustworthy as we go, and I think the best indication of that is being able to give him a little bit more each week without trying to give him so much that it becomes counterproductive."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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