Plaxico Burress will be released from prison in approximately five months, but his return to the Giants remains a longshot. The wide receiver's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, again made it clear last week that Burress has an NFL future. Giants general manager Jerry Reese again was asked about the possibility of signing him and refused to rule it out. The New York Daily News reports that Giants officials, off the record, are much more leery of Burress than Reese?s public stance would indicate.

Perry Fewell went 0-for-3 in head-coaching interviews this month, but he still likes the NFL's "Rooney Rule." Fewell, an African American, doesn't believe he was used by teams to fulfill the rule, which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate. "Did I feel like I was being used in any way? No, I didn't," Fewell said. "I thought the interviews were very legit. I thought there was a genuine interest. And I think I met people and developed a relationship with people that if they didn't help me now, they could possibly help me down the road." Fewell is currently the Giants' defensive coordinator. He lost out on jobs with the Panthers (who hired Ron Rivera), Browns (who hired Pat Shurmur) and Broncos (who hired John Fox). "There's only 32 of these things," Fewell said. "So I'm more determined now. I'm not really discouraged. I learned a lot in the process. It's an education you get when you have an opportunity to go to the other organizations and interview with them. But I found out that I am prepared in many ways. I think I'm qualified. I think I'm ready."

Giants' center Shaun O'Hara underwent the first of two surgeries on Wednesday on his left ankle and Achilles. According to the source familiar with O?Hara?s situation, doctors decided to put the screw in the foot first to make sure that heals properly. O'Hara is under contract with the Giants next season, but is not a lock to return.

Antrel Rolle wants to see the Giants become more like the Jets. Specifically, Rolle wants to see coach Tom Coughlin be more like Rex Ryan. "On a personal level, honestly, [Coughlin is] one of the best guys to be around," Rolle told WQAM in Miami. "Very caring. Honest guy. Very straightforward." Rolle was then asked about Coughlin as a head coach. "Honestly, that's where the problem comes in with me, as a coach," Rolle said. "Since I've been playing the game since the age of six, to me it's never been about the money, it's never been about anything more than winning and having fun." Rolle added that he isn't having coach under Coughlin.

The Giants didn't pull out all the stops against the Patriots in the final game of the 2007 regular season. New England defeated New York 38-35, allowing the Patriots to end the season with a perfect 16-0 record. "Well, I'll let you in on a little bit of a secret," Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo, then New York's defensive coordinator, said. "You know, as much as we wanted to win that game -- all of us did -- and we played it to win it, we made a decision defensively we weren't going to jeopardize trying to win the Tampa Bay game (in the first round of the playoffs) by throwing out our whole game plan in the 16th game of the season. So there was a little bit of a pullback there." The Giants did play their starters until the very end of that mostly meaningless game, but they may not have realized that the game plan was scaled back. "I remember as close as we got to winning that game I felt a little bit bad about not throwing a little bit more at them in an attempt to win the thing," Spagnuolo said. "They were better than us that day and they should have won. But we did some different things in the Super Bowl that we didn't do at all in the 16th game. "I don't know if that helped or not, but we'd like to think it did." The Giants went on to defeat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, ending New England's perfect run.

The Browns have interviewed Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell for their vacant head coaching job. Fewell served as Buffalo's interim coach for seven games last season. He interviewed with Cleveland on Tuesday and is the third known candidate for the job. Fewell followed St. Louis offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey.

Tom Coughlin delivered a message to critics of the Giants following the team's season-ending victory on Sunday. New York finished 10-6, but missed the postseason. In his postgame address to players recorded by cameras for Showtime's "Inside the NFL," Coughlin praised the Giants and attacked those who thought anything less of the team. "Outstanding," Coughlin said. "Outstanding finish to the ballgame. We did our part, OK? That's all I can ask you to do. Hey, from the bottom of my heart and everybody's, we have a 10-6 season! A 10-win season in the NFL, OK? And they can kiss my ass, OK? They can line up and kiss my ass. It's not an easy thing to do." A player is then heard saying, "Can we quote you on that, coach?" Coughlin replied: "You can quote me on a lot more than that. The priest is here or I'd say a few more things."

Giants running back made a far from graceful exit from the team's locker room on Monday. Jacobs stuffed his belongings in a large black trash bag and expressed extreme frustration after New York fell short of a playoff berth. "You're all getting pictures of Brandon Jacobs leaving, wondering if he'll ever return," the running back said. "That'll be your caption. F--- you all," he screamed.

The Giants want Tom Coughlin back next season and the two sides plan to discuss the possibility of a longer relationship. New York co-owner Steve Tisch said Monday that the team plans to sit down with the 64-year-old coach in the very near future and discuss his contract. Coughlin has one year remaining on a $21 million contract that he signed after the Giants won the Super Bowl in 2008. "I'm very aware of the timing on Tom's contract, as is John [Mara] and [general manager] Jerry [Reese]," said Giants chairman and executive vice president Steve Tisch. "I don't think John, Jerry and I have ever let any of these issues linger on and in fairness to Tom and the team, this is an issue that will be addressed very, very soon."

Tom Coughlin will return as the head coach of the Giants next season, according to co-owner John Mara. "I believe in the guy. I believe in stability," said Mara. "The players play hard for him." As to whether Coughlin will be offered a contract extension beyond 2011, Mara said: "That's a discussion for a later date."