Update on Patrick Chung? COACH KELLY:  Chung and [Brandon] Boykin are both limited today.  They won't go through the full practice.

What is Boykin's injury?

COACH KELLY:  Shoulder maybe.

Banged up a little bit?

COACH KELLY: Yeah. When Chung comes back, will you continue to rotate safeties?

COACH KELLY: It all depends when he comes back, what his health status is.  I leave a lot of that when it comes to injury situations to our trainers and doctors [who] will tell us what he's capable of.

Do you have a plan for when he comes back?

COACH KELLY:  No, we don't have a plan for that.

Who practices in Boykin's place as the nickel?

COACH KELLY:  [Jordan] Poyer is in there a little bit right now.  But we anticipate, I think, Brendon is going to practice tomorrow.  I don't think it's a big issue. Did Boykin's injury occur when he was going against an offensive lineman?

COACH KELLY:  No, it actually happened on a punt.

Trent Cole doesn't have any sacks.  Are you satisfied with his play to this point?

COACH KELLY: I like Trent's effort.  I like what he's doing.  He's been asked to do some different things in terms of what Billy [Davis'] scheme is.

I think everything we've asked Trent to do he's been doing.

You were interested to see how these guys were going to come in off of this loss.  What did you see?

COACH KELLY:  They were great yesterday.  A lot of guys in on Monday, even though that's their day off.  But I really like this group.  I like their mindset.  I like their attitudes.  You like being around them.  I think they work extremely hard.

I was really pleased with how they came back yesterday.  Again, we told them, now we got to continue.  Yesterday, we built upon it.  We can't take a step back.

You think Boykin will be full participation by tomorrow?

COACH KELLY:  That's what we hope.

What about Chung?

COACH KELLY:  I don't know that one.

When you talk about Trent and the outside linebackers, he and Connor Barwin are bringing you stuff against the run. Can that defense be successful without one of your outside linebackers being a real force as a pass‑rusher?

COACH KELLY: I think you need to generate a pass‑rush.  It doesn't matter whether it's coming from the inside or outside.

Where are you as far as pass‑rush goes?

COACH KELLY:  We need to get more pressure on the quarterback.  That's obvious.

You're being outscored 81‑44 in the second half.  Are teams adjusting to what you're showing in the first half?  Is this more circumstantial?

COACH KELLY:  No, I think we've run the same things in the first half as the second half.  From an offensive standpoint, [it] depends what you're facing.

It hasn't been a schematic change from first half to second half.

How has Fletcher Cox taken to the two‑gap techniques?

COACH KELLY: Fletch is like everybody on defense.  He's learning on the run.  [There are] times when Fletch flashes.  He doesn't two‑gap on every play.  Maybe that may be a misconception.  A lot of times, we're in a four‑down package, one‑gap package on the defensive side of the ball.

It varies on what the defense is calling.  Fletch has a lot of athletic ability.  He can be a problem at times.  At times, he's created some mismatches in there.

We just need everybody – offensively, defensively and special teams – we just need more consistency.

When you are running the nickel package and have three down lineman but are rushing four, are you two-gapping?

COACH KELLY:  Two‑gapping, no.

Are you looking at expanded roles for Chris Polk and Bryce Brown?

COACH KELLY: Well, a lot of that depends on how many snaps we're getting.  Obviously you want to get those guys involved in the game.  We've been in some games where our snaps have been down.  We've been in other games where our snaps have been up. [Running backs coach] Duce [Staley] manages those guys on the sidelines and he's rotating them.

There's never any situation where any of them were, 'Hey, he needs to be in the game to run this.' That's the versatility of all three of them and the strengths of all three of them.  Our offense doesn't change a beat. It's not like I'll look up calling a play and say, 'Why isn't he in the game?'

It's we can run everything we need to run.  Duce is really in charge of those guys in terms of rotation, getting those guys in and getting those guys out.

You're right, I think Bryce is starting to pick things up and I think Chris, in the limited time he's gotten in there, he's done some really good things for us.

You said Vinny Curry was improving as a two‑gap guy.  You didn't play him in the first three quarters against Denver. Has he improved enough?

COACH KELLY:  He's improving.  The answer to the question last week was, 'Is he improving?'  The answer is yes.  I think the one thing you have to realize is Cedric Thornton is probably playing our best defensive football right now.  If you put Vinny in, who are we taking out?  I've said that all along.  Are you taking Cox off the field or taking Ced off the field?  I think Ced had five tackles on Sunday.  So you're getting a lot of production out of him.

In terms of 'Is he improving?'. Yes, he's improving as player.  But is he improving enough to supplant Ced right now?  I don't see that happening.

Can you change the scheme around?

COACH KELLY:  We do.

Between two‑gap or one‑gap.

COACH KELLY:  Depends what you're defending.  That chess match goes on throughout the game.  You can't get the script and say I know what they're doing.  It depends on playing the situation of football.  That's the match that goes on.  You get nickel on the ball, they're running the ball.  What we try to find defensively is what other offenses are trying to do to a defense, get those mismatches.

Do you have more of a patience level with rookies?

COACH KELLY:  I don't understand the question.  Our level is the same for everybody.  Regardless of what year you are, there's no question.  I don't look at someone and say, He's a rookie, it's okay to make mistakes.  He's a veteran, it's not okay to make mistakes.  It's all the same.

