I don?t know if you look down the road, but Jon Beason is a free agent after this year. Do you sit there?"I don?t look down the road. Please. We?ve got a game. He?s a middle linebacker. I hope we can take care of those kinds of things first. If you?re going to ask me if he?s played well? Yeah, he?s played well."

Would you say Beason exceeded expectations in how quickly he was able to make an impact?"I think a lot of the research that we did was extremely positive about the kind of personality and energy that he brought and we were prepared for that, but we were pleased."

?We?re rolling right now,? he said. ?We?ve got some momentum, and we dug ourselves a pretty deep hole, but the NFC East on the whole is struggling so we still have a shot.?

?I think it?s pretty evident that (Ross) was a whack-job, And the people that he brought up when he was talking about it were like Terrell Owens, Brett Favre, Johnny Damon and Ray Lewis. All these guys are like Hall of Famers, and then there?s the punter that has muscles. I?m like, ?Come on, man.? I don?t even belong in the conversation with these guys."

?All I needed him to say was that he apologizes and he won?t say my name again ? I got that out of him,? Weatherford went on to say. ?I got that out of him, and I?m good. I?m not looking to stir the pot any more by suing him. That?s all I wanted.?

Beginning the final quarter, Manning throws a beauty to Cruz, but he drops it. He was probably so shocked to be open for the first time today his excitement caused shaky hands.

On third-down, Bennett gets a case of the jitters, adds another big drop to the drive.

Giants punter Steve Weatherford put on a mini punting clinic while making an appearance at Coleman Country Day Camp in Merrick, Long Island. The last person he picked: NBC 4 New York sportscaster Bruce Beck. Watch what happens.

"There were times when he just didn't do his job...I was looking to get better than what he did at that point in time . . . Wasn't good enough, in my opinion."

Weatherford may not have spun Westhoff's wheels, but he was more than sufficient for Tom Quinn and the Giants. And he plans on getting better.

The top ten of our "Most important Giants for 2012" series begins with one of the most overlooked positions: the punter. But first, here are the links to the honorable mentions and the players who received only one vote.

Voters: Dr. Bill Chachkes, Kel Dansby, John Fennelly, Chris Johnson, Dan Orlando (Sports World Report), Rich Resch, Craig Santucci, Dan Stack, Jon Wagner

The Giants put the franchise tag worth $2.6 million on Weatherford March 5th, keeping the veteran punter from entering the UFA market on March 13th.

Weatherford was a breath of fresh air for the Giants' special teams this season, a unit that was a trouble spot on 2010 with rookie Matt Dodge doing the punting.

As per SNY Giants Insider Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger:

A big reason was the performance of punter Steve Weatherford, who was discarded by the Jets and brought in by Jerry Reese to relieve incumbent Matt Dodge - an experimental pick the year before that failed to live up to the team's expectations.

The Giants rarely slap franchise tags on players, but today they did just that with Weatherford, keeping him out of the free agent marketplace and back in the fold for another season....

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When it comes to profanity-laced exultations of joy that are caught on camera, Steve Weatherford?s reaction to Lawrence Tynes? game winning-field goal in the conference championship game against the 49ers last week might not have had the significance of, say, Joe Biden?s reaction to universal health care.

But to Giants fans, the field goal?which was made possible by Weatherford's nifty hold of a bad snap, and which Weatherford reacted to by screaming in view of Fox?s camera that the Giants were going to the ?mother------ Super Bowl??was a pretty big deal in its own right.

It is a shame that one of them has to go. Both have performed admirably this preseason. They have been going blow for blow each week, one upstaging the other and making the coaches' decision on who to keep and who to cut more difficult.

Last night, again, it was hard to say who was the better punter. Dodge punted three times for and average or 44 yards. Weatherford averaged 42 yards on two attempts. Both had punts land inside the 20. Dodge had a 53-yarder, but also recorded a touchback.

In the first two preseason games, both incumbent Matt Dodge and former Jet Steve Weatherford have both had their moments: some down, but mostly up. Dodge has the stronger leg. Weatherford is the more seasoned player.

Against the Bears, Dodge crushed a 63-yarder. Weatherford hit a 57. Dodge has 48.2 average thus far this summer. Weatherford is slightly ahead at 50 yards per attempt. Weatherford can directionally and is more adept at pinning the ball inside the 20, something Dodge has yet to master.

Let?s state the obvious. Eli Manning is the starter. Continuing with the obvious theme, Manning needs to improve.

I don?t want to hear one more excuse about the players around him, injuries, or any other outside factor. He is supposedly the chosen one, the franchise symbol. Yes, many of his interceptions last season bounced off receiver?s hands. Yes the run game bottomed out at times in 2009. Yes, two seasons ago he surpassed 4,000 yards in the air. It doesn?t matter. He?s being paid to be a leader. If a receiver can?t catch, teach him how. If a member of your offense is obnoxious and overbearing in the huddle/locker room, handle it.

Today, the Giants signed ex-Jet punter Steve Weatherford to a deal. He will be the one to either push or replace Dodge, Jerry Reese's seventh-round selection of a year ago.

The vision of Tom Coughlin scolding Matt Dodge after he failed to kick the ball away from Philly's DeSean Jackson is the signature moment of Dodge's Giant career.