Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

Just hopped off a conference call with Giants coach Tom Coughlin during which he had little to say about the Plaxico Burress incident from Friday night. Reporters tried to come at Coughlin from every angle, but due to ongoing investigations by the NFL and the New York Police, he said he wouldn't have any comment. Asked what he'd do if Burress is healthy enough to play Sunday, Coughlin said, "I have no idea about his health status. We're dealing with the whole situation."

Hmmm. Your star receiver accidentally shot himself in the leg Friday and you don't know anything about his health status? Either Coughlin's fibbing or Burress is stone-walling the organization, which wouldn't be the first time.

Coughlin did address how his team would respond to Burress' latest misfire.

"The team has demonstrated on more than one occasion this year (that it can respond to adversity)," he said. "They've been able to do that. Obviously they have made sure the distractions are minimal as they can be."

Asked about the prospect of Domenik Hixon replacing Burress for the rest of the season, Coughlin said, "He's played well. He's played very well. I certainly believe he will continue to improve."

The only other notable item to come out of the news conference was Coughlin saying he was "certainly disappointed" that reserve running back Ahmad Bradshaw was at the nightclub with Antonio Pierce and Burress.

Plaxico Burress is taken from a midtown Manhattan police station in handcuffs Monday before being taken downtown to be booked.

Posted by Scouts Inc.'s Keith Kidd

The last thing the New York Giants need at this point in the season is a distraction that takes the focus away from their quest for another Super Bowl run.

	Scott Boehm/Getty Images
	Plaxico Burress led the Giants in receptions, yards and touchdowns a year ago.

Burress is a talented receiver who led the Giants in receptions (70), yards (1,025) and touchdowns (12) in 2007. Even though his numbers are down this season, he is a solid No. 1 receiver who creates mismatches against most opponents.

By creating advantages for the offense, he forces  defenses to account for him from within the formational designs. They can either bracket him or roll the coverage over the top, either of which creates one-on-one situations for other receivers within the Giants' passing game. He is a dangerous player on the outside who poses a lot of problems when adjusting to downfield balls because of his height and long arms.

Burress knows how to use his body and wingspan to gain separation, and his size and arm length give him a huge advantage against smaller corners.

The Giants don't have another target like Burress on the roster, but they have done a great job of getting by without him at times this season thanks to their awesome running game, offensive line and the consistent play of quarterback Eli Manning.  New York will count on players such as wide receivers Amani Toomer, Steve Smith and Domenik Hixon, tight end Kevin Boss and running back Derrick Ward to step up and make plays in the passing game.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride runs a balanced attack that relies on the run to force defenses to play eight and sometime nine defenders in the box, which sets up the play-action attack. Time of possession is critical to the Giants' offense, but Gilbride doesn't mind taking chances downfield in the vertical passing game. That forces defenses to react differently in certain situations.

Meanwhile, the Giants have a superb running game with the combination Ward, Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. Jacobs is a load and cannot be brought down by one defender, but is an upright runner who takes as much punishment as he dishes out. Ward is a powerful runner who can be deceptive with his speed, and Bradshaw has a combination of speed, power and elusiveness in open space. Everything starts up front, and the Giants have a very physical and powerful offensive line that can control the line of scrimmage. It is easily the best unit in the league.

This team reminds me of the great teams that I was a part of in New England that won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2003-04. With or without Burress, the Giants have bought into Coughlin's plan and won't alter their approach or game plan when attacking defenses over the final weeks of the regular season.

Scouts Inc. watches games, breaks down film and studies football from all angles for ESPN.com. 

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

The latest New York Times story on Plaxico Burress just came across the NFC East desk, and you have to love some of the quotes from his attorney, Benjamin Branfman. This is a man who's defended some of the nation's most notorious mobsters, so you have to think he's not panicked about an NFL receiver accidentally shooting himself in the leg with an reportedly unlicensed handgun.

"He is standing tall," Branfman said of Burress. "He's a mature adult handling this very well, I think, under the circumstances. He has asked me to tell all the fans who've written and called, and his teammates, that he very much appreciates their expressions of concern."

Maybe I'm out of line here, but do we really believe that in the wake of Friday's incident, fans have begun an extensive letter-writing campaign in support of Burress? Did they all send overnight packages? Surely Branfman's not exaggerating the groundswell of support for such a "mature adult."

Folks, take it from a man who made it almost halfway through law school: Branfman will spend the next few weeks painting Burress as the victim in this incident. He'll admit that his client should've properly registered the gun in the state of New York -- or even New Jersey for that matter. But he'll talk about the constant fear that Burress lives in as a rich, high-profile player in the nation's No. 1 market. He'll bring up the fact that Burress had his home broken into twice when he lived in Pittsburgh -- and how that made him fear for his family's life. And that's exactly what any attorney worth his (estimated) $500,000 retainer fee should be doing.

