EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants battered and bruised offensive backfield might be getting a familiar face back in time to face the undefeated Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.Rashad Jennings, the teams leading rusher with 863 yards last season, is making significant progress with the torn ligament in his left thumb that forced him to miss last weeks 29-27 loss to the Washington Redskins.Jennings participated in several drills during Fridays practice, enough to impress coach Ben McAdoo.Rashad had a very nice day, McAdoo said. Hes progressing nicely. He got some good work in. Its still too early to tell if he can play. Were looking at things on a day-to-day basis.Offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan also saw a significant change in Jennings.Hes improved from last week, so all we can do is hope for the best, Sullivan said. We have to wait and see how it all plays out.McAdoo was asked when a decision would be made about Jennings status.Its not a game-time decision, McAdoo said. More than likely game day, probably.Jennings was not available to the media after Fridays practice. He was spotted during practice running hard with the ball and catching passes out of the backfield, which was the biggest concern after he injured the thumb in the victory over New Orleans two weeks ago. It was the most active the seven-year veteran has been since injuring the thumb.He got some good work in, McAdoo said.Its essential for the Giants to get Jennings back into the mix, considering they lost veteran Shane Vereen for the season with a torn triceps. Vereen was becoming more than just a third-down back and was the teams leading rusher after three weeks with 147 yards on 31 carries (4.7 yards per carry). Jennings has 102 yards on 31 carries (3.3 yards per carry).Luckily for the Giants they have Orleans Darkwa, a third-year pro out of Tulane signed by the Giants off the Dolphins practice squad in November 2014. Darkwa got his chance to see considerable action last Sunday, when he carried the ball 10 times for 53 yards and a touchdown.Incredibly, there were thoughts Darkwa would get cut by the team in preseason. Now, a month later, he stands to be the starter if Jennings cant go Monday night.Its crazy how things happen, said the 24-year-old Darkwa. I hear it every year that Im going to get cut or that Im on the bubble. That doesnt bother me. All I can do is try harder on the field and do what I can do.Darkwa is aware that as it stands, hes No. 1 on the depth chart.It would be an unbelievable dream come true to make my first start on the big stage on `Monday Night Football, Darkwa said. I cant get too excited. I just have to play my game and be ready. I feel like Im ready to be the main back. Its what I did in college, but I know this is a different level. Im confident enough to run the ball. I just have to make sure I can get the job done.Im wishing for Rashad to have a speedy recovery, but if Im needed, Im ready.Sullivan doesnt think rookie Paul Perkins, the fifth-round draft pick from UCLA, is ready to step in. However, the Giants think highly of Perkins -- so highly that they kept him and released Andre Williams in training camp.He was not here in the spring, Sullivan said of Perkins. He missed a lot, so its just a matter of him trying to catch up. Hes had a lot to digest. We feel very confident with whomever we call upon.The way things looked Friday, it could very well be a return for Jennings, who has gained 3,281 yards and scored 20 touchdowns over his seven-year career.Game notesSix other Giants did not practice: CB Eli Apple (hamstring), OT Marshall Newhouse (calf), CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (groin), S Darian Thompson (foot), DT Robert Thomas (illness) and S Nat Berhe, who is still undergoing the leagues concussion protocol. Their status for Monday nights game will be reviewed Saturday. . DE Olivier Vernon is listed with a wrist injury, and Vernon said its something that has bothered him for a long time and is nothing more than a bee sting. ... DE Jason Pierre-Paul declared himself fit and ready to go Monday night. Its the `Monday Night Football game, so everyone is going to be watching, Pierre-Paul said. Im going to get the job done. Im focused and locked in.. 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LUCIE, Fla.BOSTON -- For the first half-dozen seasons of his career, Rick Porcello pitched in the shadows of Cy Young Award-winning teammates Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.Now, he walks among them.One year after succumbing to the weight of a lucrative contract extension and losing 15 games for the Boston Red Sox, Porcello won the American League Cy Young Award, edging Verlander -- much to the chagrin of the Detroit Tigers aces fiancée, Kate Upton -- by a narrow margin in voting that was announced Wednesday night by the Baseball Writers Association of America.Porcello became only the fourth pitcher to claim a Cy Young Award with the Red Sox, joining Jim Lonborg (1967), Roger Clemens?(1986, 1987, 1990) and Pedro Martinez?