Lavar Arrington: Reduced Expectations

Giants outside linebacker LaVar Arrington stood out for the first time this season, when he batted a third-quarter pass from Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell in New York's 19--3 win on Sunday. Beyond that, however, Arrington made only one solo tackle against his old team and has a grand total of 13 tackles in four games—a disappointing start to his first season in New York .

The chief issue is Arrington 's gimpy right knee, a lingering condition that the Giants thought they could treat when they signed him to a seven year, $49 million free-agent deal in the off-season. As part of the management program for the knee, which Arrington injured early in the 2004 season, he sits out at least one practice a week.

On game day he struggles to get into the flow of the action, and even his coaches acknowledge that his skills have declined. Asked if Arrington , the second pick of the 2000 draft, is still the player who was voted to the Pro Bowl three times with Washington , Giants linebackers coach Bill Sheridan said, "Probably not." Arrington , however, remains optimistic. "I'm getting on track," he said after the game on Sunday. "I felt like myself out there. It might not show in the stat column, but I'm getting better."