Shawn Andrews practices with the Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It was his first time back on a football field in almost a year, and Shawn Andrews, true to form, was singing as he stretched before the New York Giants practice on Monday. The 27-year-old Andrews is happy to have a second chance in the National Football League after the Eagles cut him in March because, coach Andy Reid said then, it was time "to move in another direction" from the player they picked in the first round of the 2004 draft.

"I like what he did," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said after Andrews worked primarily at left guard with the third-string offensive line. Andrews took two snaps at left tackle.

On Friday, the Giants signed Andrews to a six-year deal with a $250,000 signing bonus, making him a no-risk, potentially high-reward investment. Andrews is set to make $1.25 million in base salary this season - about half of what his contract with the Eagles called for - and could make $7 million in 2011, including a $3.5 million roster bonus and a $500,000 workout bonus, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

According to Coughlin, the New York assistant coaches have immersed Andrews in their terminology since he joined the team on Friday. The Giants' system is different than the one Andrews played under with the Eagles, and he has switched sides of the offensive line.

Andrews flourished at right guard with the Eagles until 2008, when he skipped the first 17 days of training camp because he said he was depressed and then injured his back in Week 2 and missed the rest of the season. The Eagles were counting on Andrews to replace Jon Runyan at right tackle last season, but Andrews re-injured his back during a conditioning test prior to training camp and missed the entire season.

On Monday, Andrews stood in front of his locker wearing bright blue shorts, glasses and diamond stud earrings. His often-colorful Mohawk was gone, and he admired how his new Giants blue helmet sparkled as it hung in his locker. He also knew he had been heavily criticized in Philadelphia for being unable to play the last two seasons.

"Even some of the guys I developed a good relationship with in the media in Philly," Andrews said, "it's like, 'Shawn's a G-man now, so, let's ride the wave of "he didn't want to play football; he stole money." ' How did I steal money from the Eagles organization? It's not like I held a gun to their head and said, 'Hey, keep me here.'

"I had a back injury. I went through a depression. That's a thing of the past. Everybody has trials in life. I've found that all the people who point fingers - they really have something going on, as well. I just pray for them. That's what I do."

Andrews said he didn't want to get into a back-and-forth about the Eagles. He said someone from the organization called him in California in March to tell him he'd been cut while the news simultaneously broke in Philadelphia.

"Maybe they just felt it was time to go in another direction from the situation from 2008 and the back [injury] and, you know, I guess maybe the fans wanted me out of town. That maybe swayed them, too," Andrews said. "I don't know. I'll never know."

Told he didn't sound bitter, Andrews said: "Nah. I mean, in life there are seasons, and I've learned to only control what I can control, and I just, I just feel like maybe they felt like my course in Philly has run its course, basically. There's no bad blood. Some things you don't agree with, but you just accept it and move on, and I don't want no Shawn-versus-the-Eagles thing going on."

At practice on Monday, Andrews was buried on the depth chart behind Rich Seubert and Mitch Petrus. On his first play in an 11-on-11 drill, Andrews got beat off the ball by defensive tackle Jay Alford. He was replaced for the next play. Two plays later, he blocked second-year defensive end Alex Hall on a pass play, and later held Nate Collins, a rookie defensive tackle out of Virginia.

In individual drills, Andrews easily handled Dwayne Hendricks, a second-year tackle out of Miami, but on another play he barely touched Chris Canty, the Giants' speedy starting tackle who was in the backfield in a second. During a break, Andrews bent over at a 90-degree angle, stretching his back.

"He's starting to be spoon-fed the offense, which is foreign to him," Coughlin said. "So he's got to do some analogies and some comparisons just to put the thing together. But he's been working at it, so hopefully, it'll come quickly."

Coughlin was noncommittal when asked if Andrews could be ready to play in the Giants' third preseason game Saturday at Baltimore.

Before practice, Andrews said he was "excited" and "kind of antsy" to get back out on the practice field and "see what happens."

"I have to decipher the football soreness versus if there's an issue with the back," Andrews said. "I feel like I have a pretty high pain tolerance, so we'll see."

Seubert knows to an extent what Andrews is going through trying to make a comeback after essentially two years away from the game. In 2003, his third year in the NFL, Seubert broke his leg. He missed a year and a half, and found that coming back to football was "just like riding a bike." Eventually the soreness and stiffness from playing every Sunday went away.

At 31, Seubert is the Giants starting left guard.

"If you've got your mind right, you'll be good," he said.

Andrews said the fact that he's back with an NFL team should answer the questions about his desire to play professional football and whether his mind is right.

"I just think back to how I felt after my first surgery, after my second surgery," Andrews said. "Getting up, with a reservoir in my back, draining blood. Just that whole feeling. I don't want to go through it again.

"I'm here for a reason. I'm a competitor. The fact, people telling me I don't want to play football any more, that I don't have a love for the game . . . me being back speaks for itself - I think so."