Are you saying these rookies are guys we want to develop and we'll live with the mistakes?

COACH KELLY:  Does the player on the field give you a advantage or disadvantage?  That's how we approach everything.  We're not throwing guys out there saying I know this one particular player is going to make mistakes but he's going to help down the road.  When we go out there, we're trying to win games.

What is Cedric Thornton doing that's so impressive?

COACH KELLY:  Playing with great effort.  High motor.  Great technician.  Very rarely is he out of position.  I think he's a technician.  He plays with great effort.  That's what you're seeing.  He's a by‑product of putting it all together.  That's what he's doing right now.

Eli Manning and Peyton Manning are different players.  Is there any advantage in playing them back‑to‑back?

COACH KELLY: No.  Obviously they're brothers, both extremely successful quarterbacks.  But it's two different offensive systems in terms of what Denver is running and what the Giants are running.  I don't see an advantage that Peyton did this, Eli is going to do this.

What do you see from Eli in particular this year?

COACH KELLY:  From Eli, the one thing you marvel at is just how accurate he is.  He may be the best deep‑ball thrower in the game.

The other thing I don't think Eli gets credit for is just how tough he is.  He gets hit, just gets up and has the same exact demeanor, then goes and continues to do the same exact thing.  I think there's a real toughness to Eli, an extreme accuracy when he's throwing the football.

There's times when I think everybody thinks, We're pretty close in our coverage, all of a sudden he fits the ball in there.  Especially with balls down the field, that's what separates Eli from a lot of other quarterbacks, how accurate he is in the down‑the‑field throws.

What do you see from the Giants on tape?

COACH KELLY: The lineup has been varied a little bit.  They lost some guys at linebacker with [Dan] Connor going out.  A couple different lineups from a defensive standpoint, at the linebacker and secondary level.  I think the strength of their defense is their front with [Justin] Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul, Linval Joseph and Cullen Jenkins and those guys, inside up front. 

Part of it will be what you see from them in practice this week.  They're getting Will Hill back, who was suspended.  They only had two safeties active for last game.  That will tell you a little bit about some of the depth issues they have in the secondary.

They're an attacking style defense.  They're going to pressure you about 40% of the time.  They bring it from different angles.  Not always the same guy.  You have to be heads up in terms of what you're doing protection guys.  They do a good job of mixing their mans and their zones.

You talked about the offensive line and protection being important.Have you seen anything from looking at it the past couple of days?

COACH KELLY: Yeah, we talk about it all the time as a staff.  We've got to make sure we sure up.  We vary our protections, whether it's five man, six man, seven man protections.  Again, it's not one thing where it's this, that's the quick fix, change that particular thing, we're all set. Sometimes we're in seven‑man gap protection, we get beat in a four‑man rush.  Sometimes it's a blitz look.

As a group, this entire operation has only been together a short amount of time.  We need to continue to grow and experience things, when they happen, correct them, make sure they don't happen again.

It seems like Todd Herremans is getting bull-rushed more this year at right guard than he ever did at left guard. Have you noticed that?

COACH KELLY: I never watched Todd play left guard.  I can't answer that question.  I know Todd played a lot better against Denver than he did in the Chiefs game.  When you go through that game, I thought he played really well.  Maybe his best game of the year was against the Broncos.

I'm excited where that group is going.  We have five guys that are pretty good football players and we have to continue to develop all of them.

Can you talk about when you were offered a quality control position at the Giants years ago and the internal debate you went through?

COACH KELLY:  The internal debate was it was a quality control position.  I wasn't coaching a position.  It was more that part of, when you get to a point where I was, doesn't matter what level you're at, you're designing offense, you're calling plays, coaching in an individual position.  Even though it's a huge step up going from New Hampshire to the Giants, that was it.

I had all the respect in the world for coach [Tom Coughlin].  I think he's a Hall of Fame coach, won two Super Bowls.  Would have been a great person to learn from.  It was a great job, but it wasn't the right job at the right time.

Nate Allen, what has he done over the last two games that eliminate the negative plays?

COACH KELLY:  I think like everybody, Nate's just improving.  Getting a little bit more comfortable out there.  Things starting to happen.  They're happening at the same speed, but in his mind maybe a little bit slower.  He's starting to see things and diagnose them.  Getting to see the same pattern recognition over and over and over again.

As you get to be comfortable with the scheme, things start to settle down.  I've seen Nate improve just like I've seen Todd improve. Even though those guys aren't rookies, everybody every single day can continue improve as a group.  I think that's what you've seen out of Nate in the last two games and that's what you've seen out of Todd in this last game.

Michael Vick seems to get hit a fair amount.  Is it O‑line related or self‑inflicted?

COACH KELLY:  Again, there's not one answer.  When he gets to the top of his drop, our right or left tackle gets beat before he gets his feet set, that would be offensive line related.  Other times he's done a better job in the open field.  Since the Redskins game, he hasn't gotten in front of a play and blocked anybody.

It has to be looking specifically.  He hasn't taken any hits in the run game.  Done a good job from that standpoint.  Protection is an 11‑man deal.  Guys getting open when they're supposed to get open, make sure we have a hat on the right guys.  It's a combination of all those things.