E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only five sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

By DAVE KLEIN
Once again, almost reluctantly, the subject seems to be Ron Dayne.

Will he play or won't he? Can he make it or can't he? Is he going to be a power running back, which is what head coach Tom Coughlin wants, or is he going to be a rare 240-pound outside running back? More to the immediate point, will he play Sunday in Green Bay or will his mysterious "swollen calf" cause him to be placed on the Game Inactive list for a second straight week?

You know, it's enough about Ron Dayne already. He was the Giants' first round pick back in 2000, and he was the 11th overall choice, and he was the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, and he leads the NCAA Division I in all-time career rushing.

And so what?

He has been increasingly less important to the team after his rookie year, when he gained 770 yards. Last year he didn't play at all, being publicly punished and humiliated by head coach Jim Fassel - - allegedly because he blew off Fassel's off-season training and conditioning program in the spring of 2003.

Enough already.

If Coughlin doesn't want to use him, if Coughlin doesn't think he is worth being used as another (if lesser) Tiki Barber, if Coughlin doesn't understand why a 240-pounder can't run inside and move the pile for a yard or two, why not release him?

Honest, he'd be better off and the on-going, seemingly endless discussions involving Dayne and can he or can't he will finally come to a close. But you know what? There is a suspicion that the Giants are reluctant to let him go because some team is going to claim him and use him properly (well, as a feature back) and he is going to run his way into a Pro Bowl or something.

Forget it. As they say on the streets, it's never gonna happen so wake up and start smelling the coffee. Ron Dayne has already been damaged, mostly emotionally, and whether he ever plays in a starring role for the Giants is no longer moot.

He isn't going to, so put that thought out of your head.

Now Dayne has a strained calf muscle, and when they subjected him to an MRI the other day, it was discovered that he is bleeding inside that muscle. Painful, yes; playable, probably not. So he didn't practice yesterday (Thursday) and he is listed as questionable for the game Sunday in Green Bay.

And now Coughlin sounds as if he's giving up on the Put-Dayne-Up-The-Middle campaign. "We all have this image of the short-yardage back who's a bigger, stronger kind of guy and that's all fine," he said. "But if you look around the league, there are a lot of 210-pound guys who are pretty darn good on short yardage."

The Giants even have one, a kid who was recruited to Boston College by none other than Thomas Richard Coughlin. He is Mike Cloud, he is 5-10 and 205 (close enough), and he might get a longer look Sunday since he has been with the team long enough to learn the playbook. He scored on a five-yard touchdown run against Cleveland last Sunday, the final points of the game as the Giants doubled their number of home game victories over last season and halved their number of total victories at the same time.

Coughlin was asked if someone like Jimmy Finn, the fullback, could become a power runner.

He is 5-11 and 245, surely everybody's idea of a power runner. "Finn is a fullback," the coach noted. "First I would like to have him block the guy, and then maybe if he can block and then go get the ball and run after that it would be fine." Hey, who was it who said Coach Tom has no sense of humor?

Tiki himself acted as his own power back, and it was noted by all involved that he did, in fact, cause the pack to move. "I would prefer not to use Tiki as a full-time back," he said. "I'd still like to have the opportunity to have people share the role and have some kind of defined duty, whether by play or by formation or by whatever [talk about being predictable, huh, coach?]. I think that's better in the long run."

Well, if Dayne can't do it, why not stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole? If what he can do (and some still think it could be a lot) doesn't meet with the current administration's wants or desires, let's just move him out and try the Cloud kid.

Now the Giants are taking that 2-1 record to historic Lambeau Field, against the historic (and better) Green Bay Packers, and if they can come away with a victory there, who knows what could happen after that?

EXTRA POINTS -- Besides Dayne, defensive end Keith Washington didn't practice yesterday either. ... But rookie wide receiver Jamaar Taylor (hamstring) and second-year cornerback Frank Walker (foot) did, although both remain listed as questionable. ... Strong safety Shaun Williams had his surgery yesterday to repair the lateral cartilage (meniscus) in his left knee, and he will miss the rest of the season. ... The seven- year veteran, the Giants' first round pick in1998, was operated on by team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Russell Warren at the Hospital for Special Surgery- Cornell University in New York City.

Interesting note -- Kurt Warner, in 1994, was a backup undrafted rookie quarterback on the Green Bay roster. ... The starter, then as now, was Brett Favre. ... "If I had made the team," Warner said, "I probably would still be on the bench." ... Favre has started 192 consecutive games (the NFL record). ... Both Favre and Warner have won Super Bowls, league MVP awards and Super Bowl MVP awards. ... "To be honest, I didn't notice much of Kurt when he was here," Warner said. "He didn't get much of a chance and that wasn't right, but it's how things work in the league."

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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