(1999, 2000).Its pretty incredible to be mentioned with those three other Red Sox players, and then Pedro and Roger, Porcello said on a conference call from his parents home in New Jersey, where he received the news. It definitely doesnt feel right, right now, just because I grew up watching those guys. They were my idols growing up, and I had the utmost admiration for what theyve done in the game. To be in that category is -- I cant express my gratitude. Its pretty humbling. I never thought Id be in that position to mention my name with those guys.Porcello, a 27-year-old right-hander, was a first-round pick of the Tigers in 2007 and made his major league debut two years later at age 20. But he entered this season with a 4.39 career ERA and hadnt even been an All-Star, to say nothing of a Cy Young candidate.It was nothing short of a dream season, then, for Porcello, who led the majors with 22 wins and a 5.906 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He ranked behind Verlander and fellow Cy Young finalist Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians in both ERA (3.15) and strikeouts (189), but Porcellos candidacy was built on his mind-numbing consistency. He allowed three or fewer runs in 27 of 33 starts and pitched into the seventh inning 23 times, racking up a career-high 223 innings.Porcello said he began to realize he was having a special season right after the All-Star break, a notion that crystallized when he notched his 20th win Sept. 9 in Toronto.I felt like I had the weapons this year and the command to get out just about any guy that I was going to encounter in any lineup, Porcello said. I had nothing to worry about going into a start.Yet Porcello received only eight first-place votes for the Cy Young Award, as compared to Verlanders 14.What put Porcello over the top in the overall voting by a 137-132 margin over Verlander were his 18 second-place votes, coupled with the fact that two Tampa, Florida-based writers -- Fred Goodall of The Associated Press and Bill Chastain of MLB.com -- left Verlander off their ballots entirely.Voters list their five picks in order. A first-place vote is worth seven points, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Verlander needed to pick up five more points to match Porcello.I feel bad that people are upset about this. I did the best I could, Chastain told the New York Daily News. I went around the clubhouse. I asked guys. I agonized over this. The biggest thing for me was between [Orioles closer?Zach] Britton?and Porcello.Members of the BBWAA have until the end of the regular sseason to submit their ballots.ddddddddddddChastain said he sent in his ballot a week early, thinking nothing in the final days of the regular season would change his mind. Verlander, though, allowed just one run over his final two starts (14 2/3 innings), going 1-1 and watching his ERA drop from 3.21 to 3.04.At the time, I thought I picked the best five guys, Chastain told the Daily News. Maybe I should have waited until the end. When I voted, it looked pretty clear to me.This marked the second-closest election since 1970, when voters were permitted to select more than one pitcher.Under the current Cy Young voting format, two AL races have been decided by five or fewer voting points. Verlander has been the runner-up in both.Porcello got a $100,000 bonus for winning the Cy Young Award. Verlander, who won the 2011 award, would have gotten $500,000 for this win.Verlanders brother Ben and Upton lashed out against the voters on Twitter, with Upton even saying that Porcello didnt win because he didnt receive as many first-place votes.Verlander later tweeted:?I honestly dont care, Porcello said, when asked about the reaction from Verlanders camp. Im not the one that made that decision, as far as who wins the Cy Young. All I know is Ive got a lot of people around me right now that I love very much and have been instrumental in my success getting to this point. And on top of that, weve got some really good bottles of wine that still need to be drank. Theres not really a concern in my mind.If anything, Porcello said he was thrilled to share this years Cy Young honor with Scherzer, the Washington Nationals ace who won the 2016 award in the National League.Scherzer recalled in his conference call his five seasons as Porcellos teammate, noting that the two pitchers used to critique each others outings and observe their between-start bullpen sessions. Porcello remembered how they used to talk about never throwing back-to-back curveballs and pushed each other to be better after getting demoted to the minor leagues in 2010.We both kind of started from rocky beginnings in our major league careers, Porcello said. Very quickly and almost overnight, [Scherzer] turned himself into an absolute dominant starting pitcher in the big league level. I definitely took a slow development road, and it took me a little bit longer. But the lessons -- we were able to kind of feed off of each other, as far as ideas on how to attack hitters, what were seeing in guys, pitch selection. Watching him and talking to him -- that connection that we have and that friendship that we have -- was instrumental in both of our developments.Porcellos Cy Young ascendance is also a triumph for ex-Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington.After the 2014 season, Cherington staked his reputation on the belief that Porcello would mature into a top-of-the-rotation starter. Not only did the Red Sox trade star outfielder?Yoenis Cespedes?to Detroit for Porcello, they also gave the pitcher a four-year, $82.5 million contract extension that appeared foolish when Porcello went 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA in 2015.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '