By
ERNIE PALLADINO
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: March 20, 2007)
The Giants had a strong turnout for the opening of their voluntary offseason strength-and-conditioning program yesterday.
Most of the team showed up, save for Eli Manning's two main receiving options. As usual, tight end Jeremy Shockey and wide receiver Plaxico Burress were no-shows. They have worked out on their own in agent Drew Rosenhaus' facility in Miami the past two years.
One might remember it was Shockey's absence that drew Manning's ire two years ago when Manning called him out for working out on his own. Shockey basically shrugged off the criticism and went his own way anyway. And when Burress was asked after the 2006 season whether he would work at Giants Stadium if Tom Coughlin were replaced, he said, "Tell (the new coach) I'll see him in training camp."
The two have attended the mandatory mini-camps the last two years. Missing those would have resulted in fines. But it is not known whether they will show up for any work before the mini-camp, even though Manning insisted that he wanted to get in some quality throwing with them before the mini-camp.
"I don't want to comment on it," the players' co-agent, Jason Rosenhaus, said.
Defensive tackle William Joseph did show up, however, despite making himself absent the year before as he trained with Shockey and Burress.
Burress, Shockey miss voluntary program
It's called Voluntary for a reason
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