Listening to the Giants players, coaches and organization talk about Plaxico Burress, I'm pretty convinced the situation won't affect them too much beyond losing their most physically gifted offensive player. All the players from Eli Manning to Justin Tuck seem genuinely to care that Burress gets through this, and even Tom Coughlin and owners John Mara and Steve Tisch seem empathetic. And Burress was reported to have been extremely remorseful about letting down his teammates.

The team ended Burress' season, but in truth, they expected him to be out 4-6 weeks with his injuries anyway, and having him possibly return would have been distracting. Moreover, I think the Giants seemingly severe punishment preempts the league and even the legal system to an extent. Not that it will prevent either from taking further action, but seeing that Burress is removed from the team for the year sends a message that the team itself is handling this.

The bottom line is that Burress' teammates had his back (in Antonio Pierce's case, maybe more than he should have for his own good), and this is not a situation of disharmony among the players or the team. Actually, the authorities should go easier on Pierce - I mean he might have helped cover it up, but it's not like Burress shot someone else. And while he's an idiot for having an unlicensed gun, and it's a terrible example and all that, shooting yourself with a gun accidentally hardly makes you a monster, and you could understand why Pierce might have tried to help Burress get away with it.

Still, the loss of Burress, who's an impossible matchup when he's healthy, is big - and could cost them in the playoffs against a good team like Dallas. But other than losing his production, I don't think the incident will derail the team.

(Even though the Eagles game this week would be tough with or without Burress).