ESPN NFL Training Camp 2007

New York Giants: Plaxico Burress is no Jeremy Shockey, at least when it comes to playing on a bad ankle in training camp.

Shockey pushed himself a year ago on a sprained ankle, and it ended up bothering him during the Giants' regular season. Burress isn't making the same mistake. The veteran receiver hasn't practiced since spraining his right ankle on Aug. 2. His hours on the field at the University at Albany over the last 12 days have been spent either watching Eli Manning and the offense work or riding a stationary bike.

"I am going into my eighth year," Burress said Tuesday. "I pretty much know what to expect from myself, and they know what to expect from me. I know where to be at. I'll just return to my job. Like I said, it's like riding a bike. You get out there and do what you do."

While Burress is seemingly not worried, coach Tom Coughlin is concerned his top receiver and Manning will be off with their timing when the season opens in Dallas on Sept. 9. Burress, though, downplayed the concern. He insisted he would need only a couple days to get his timing down with Manning.

However, the ankle needs to get better. Burress can run straight ahead, but he can't make the quick moves that allow him to get open. Burress said there is still soreness and he won't return until it's gone.

"I don't want to have another setback right now," he said. "I just want to heal it up the first time and not worry about it lingering and having it nag me through the regular season."

Elsewhere in NFC camps:

Dallas Cowboys: Ron Springs and Everson Walls will be together again on the field at Texas Stadium, this time for something more important than football. Only six months after the successful transplant of a kidney donated by Walls for Springs, the former Cowboys teammates will serve as honorary captains for the Sept. 9 season opener. It's a chance to raise awareness about their new Gift for Life Foundation.

"We're using you to help a lot of people," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday. "Y'all will never come close to making a play on the field that could even approach what this is all about."

Springs suffered from Type 2 diabetes for 16 years and had been on the transplant waiting list since 2004. The Feb. 28 transplant was the first between two former U.S. professional athletes.

The former Cowboys want their story to be much more than that. With their foundation, they want to education people about ways to prevent chronic kidney disease and dispel myths about the living donor process. There are nearly 70,000 people now awaiting kidney transplants.

"What we realized, the thing that Everson did was so unusual that a friend would give another friend a body part," Springs said. "We knew this had to be something that would open the eyes of many people. This is something unique."

Jones said the former teammates will take part in the coin toss in the nationally televised season opener against the Giants. They will be decked out in their Cowboys jerseys -- Springs in his No. 20 and Walls in No. 24 -- and 40,000 rally towels will be distributed to fans.

"They don't have to honor me because I received a kidney. It's Everson that did a wonderful job," Springs said.

Seattle Seahawks: Forgive Marcus Tubbs if his knowledge of recent NFL injuries is a little shaky. He's been a bit absorbed in his own lengthy absence.

The Seahawks' No. 1 draft choice from 2004 returned to the field for the first time since last November. That was when the run-stopping defensive tackle had microfracture surgery on his left knee, a still-debated procedure in which holes are drilled into bone to regenerate cartilage around the knee.

"I haven't heard anybody in football getting it ... I don't know of it," a smiling Tubbs said after his morning practice, which came two weeks before the Seahawks expected him to play in an exhibition game.

The plan is still for Tubbs to practice some this week and next before playing Aug. 25 against Minnesota.

Dr. Kevin Auld, the Seahawks' former team physician who left the team in the offseason, performed the surgery on Tubbs. Though it's becoming more common in the NBA, microfracture surgery is not as rare in the NFL as Tubbs thought.

Which could be good news for Tubbs.

"It's a risky surgery. A lot of people don't like to perform it. But I have full confidence in our doctors. And I think up to this point they've done a great job, along with our training staff," Tubbs said.

Minnesota Vikings: Just as his coaches and teammates knew he would, Jason Glenn gave it everything he had as he tried to get ready for a seventh NFL season. But his aching knees just wouldn't let it happen. The Vikings linebacker and special teams standout, one of the most well-liked players on the team, officially retired on Tuesday, coach Brad Childress said.

"He was a great guy to have in our locker room," Childress said. "I'll miss him."

Glenn appeared in nine games with the Vikings last season, spent the first five years of his career with the Jets and also played one season in Miami.

Glenn tore an ACL last season and was still experiencing soreness through the first two weeks of training camp. He addressed the team on Monday night in what players called an emotional meeting.

Childress spoke glowingly of Glenn's leadership, work ethic and determination. Glenn was a sixth-round pick of the Lions in 2001 out of Texas A&M but was waived and signed as a free agent with the Jets. Childress said he would consider bringing Glenn back at midseason if Glenn's knees feel better. If not, a role on the player development side of the team could be the next step on his football path.

Ultimately, Childress said, his balky knees and the recent death of his niece in Texas led Glenn to make the decision.

"In the long run, it was just too much to overcome," Childress said. "His knees just wouldn't let him function like his body has to."

New Orleans Saints: Head coach Sean Payton announced that Matt Baker, one of five quarterbacks currently on the roster, would play most of the second half of the Saints' preseason game Saturday in Cincinnati. He's behind in learning the plays because he wasn't signed until more than a week after training camp began.

Payton's plan is for Drew Brees to start the game, followed by Jamie Martin working mostly with the first team until early in the third quarter. Reserves Tyler Palko, who played three quarters last week, and Jason Fife, who led a touchdown drive in the Hall of Fame game, are not expected to play.

Philadelphia Eagles: Third-year running back Ryan Moats, battling to survive the competition on a deep Eagles depth chart, suffered a broken left ankle in Monday night's preseason loss to the Ravens and will likely miss the entire 2007 season.

Plagued by fumbles and inconsistency in training camp, the once highly-regarded Moats was already facing an uphill battle simply to retain his roster spot. He was probably the No. 4 back on the club, behind starter Brian Westbrook, top reserve Correll Buckhalter and rookie Tony Hunt, a third-round choice in this year's draft.

Moats, 24, was injured in the third quarter on a run on which he lost 3 yards. He left the game with two rushes for two yards, one reception for no yards and a 20-yard kickoff return.

Selected in the third round of the 2005 draft and seen as a potential backup to Westbrook, the former Louisiana Tech standout had a productive rookie year in limited playing time. The Eagles chose him in part because he had a similar body type and skills set to Westbrook.

In his 2005 debut season, Moats rushed for 278 yards and three touchdowns on only 55 carries, playing in seven games and starting one. He rushed for 114 yards and two scores against the Giants. Moats flashed enough big-play potential, with scoring runs of 18, 40 and 59 yards, that a few franchises, including the Broncos, inquired about him in trade discussions. But in 2006, Moats appeared in only eight games and got just 22 carries for 69 yards.

This summer in camp, Moats' problems holding onto the ball, coupled with the arrival of Hunt, a former Penn State star, put his job in jeopardy. He is likely now to be placed on injured reserve for the year.

For his career, Moats has 77 rushes for 347 yards and three touchdowns and four receptions for seven yards. He averaged 17.3 yards on four kickoff returns. Moats has appeared in 15 games, with one start.

Information from ESPN.com senior writer Len Pasquarelli and The Associated Press was used in this report.