NFL | Giants' Plaxico Burress could face prison

NEW YORK — As Giants receiver Plaxico Burress was arraigned Monday on two separate counts of a weapons charge, harsh reactions and new questions arose about the events early Saturday morning, when Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub with an illegal handgun.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the New York Police Department criticized the Giants, who they said neglected to notify the authorities of the shooting, and New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where Burress was treated, for failing to call the police about his gun-related injury, as state law requires.

The mayor also condemned Burress, saying he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Burress, out on $100,000 bail, did not have a permit to carry the handgun. He is scheduled to return to Manhattan Criminal Court on March 31.

Bloomberg called it an outrage that the hospital did not notify the police after Burress showed up seeking treatment and said that prosecutors should "go after" the management of the hospital.

Paul J. Browne, a spokesman for the Police Department, said that the department expected the NFL and the Giants to be more forthcoming, considering the seriousness of the situation. The Giants and the NFL said they were cooperating fully with the authorities.

Browne said: "We haven't gotten a level of cooperation. We haven't from the NFL or the Giants."

"You have a series of events," he added. "And there's a universe of silence after this shooting."

Browne said that the police had been promised by NFL security, for example, that Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce — who was with Burress at the club that night — would be available for questioning in the shooting. Burress' unlicensed handgun was in the glove compartment of Pierce's Cadillac Escalade at some point, the police said.

But Pierce failed to show up at the 17th Precinct and was not available for an interview when the police showed up at his home. Instead, at least two members of the Giants' staff — Charles Way, the director of player development, and Ronnie Barnes, vice president for medical services — arrived to talk, the police said.

There also was confusion on Monday regarding which other Giants player was with Burress and Pierce at the club. The police said they were told by nightclub security that it was running back Derrick Ward, but Ward said Sunday that he was not at the club. Other reports indicated that it was Ahmad Bradshaw, not Ward. On Monday, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said he was disappointed about Bradshaw's reported involvement.

In what prosecutors called "a strong case," Burress faces a mandatory sentence of 3 ½ years in state prison, with a maximum of 15 years, on each count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Benjamin Brafman, Burress' lawyer, said Burress planned to plead not guilty to both counts.

Notes

• Derek Anderson's season is officially over, yet another slap for the down-on-their-luck Cleveland Browns.

Anderson, who lost his starting job to Brady Quinn several weeks ago, will miss the final four games after tearing a ligament in his left knee on Sunday against Indianapolis. Quinn, too, is done for the season with a finger injury The Browns will start third-stringer Ken Dorsey on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans (11-1).

• Although the Tampa Bay Buccaneers expect to have Monte Kiffin drawing up defensive game plans for the rest of the season, his future with the NFC South co-leaders remains unclear.

Neither Kiffin nor the Bucs have done anything to end speculation that the 68-year-old defensive coordinator has decided to leave the NFL to work for his son, Lane, the new coach at the University of Tennessee.

• New England will play Tampa Bay on Oct. 25 at Wembley Stadium, the third consecutive year the NFL will stage a regular-season game in London.

• Detroit signed former Seahawks wide receiver Keary Colbert, giving him a chance to play for his third (Seattle and Denver) team this season.