"I ask his fans and the New York Giants to withhold judgment in this case until the facts come out," Brafman said to the Times and other outlets Sunday.

And I'm sure Giants coach Tom Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese will bend over backwards to honor that request. Last we heard, Reese was still waiting for a return phone call from Burress. Now that they know Burress is fine, their tone will change. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they put Burress on the non-football injury list, which would make him ineligible for the remainder of the season.

It will also give them the right to cut off some of the player's payments. Coughlin's walking a fine line here. If he becomes consumed with this Burress situation, it will serve as a distraction from his team-first philosophy. But if he ignores Burress, some of his players might think he's being soft. I think the non-football injury list is the club's best option at this point.

Coughlin will address the media in about 25 minutes. We'll see if he can shed any light on the situation.

Giants defensive end Justin Tuck talks about how the Giants are dealing with the Plaxico Burress distractions.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

Did you guys see how angry Jim Zorn was on the sideline when the Redskins weren't able to convert on a fourth-and-1 play in the fourth quarter? That's as demonstrative as I've ever seen Zorn, who needs to start wearing something on his head during these late-season games. Some of his anger spilled over into the postgame news conference, where he pretty much called out his players for not being aware of the situation they were in:

"For starters, we didn't complete two critical long balls to our receivers," said Zorn. "Secondly, we weren't able to effectively adjust to the game's speed. Lastly, I didn't feel we understood how critical this game was. If we did understand the importance of a win today, we definitely didn't perform like we did."

But Zorn saved his harshest criticism for the Redskins' receivers:

"Our receivers were not getting separation on their routes and therefore we were getting hammered as soon as the catch was made," he said. "We had wide receivers running poor routes. Antwaan Randle El is a smart player, therefore he was trying to get the yardage we needed directly off the catch instead of running the given route and maybe running for an extra two or three yards to get the yardage we needed."

The Redskins are a loss away (perhaps to Baltimore on Sunday) of falling completely out of the wild-card race. They only have a half-game lead on the Eagles.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

For a guy who hasn't made much of an impact on the field this season, Plaxico Burress has certainly grabbed a lot of headlines. Here's what folks around the nation are saying about Burress this morning:

• Here's the picture of Burress turning himself in Monday morning.
• Mike Lupica has been heavily involved in this one from the start. Sounds like he took a trip to the Latin Quarter.
• Gary Myers says the Giants are about to join the Cowboys and Bengals in terms of off-the-field behavior.
• This New York Post report has a few tidbits we didn't know about before Monday morning. Hopefully we'll hear from Harris Smith soon.
• Marcellus Wiley says he used to walk around with a .380-caliber pistol. That will obviously make for an interesting NFL Live segment. Here he is on "Outside The Lines."
• George Vecsey of the New York Times is saying what a lot of us are this morning: It's time to say goodbye to Plax.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

	Evan Pinkus/Getty Images
	New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress has had huge success on the field, but once again finds himself in trouble off of it.

Even by Plaxico Burress' bone-headed standards, this latest incident is a doozy. According to media reports, Burress was enjoying a glass of wine while handling a loaded gun in a Manhattan nightclub Friday night when he accidentally shot himself in the thigh.

Burress spent the night in the hospital and was resting at home Sunday while his teammates were in Washington for a game. As usual, Burress left general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Tom Coughlin holding the bag. The Giants finally pieced together a vague news release Saturday afternoon, in part, because Burress didn't give them much to go on.

"I reached out to him," Reese told reporters before Sunday's game. "I did not get a return phone call."

As someone who's spent a fair amount of time with the mild-mannered Reese, this qualifies as livid. And who can blame him? On the first day of the regular season, the Giants gave Burress a five-year, $35 million contract extension, including an $11 million signing bonus. He has rewarded them by drawing over $200,000 in fines, being suspended for a game and benched for another.

Until now, the Giants have put up with Burress' antics because he's an absolute warrior on Sundays. His heroics in last season's NFC title game and game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl outweighed his childish behavior on and off the field. But he has taken it to a different level this season. At age 31, you start losing the "immaturity" excuse.

When he disappeared the day after a win over the Bengals, he later explained that he was dropping his son off at school. It was a lame excuse, and he wasn't able to account for why he didn't notify the club about his absence. He displayed little remorse for his actions and then later had the audacity to tell Fox's Pam Oliver that his transgressions are "what makes Plaxico Plaxico."

