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As Newark Star-Ledger staffer Kimberly Jones put it: "On the surface, the relationship between Giants coach Tom Coughlin and All-Pro tight end Jeremy Shockey seemed doomed to fail."

Hired nearly three months ago to replace Jim Fassel, Coughlin is a hard-nosed disciplinarian known for intense preparation and thorough planning.

And as Jones aptly describes him, "Shockey personifies spontaneity and sass, unpredictability and exuberance."

But Shockey doesn't foresee any problems with the new boss.

"I told him right when I met him, 'Whatever you heard about me, I really love to play the game,'" Shockey said. "I really wanted to make a good impression."

The third-year man went on to say: "I like discipline. I like doing things right. I've never been late to a meeting. I think everybody has the mind-set around here, 'Hey, Fassel would [chew] you out, [Coughlin] is really going to get in you.' So, I think having that around here is definitely going to make people concentrate harder."

As New York Newsday beat man Neil Best reminded readers this morning, Shockey has been a model of intensity and production as a player, but he's generated controversy with inflammatory interviews targeting everyone from fans to homosexuals to Bill Parcells, and with antics such as punting the ball into the stands to celebrate a touchdown.

But Shockey will get a fresh start with Coughlin.

"The most interesting thing he said is, 'Whatever y'all have done in the past, you have a clean slate with me,'" Shockey told reporters in his first public comments on the coach since Coughlin's Jan. 6 hiring. "I figured I look like everybody else in his mind in that I've done nothing wrong and until I've done something wrong with him here. That's when he can pull me aside and say something."

Coughlin admits some of Shockey's past behavior concerns him.

"We're already talking about some of those things, the grasp of what it truly means to be a professional," the coach told Best. "He's got to control himself, use better judgment. He's very receptive."

Tight ends coach Mike Pope said Shockey and Coughlin will get along well but added, "a few things like what you do with the ball after a first down or a touchdown, they're going to have conversations about that. But Jeremy's going to be another year older. Even he looks back at some stuff on tape and kind of closes one eye. Things he did as a rookie, he won't do those things again."

Shockey agreed, saying: "I've learned a lot from my mistakes. ... I feel like I've matured." He said he never has been late or failed to work hard. "I like discipline. I like doing things right."

Shockey also told reporters the left knee injury that kept him out of the final seven games last is steadily improving.

According to Giants.com insider Michael Eisen, Shockey is doing all the drills in strength and conditioning coach Jerry Palmieri's program. An arthroscopic procedure performed on the knee in February revealed no damage.

" They said my knee looked like a 10-year-old kid's knee," Shockey said. "It was a relief to hear that." He estimates the knee is about "90 percent" and will be as good as it was prior to the injury by the team's first mini-camp next month.

"I'm doing everything everybody else is doing" Shockey said. "I can't see if we had mini-camp next week why I couldn't go. It was hurting me for so long. Coach Fassel was wise by not putting me in any games. I know I wanted to play.

"I'm a competitor and I like to think I could have contributed last year, but something really could have gone wrong. After doing the surgery they didn't find anything wrong. I'm not a hundred percent now.

"But I have a lot of time to get better. It feels good now to wake up and it doesn't get stiff. It feels like my right knee, which is a good feeling. ..."

Also of interest in New York. ...

Kerry Collins probably has more interest in the upcoming NFL draft than most New York Giants fans -- and with good reason.

According to Associated Press sports writer Tom Canavan, Collins' future with the Giants probably is going to be decided on April 24.

If the Giants use the fourth pick in the draft to take a quarterback, Collins knows his chances of remaining with the team he led to the Super Bowl in 2000 aren't good after this season.

Collins' contract runs out at the end of 2004, and the Giants aren't likely to give him a new, big deal if they select either Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger in the first round.

"The more time that goes by, the more I start to wonder," Collins said Thursday after his first offseason workout under Coughlin. "That's part of life at this day and age in the NFL.

"Regardless of what happens, I am going to stay focused and just worry about playing well this year."

Collins, the Giants' starting quarterback since 1999, helped the team out after 2000 by taking a three-year contract extension.

At 31 years old, Collins is looking for a long-term deal this time around.

"I have one good contract left for me," Collins said. "I've got five or six more years I think I can play at a high level in this league. Certainly I am durable. I have been able to stay injury free, and there is no question they have an idea what I can and can't do."

Collins said team officials haven't said much to him in recent weeks in large part because they aren't sure what they are going to do in the draft.

If they don't take a quarterback, New York might take offensive tackle Robert Gallery or receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

But in an article published Mar. 22, Sports Illustrated insider Peter King advised readers: "I think the Giants are going to be staring a very good quarterback, and not Robert Gallery, the great tackle, in the face when they pick at No. 4 overall come draft day. I have a feeling Gallery's going in the top three picks. ..."

"There are 10 different scenarios that have gone on, involving who they are going to take, whether they trade up or down," Collins said. "I'm not going to worry about it until draft day."

Collins, who missed the final month of the season with an ankle injury, said he probably would be a little upset if the Giants took a quarterback and basically made him a lame duck.

"The writing will be on the wall for me, and I will be a free agent after next year," Collins said. "I'll be motivated to play well. Also, I have had a great experience here. I want to do well for them, whether my future is here or somewhere else."

On a more positive note. ... Collins is said to be completely on board the new staff's plan to put him on the move more.

As Best noted on Monday, throwing on the run is not Collins' best attribute, but he agrees with the coaches that he can handle occasional bootlegs and sprintouts and that mixing things up will keep defenses off-balance.

Coughlin had success in Jacksonville with mobile Mark Brunell, and though Collins can't move like Brunell once did, some of that approach will be incorporated. ...

And one last item here. ...

Also according to Jones, Ron Dayne is taking part in the Giants' off-season conditioning program, which he skipped last year, leading to a prolonged stint in Fassel's doghouse. He's also losing weight, down to 250 pounds, he said, with a Coughlin-approved goal of 240-242.

Dayne said 243 is the lightest he has been.

All of this is designed for Dayne, who finished the 2003 campaign without a single carry, to earn a role in the offense that was promised but not delivered last summer.

"I know as long as I do my job, I can play in this league," Dayne said yesterday.