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Giants Vs. Jets: It's Only A Preseason Game, But ...

Sure, Monday night's game between the New York Giants and New York Jets is just the preseason opener for both teams.

In the grand scheme of the 2010 season it means very little. Yet, the Giants have noticed how much the Jets have been talking and how much attention they have been getting. They would like to do a little something about it Monday.

"There’s a lot going on right now with the Jets claiming New York and that it’s their town," said Giants cornerback Terrell Thomas. "We’re not feeding into that. But at the same time we want to send a message to them that it’s still our town. And it’s going to be our stadium.

"You hear it in the back of your mind, but you don’t pay no attention to it," Thomas said. "Until they win the Super Bowl, until they start dominating teams - - and just don’t do it one year - - we’ll consider it. But until then, everybody knows it’s a Giants town."

Giants defensive end Justin Tuck wants his team to ignore the hype surrounding the Jets -- and the bluster coming from them.

"Hopefully we can find a rhythm in the game and not let the atmosphere take over how we play," Tuck said. "It would be real easy to get into individual battles and say ‘We want the Giants fans there to realize that we still own New York city or that stadium.’ It would be real easy to get into that mode.

"But it ain’t about the supremacy of the Jets and the Giants. That doesn’t matter. We could come out of this game and beat them 40-0, but if they go out and win the Super Bowl and we don’t make the playoffs, then who cares?"

Jets coach Rex Ryan hinted that his starters might play a little longer than is normal for the first preseason game.

"I'd much rather win that preseason game (than lose), but we’re not going to play the starters into the fourth quarter to get it done," Ryan said. "We may extend them a little bit."

Ryan, for the record, said he has "always" respected the Giants and the way they play -- and even had picked them to represent the NFC in last year's Super Bowl.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin said the other day that he would not do anything out of the ordinary simply because the Giants are facing the Jets.

"If we did something along those lines I just don’t think it would be smart," Coughlin said Wednesday during Giants Training Camp at the University at Albany. "We’ve still got 16 games to go, four pre-season games.

"You want to win, but you’re not going to sacrifice the ability to evaluate personnel for that, because that’s what preseason is."