11.   Brown spent Christmas at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, recovering from neck surgery.

12.   Daly began in head and neck surgery early, when it branched off as a separate medical specialty.

13.   Elsewhere on the field, wide receiver Ike Hilliard could receive that first jarring hit since his neck surgery last September.

14.   Four days later, Weinke had neck surgery to fuse two vertebrae to provide stability.

15.   Fullback Daryl Johnston, who underwent neck surgery last year, was able to participate in the noncontact practice.

16.   He had to have neck surgery early in the season and decided it was time to say good-bye.

17.   He did the same after neck surgery a few years later.

18.   He limped past the empty locker of Ike Hilliard, out for the season because of neck surgery.

19.   He has had two neck surgeries, which he jokingly blamed on his friendship with Nieuwendyk.

20.   He was referring to the Giants wide receiver who had neck surgery last year.