Burress' saving grace has always been his immense talent and propensity for making clutch plays. But heading into Sunday's game, which he wasn't going to play in anyway because of an injured hamstring, he had 35 catches for 454 yards and four touchdowns. Those are pretty solid numbers -- for a No. 2 wide receiver.

If Burress had any common sense, he'd look around and realize that the Giants have proven that they can win without stars such as Tiki Barber, Michael Strahan, Jeremy Shockey and Osi Umenyiora. The bedrock of the Coughlin theory for winning championships is that no individual is above the team. Burress has challenged the authority of Coughlin and Reese throughout the season. Now, they have an excuse to teach him the ultimate lesson.

The Giants are leaning toward putting Burress on the non-football injury reserved list, ending his season, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen. This way, Coughlin and Reese could send a message to Burress and his teammates while probably not opening themselves up to a grievance via the NFL Players' Association.

Burress, who has hired a high-profile criminal defense attorney, will have his hands full with legal issues. According to various reports, he didn't have the proper permit for his handgun -- and New York just happens to have some of the stiffest gun laws in the nation. If Burress were the focal point of the offense, maybe the Giants would be rushing to his defense.

But his lack of contrition coupled with the fact that Amani Toomer, Steve Smith and Domenik Hixon are all capable of performing at a high level make Burress a lot more expendable than he was heading into the season.

Burress, whose wife is a licensed attorney, should've known better than to carry a loaded weapon into a Manhattan nightclub -- especially if he didn't have the proper permit. He endangered his own life as well as others when he made that decision. On a day when we honored a star NFL player whose life was cut short in a home invasion, I get the fact that professional athletes often live in fear.

But Burress reportedly told the security at the Latin Quarter nightclub that he needed the handgun because he was wearing expensive jewelry and carrying lots of cash. Again, this is where common sense might enter the picture for some people. If you're worried about being robbed, there's always the option of not stuffing $5,000 in your pocket before you head out.

For now, the Giants are better off without Burress and all his constant distractions. They can settle up with him down the road. Who knows? Maybe the time away will actually make him want to attend the ticker-tape parade this time around.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

No Plaxico Burress?

No problem.

Two days after the club's star receiver accidentally shot himself in the leg in a Manhattan nightclub, the Giants came out and dominated the Redskins at FedEx Field.

The Redskins (7-5) did a nice job of bottling up running back Brandon Jacobs in the first half, but quarterback Eli Manning shredded Washington's secondary. He had a career-high 240 passing yards in the first half, completing passes to six different players.

And once again, Domenik Hixon did his best Burress imitation, only without all the drama. Hixon had five catches for 71 yards and Amani Toomer added five for 85 yards. The success of the passing game might make it easier for coach Tom Coughlin to forget about Burress -- at least for the rest of the season.

Burress wasn't going to play anyway Sunday because of a hamstring injury, but now the Giants are thinking about putting him on the "non-football injury reserved list," according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen.

For a team that has learned how to win without star players in the past, this almost seems par for the course. The Giants took a 13-7 lead at halftime and then tacked on another touchdown midway through the the third quarter.

The Redskins gave an inspired effort on defense, but the offense's lack of a consistent running game robbed them of any chance to win the game. Running back Clinton Portis was held to 22 yards on 11 carries. He limped off the field on a couple different occasions and wasn't able to return in the fourth quarter.

Trailing 20-7, the Redskins decided to go for it on a fourth-and-1 in their own territory. Right tackle Jon Jansen didn't block anyone, and Giants defensive end Justin Tuck came racing in to make the tackle.

The Giants pretty much have the NFC East crown sewn up as they improved to 11-1. In falling to 7-5, the Redskins fell a game behind the Cowboys in the race for a wild-card spot. In fact, Washington only has a half-game lead on the Eagles, who will play the Giants in the Meadowlands next Sunday. The Cowboys will be on the road in Pittsburgh.

The Redskins need to win three of their next four games to have any serious hope of making the playoffs. The Giants will probably have the option of resting their starters in the final two games of the season. That's not really Tom Coughlin's style, though, so we'll have to see how he plays it.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

