New York Giants expect Robbins back for game against Eagles

We interrupt our continuing coverage of the Plaxico Burress/Antonio Pierce saga to bring you pertinent information about a key Giants player.

Defensive tackle Fred Robbins, who sat out Sunday's victory over the Redskins because of an injured shoulder, practiced all week and is listed as probable for Sunday's game against the Eagles.

"I feel good," Robbins said this week. "It's a little sore, a little stiff, but I can deal with a little pain."

Actually, Robbins can deal with a lot of pain.

The ninth-year veteran has played more than a month with broken bones in both hands -- something he's finally revealed after at first denying there were any breaks. Robbins didn't want opposing teams to know the extent of his injuries, but all they had to do was look at the club-like hard casts he wore on both hands on game days.

Robbins has been wearing the casts -- or "braces," as he called them -- since breaking the bone between his pointer and middle finger on his left hand in Week 7 against the 49ers and the thumb bone on his right hand the following week against the Steelers.

This week he'll switch to smaller braces, which will allow him to use his hands more than he has in recent weeks.

"You have to use your whole arms to grab when you wear the big braces," Robbins said. "The little things you have to do with your hands, you can't do them anymore. It ain't easy, but..."

Actually, there is no but. It hasn't been easy for Robbins since his first break. In the San Francisco game, he recorded 1½ sacks to give him 5½ on the season. That tied his career high, which he set in 2006 and equaled last season to much playful chiding from his teammates, who joked he couldn't eclipse that mark.

Due to the injuries, Robbins is still stuck at 5½.

"He's cursed," defensive end Justin Tuck said.

Added tackle Barry Cofield, "We try not to talk about it. We don't want to jinx him. I think he'll get another sack."

If not for a few bad breaks (literally), Robbin