Kenny Phillips experiencing no swelling or pain in his knee

Kenny Phillips is running, cutting, spinning and sprinting on the side during practice. And when the defense is out on the field, he’s standing nearby, listening to the coaches and talking to his teammates.

Basically, he’s a lot closer to playing football than he has at any point since September. So that must be nice, right?

“It sucks,” the Giants’ safety said with a laugh on Monday after the first practice of minicamp. “At least last year I got to watch from home. Now, I have these up close personal seats. It sucks, but it is what it is.”

Since the end of last season, the questions about, and to, Phillips have all been pretty much about one thing: how’s the knee? The progress since his surgery last September to repair an arthritic condition has been slow – but at least for Phillips’ sake it’s been steady and in the right direction.

“He’s getting better every day,” coach Tom Coughlin said Monday. “You just have to have great confidence that he wants it so badly he can hopefully overcome anything. He’s making steady progress, and we still have the very good circumstance that (his knee) doesn’t swell.”

Phillips also said there’s no pain in the joint, which is as encouraging as the lack of swelling. The lack of any symptoms and his recently increased workload has Phillips believing he’ll be ready to practice at least once per day when training camp opens in August.

“I do. Honestly, I do,” he said. “I hope the coaches and trainers have the same mindset. If not, I’ll just wait until they say go. But I’m looking forward to training camp beginning.”

Phillips, who will continue to rehab in Miami during the next month-plus, is also looking forward to joining a secondary that has been active and vocal so far this spring.

“A lot of trash talking,” he said with a grin. “I can’t wait to get back to be a part of it.”

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(nj.com)