• As we predicted, the absence of Plaxico Burress hasn't affected the Giants' offense. Eli Manning was 16-of-22 for 240 yards in the first half, with a touchdown and an interception. He completed passes to six different players, which has made up for the fact that the Redskins aren't allowing any running room for Brandon Jacobs. By the way, that's the best first half of Manning's career. The Redskins aren't generating enough consistent pressure to bother Manning.
• Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell had his moments in the first half, going 9-of-15 for 105 yards. But he's going to need a little more help from his receivers. James Thrash dropped a nice throw over the middle, halting a drive in the second quarter.
• Nice to see some production out of second-round pick Devin Thomas on the 29-yard reverse for a touchdown. It didn't look like Thomas got enough depth on the initial exchange, but he had plenty of room down the right sideline. Campbell threw a nice block downfield and Santana Moss did a superb job of one-on-one blocking.
• You had to know London Fletcher was going to play through the pain of a foot injury. He had seven tackles in the first half, and he's done a tremendous job of not allowing Jacobs to find a seam.
• Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall followed up a ridiculous personal foul with an excellent interception. He closed nicely on a slant to Domenik Hixon to make the pick. Hixon wasn't expecting the pass to arrive that quickly and Hall reached up and made the grab. It changed the momentum in the first half.
• That looked like a bogus call when Giants cornerback Corey Webster was flagged for illegal hands to the face before he intercepted Campbell. The call kept the Redskins' only scoring drive alive.
• Giants defensive tackle Barry Cofield doesn't get nearly enough attention. He's quietly putting together a Pro Bowl season, and that continued with four tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in the first half.
• Don't underestimate how deflating that missed field goal was at the end of the first half. Trimming the Giants' lead to 13-10 would've been a huge lift for the Redskins. Shaun Suisham is now 21-of-29 for the season. I think he'll feel even more heat after today's game.

Here are today's inactives from around the league.

Sal Paolantonio and Chris Mortensen offer the latest on the Plaxico Burress accidental shooting.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

This sort of pales in comparison to a player reportedly shooting himself in the leg by accident, but Redskins wide receiver Santana Moss has been fined $5,000 by the league for striking Seahawks cornerback Josh Wilson after a play in the second quarter of Sunday's game. Moss was flagged for a personal foul, which took the Redskins out of field goal range.

I guess the league took a couple of days off for the holidays, because these fines normally come down earlier in the week. And as far as fines go, $5,000 is the equivalent to a slap on the wrist. I don't expect Moss to appeal this fine. He can use some of the money he earned doing that commercial for Dick's Sporting Goods, which runs in a continuous loop during late-night college basketball games on ESPN2.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

The New York Giants just released the following statement regarding wide receiver Plaxico Burress' shooting Friday:

"We are aware of the fact that Plaxico was involved in an apparent accidental shooting last night. We have been in contact with Plaxico since shortly after the incident. Plaxico suffered a wound to his right thigh. Obviously, our primary concern is for Plaxico's health and well-being, and given the circumstances, we are relieved to say he was released from a New York City hospital at approximately 2 p.m. [ET] today. We have been in touch with NFL Security on this matter. At this point, we are attempting to gather all the facts surrounding this incident. This incident could become a matter for law enforcement officials, and because of that, we have no comment on any of the details."

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

Burress

In a holiday tale that won't warm the hearts of Giants fans, wide receiver Plaxico Burress reportedly shot himself accidentally in the leg at a club Friday night. Burress spent the night in the hospital, but his injuries aren't believed to be life-threatening.

I've been in touch with Giants representatives this morning, but they don't want to comment until they can gather more information on the incident. But now that we know Burress is in stable condition, is it fair to ask why he was carrying a loaded handgun in his pocket?

Something's not adding up here. Was Burress dancing at the club (with a bad hammy) and the gun just discharged? This sort of thing almost never happens to me in clubs anymore.

Meanwhile, the Giants prepare for a huge division game against NFC East rival Washington. They're used to dealing with Burress' off-the-field exploits, but this is bizarre, even by his standards. Earlier in the season, Burress was suspended for one game because he disappeared for a day while dropping his son off at school.

They won't say it publicly, but head coach Tom Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese are fed up with Burress. He signs a lucrative contract extension on the first day of the season, and he's been nothing but a distraction ever since.

If there's a silver lining (in a self-inflicted gunshot wound to your star receiver), it could create more playing time for rising star Domenik Hixon. I think it's finally time to admit that the Giants don't lose all that much when Burress is out. Even if he's healthy again soon, Coughlin ought to suspend him for another game or two. And if he doesn't, I'm sure NFL commissioner Roger Goodell would be happy to step in. Surely there's something in the league's conduct policy that covers loaded weapons in public establishments.

Burress is by far the most selfish player on the Giants' roster. He might help you on game day, but he spends the rest of the week embarrassing his teammates and coaches. More than any coach in football, Coughlin stresses how the team always comes before the individual. Burress has immense talent, but his actions fly in the face of what Coughlin is trying to accomplish.

Even Burress' close friends (such as Antonio Pierce) have to be losing their patience with him at this point. With players such as Steve Smith and Hixon ready to accept larger roles, it wouldn't hurt the Giants that much to sit Burress for a few games.

But with an accidental pull of the trigger, Burress might've made Coughlin's decision easy. We'll let you know if anything else breaks this afternoon.

John Clayton discusses the incident.