Giants Suspend Burress for Rest of Regular Season

This is the second time the Giants have suspended the troubled receiver this season. He missed the Oct. 2 game against Seattle for missing a team meeting. He also has been fined dozens of times since 2005 for violating team rules, and he was hit with a $45,000 fine by the league this season for abusing an official and throwing a ball into the stands during a game.

New York Giants' Plaxico Burress, left, leaves Manhattan Supreme Court after his arraignment,...

New York Giants' Plaxico Burress, left, leaves Manhattan Supreme Court after his arraignment, accompanied by his lawyer Benjamin Brafman on Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. Burress appeared in court on weapons possession charges stemming from an incident at a Manhattan nightclub Friday. (AP Photo/David Karp)

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"Our concern all along has been for Plaxico the person, not Plaxico the player," team chairman Steve Tisch said. "We are here to support him and his family as he recovers from his wound and deals with some serious issues."

Burress is fourth on the team with 35 catches for 454 yards and four touchdowns. He has caught 244 passes for 3,681 yards and 33 touchdowns since joining the team in 2005 as a free agent.

"When you lose a player of Plaxico's ability, it is incumbent that everybody step up and fill the void," said Coughlin, whose team is 11-1 and a win away from clinching the NFC East. "In the last two seasons, this team has done an outstanding job of that. We made it clear to Plax today that we are here to support him in any way possible."

Fines in the NFL typically mean a player loses a paycheck for each game he misses. In Burress' case, that would mean roughly $206,000 per regular season game. He also was due to receive $1 million from his signing bonus on Dec. 10. It was not immediately clear whether the team still had to make the payment.

The player's latest woes began in the wee hours Saturday morning when he shot himself in the VIP section of a club called the Latin Quarter, where he went with two teammates.

Police want to know what Pierce did moments after the shooting and whether he took part in a cover-up. They also plan to interview the people at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, who treated Burress and did not report the shooting, as required by law.

Pierce's lawyer said Tuesday he contacted prosecutors as soon as he was hired by the linebacker on Monday.