Giants Notebook: Will Beatty's injury put Sean Locklear into starting role?

Even after returning for the final two training camp sessions, left tackle Will Beatty’s sore back wouldn’t permit him from participating in the first team practice back at the Giants’ facility in East Rutherford on Thursday.

“He’s back on the shelf,” coach Tom Coughlin said after practice. “He’s back in the training room.”

Coughlin explained that Beatty was evaluated on Wednesday night, and the prognosis apparently wasn’t good.

“They felt like if he kept going the way he is right now he would have only gotten worse and worse,” Coughlin said. “They shut him down.”

For now, veteran tackle David Diehl remains on the right side (he played left tackle for the Giants for several seasons) while former Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins starter Sean Locklear continued to work on Eli Manning’s blindside.

If Beatty’s back doesn’t improve and the team decides that second-year tackle James Brewer is an improvement over Locklear, expect Brewer to move up to right tackle and Diehl to switch back to the blindside.

The early reviews on Locklear have been good. He isn’t enormous (6-4, 310), but he’s still a decent athlete and Locklear does have nine years of experience.

“He’s a vet,” said left guard Kevin Boothe, who has been working next to Locklear. “He’s been around for a long time. He’s picked up the offense fairly quickly. And, you know, he’s somebody who can be relied upon when needed. He’s been a great asset to the team.”

It hasn’t been announced yet, but the odds are that Locklear will be starting at left tackle on Saturday against the New York Jets.

Another scuffle in practice: Tight end Bear Pascoe and safety Tyler Sash found themselves wrestling on the ground after one red zone repetition. Several players piled on and rookie defensive tackle Markus Kuhn could be seen pulling on Pascoe’s leg to separate the two.

“I didn’t like it,” Coughlin said, adding that he didn’t feel it was necessary.”

The incident was broken up quickly.

Marcus Thomas expected to be added shortly: Former Broncos defensive tackle Marcus Thomas worked out of the Giants on Thursday and the Star-Ledger is reporting that he’s signed a one-year deal.

Thomas recorded a career-high 43 tackles in a career-low 12 games last season. Obviously he would help make up for the loss of Shaun Rogers, who is out for the season with a blood clot in his leg.

Sintim, Trattou waived: As reported earlier, linebacker Clint Sintim (knee) and defensive end Justin Trattou (ankle/heel) were waived-failed physical and waived-injured respectively on Thursday.

Coughlin said the release of Sintim -- who has torn his ACL twice in the last two years-- is better for the Giants and for Sintim.

“We found ourselves in need of players at a certain position and we felt that this was probably the best way to go for both, for Clint as well,” Coughlin said, adding that both Sintim and Trattou are “a ways away” from being healthy.

The Giants signed defensive tackles Oren Wilson, Bobby Skinner and Carlton Powell this week.

Powell was signed by the Falcons after their first preseason game last season and he still managed to make the 53-man roster out of camp.

How does Coughlin feel about the defensive line?:

Coughlin was asked for his thoughts on the defensive line after the barrage of injuries at defensive tackle (besides Rogers, Martin Parker was waived-injured, Chris Canty is still on PUP with a knee issue and Marvin Austin is awaiting more tests on his sore back).

“I feel good except for the fact that, you know at the tackle position where we thought we were deep,” Coughlin said. “We, all of the sudden, are not. So I can’t feel very good about that.”

Laron Scott gets added into the mix at returner: Coughlin said that Scott is capable of returning punts as well as kicks, although the cornerback primarily returned kicks at Georgia Southern.

However, that doesn’t mean that Jayron Hosley or Jerrel Jernigan-- who both muffed punts in the first preseason gam -- have lost their place in line.

“One issue is not going to be the total judgment in that regard,” Coughlin said. “Hosley has looked pretty good this week in practice.”

Giants practice against wildcat: Third-string quarterback Ryan Perrilloux did run the wildcat offense in preparation of Saturday’s preseason game against he Jets. Coughlin wouldn’t say whether he would prefer to see it or not, but said the team did prepare for the formation.

Who didn’t practice?: WLB Michael Boley (hamstring), WLB Jacquian Williams (hip), DT Marvin Austin (back), CB Terrell Thomas (knee), CB Michael Coe (hamstring), LT Will Beatty (back), DT Chris Canty (knee, PUP), TE Travis Beckum (knee, PUP) and WR Hakeem Nicks (foot) was limited.

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