Earlier today we ran story detailing optimistic statements from both the New York Giants and New York Jets regarding the probability of the 2011 NFL season starting on time. Thursday afternoon, Giants co-owner John Mara echoed those sentiments during an appearance on the Mike Lupica Show on ESPN Radio 1050 AM in New York.

"We’re still in May, and we still have some time to do this … but in the meantime we’ve got players out there that do not have a team, we have OTAs and mini-camps that should be going on. We should be getting ready to play a football season.

"I’m still very confident that there will be a full season because we do have time and I know there’s a willingness on our part to site down and get a deal done. We’ve got to get the same willingness out of the players to sit down and do that."

Mara also said "There is a deal there to be made, a deal that would be fair to both sides and allow the game to continue to grow. We just have to sit down and get to it."

— Read more of the interview at Big Blue View

-- Mara also addressed the lockout Thursday in an essay he wrote for Giants.com