ALBANY — Durability is Brandon Jacobs’ main objective.

A human bulldozer at 6-foot-4 and 264 pounds, Jacobs was supposed to be the heir apparent to Tiki Barber when the New York Giants’ all-time leading rusher retired after the 2006 season.

But Jacobs, who was used primarily as a goal-line running back in both 2005 and 2006, played only 11 games, nine of them as a starter, last season for the Super Bowl champions.

When he did play, however, the Southern Illinois product was extremely effective. He rushed for 1,009 yards on 202 carries (5.0

average) and scored four times. In the postseason, he added 197 yards and three scores.

Although he suffered knee and hamstring injuries during the season, he still gave the Giants a 1,000-yard rusher for the sixth straight year. He missed three games in September because of a knee injury and missed games against the Minnesota Vikings in November and against the Chicago Bears in December with a hamstring injury.

Jacobs was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for October, when he rushed for 424 yards, including three

100-yard games. The Giants won all four games that month.

Even though the Giants appear to have plenty of depth in the backfield, they will need another big year from their big man to duplicate last year’s success.

“My main goal is to play 16 games. If I play 16 games, everything will fall into place,”

Jacobs said.

“We have a lot of talented players in the backfield, and different guys can do different things. We have a lot of backs, including the young guys, and it will be hard to make our team.”

Joining Jacobs as veteran runners are Derrick Ward, Reuben Droughns and second-year runner Ahmad Bradshaw.

“Derrick has good size and can do a little bit of everything,” Jacobs said. “And Ahmad is strong. He’s stocky, and he has a lot of leverage and good speed.”

Jacobs figures the experience of all the team’s running backs will make a big difference.

“This training camp is different, because last year, a lot of the guys were learning our system. This year, Ahmad is still learning some things, but the rest of us know what’s going on. I definitely feel different now that I’m one year older. I know the plays more than last year, and I’m a veteran.”

READY TO GO

Converted linebacker Mathias

Kiwanuka finally feels healthy again and is ready to make an impact. He was expected to practice just once a day early in training camp, but he practiced both sessions Friday, as well as Saturday morning.

Kiwanuka, who made a successful move from defensive end to linebacker last year, broke his left fibula in the 10th game of the season against the Detroit Lions and missed the rest of the season, including the Super Bowl playoff run.

“I feel good,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been out on the field.”

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said that Kiwanuka is the kind of player who when asked to do something twice, will do it three times. He was concerned that Kiwanuka would overdo it in training camp, trying to get back to where he was before the season.

“You don’t realize how much you miss it until it’s gone,” Kiwanuka said. “The fact that I wasn’t part of the Super Bowl didn’t make me happy, but at least I was around to be part of the Super Bowl run.”

MORE ON SHOCKEY

Kiwanuka also said he understood how Jeremy Shockey, the former Giants standout tight end who was traded to New Orleans on Monday, felt about not being a part of the team during the Super Bowl run because of injury.

“Shockey takes everything personally, and I know it stung for him not to be part of everything,” he said. “One thing about him was that he worked hard every day, even in practice. I wish him the best.”

Jacobs also had kind words for Shockey when he was asked if the team still had enough offensive weapons.

“One thing I’ve got to say straight out. You can’t replace Jeremy Shockey,” Jacobs said. “Shockey was a different kind of player. He was a great talent. Unfortunately, things happened with him and the front office, but he was a very talented player.”

COUGHLIN CAMP RECAP

Coughlin has had few complaints during the first few days of camp.

“They looked pretty good this morning,” he said at his daily press conference. “They had lots of energy. There was a nice cool breeze. Everything seems to be coming along OK.”

Coughlin said everyone came out of the first day in good health, except for rookie defensive tackle Nate Robinson, who hurt his hamstring, and was later waived. Coughlin didn’t know any details as to the severity of the injury.

“Today, we emphasized a lot of X’s and O’s,” he said. “We put them in as many different situations as we could. What I’m looking for from these guys is the same thing every day. I want everyone to rise to another level. Everybody is trying to work with each other to get better.”

PLAYING IT SAFE

Wide receiver Plaxido Burress still didn’t practice Saturday morning. He opted instead to ride an exercise bike. Burress says he has a sore ankle. That same ankle prevented him from practicing almost all of last season.