Jon Beason recovering but will start training camp on PUP list

Jon Beason will not participate in Monday afternoon's conditioning test when he and the Giants players report for the start of training camp, but the middle linebacker said he could if he had to and he fully expects to be ready for the start of the regular season Sept. 8.

Beason, who was signing autographs at the team's Health and Fitness Expo at MetLife Stadium Sunday, already has shed the hard cast and walking boot that were the first phase of his non-surgical recovery from a sesamoid bone fracture and a torn ligament in his foot that he suffered during OTAs.

"It's feeling great," Beason said. "We're hitting all of those benchmarks in terms of the prognosis. It's getting better and better every day."

Beason most likely will be designated on the physically unable to perform list Monday. He said his focus while the team is grinding through practices for the next several weeks will be on improving his conditioning and lower-body strength, which suffered during his immobility. He is expected to begin running in about three weeks. "We're taking advantage of the time, but also being smart about it," Beason said. "No setbacks."

In the meantime, outside linebacker Jameel McClain is expected to take over the middle linebacker job. McClain likely will move back to the outside when Beason returns.

Beason said ideally, he would like to spend a little time on the field during the preseason just to get back in the flow of the defense, but he said if he doesn't see action until that Sept. 8 game in Detroit that will not be a major deterrent in his season. He missed most of training camp the last two summers with the Panthers while dealing with other injuries.

"There's a reason why we have the preseason, just to get your feet back under you," he said. "But I've had seasons where I didn't have any training camp and I went out there and I got busy right away . . . Where there's a will, there's a way."


(newsday.com)