EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The turf toe that sidelined Jeremy Shockey for most of the last two games might keep the New York Giants' tight end out Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Giants' first-round draft pick didn't practice on Friday, and he said his playing status in the NFC East showdown will be a game-time decision by coach Jim Fassel.

"If he says I can play at game time, I'm going to play," Shockey said. "If he says not to, I'm not going to play."

Fassel seemed to defer to Shockey, saying the former University of Miami product told him on Friday that he would play.

"But I have to look at that with players and (wonder) how productive he is going to be," Fassel said. "He can last a series and go down, and I've lost a spot. So I'll see, but I feel fairly confident I'll play him."

Shockey can be a major deterrent against the Eagles' blitzes. There aren't many linebackers or safeties who can cover him one on one. In four-plus games, he has caught 16 passes, averaging 13.1 yards.

"I think we can function without him, but he certainly helps us a lot," Fassel said. "You can't take many guys out of your lineup, big playmakers who do things and help everybody else's confidence. You can't do that and think you can function at the highest level, and we need to do that in this game."

Shockey made a couple of contradictory statements in discussing the toe he hurt in the first quarter against Dallas on Oct. 10. He missed most of that game and the next game against Atlanta the following weekend. The Giants had a bye last weekend.

While saying his toe has been feeling better almost every day, Shockey added that he has trouble pushing off at the snap.

"I never had an injury like this," he said. "I don't know. I know it hurts and it hurts when I push off it. The pain is going away every day."

Fassel said he gave Shockey the day off because he aggravated the injury on Wednesday.

"It wasn't hurting any worse," Shockey said Friday. "It was just throbbing. It was throbbing when I sat still. When I move, it really doesn't hurt. I didn't want to keep pushing and have something else happen. Tomorrow, I'll push a little more and I'll have a couple of days off and the game."

Shockey didn't seem concerned about missing practice for almost the last three weeks.

"I know what I am doing," Shockey said. "I just didn't want to push it too hard and hurt it again, or some other freak accident."