Left guard Evan Mathis is undoubtedly having his best season as a pro.

After a disappointing 2010 season in which he did not accrue a single start, the veteran dedicated himself to getting in shape and becoming a starting-quality lineman.

The 302-pound guard has started each of the eight games in which he's played this season. A turf toe injury suffered against the Bears kept him out of Sunday's matchup with the Arizona Cardinals. He will test the toe in practice and will see how it reacts before making a definitive call as to whether he will play this Sunday against the Giants.

"I'll be able to test it today and see how it goes," Mathis said. "I won't know how it responds until we go out there for afternoon practice. Until you have a 300-punder pushing against you, you don't know how it will feel.

"Not playing last week was terrible. I live to play this game and I just want to be back on the field."

Mathis is not rushing anything, though. He knows that with an injury such as his, playing at anything less than 100 percent can lead to a major setback.

"I'd be worthless if I played with this type of nagging injury, so I need to make sure I'm totally healthy," said the 6-6 guard. "If you play on it before it's ready, the injury will only get worse."

If he cannot play Sunday against the Giants, Mathis indicated that center Jamaal Jackson would likely be inserted into the starting lineup. Mathis' replacement last Sunday, King Dunlap, suffered a concussion and did not practice Wednesday.

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