New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese hasn’t talked to holdout defensive end Michael Strahan in a while and has no clue when the seven-time Pro Bowl player will make a decision on whether to retire.

“We would like for him to be here if he’s going to be here, just for him to get some work,” Reese said Thursday at training camp at the University at Albany. “Michael knows that if he’s going to come back, he has to get some work in. You just can’t show up and play in the National Football League.

“If he decides to come, I think he will be here soon, but it’s still his decision and we’ll see what happens in the next few days.”

The Giants are fining the 35-year-old Strahan $14,288 for each day he misses. His three-week total is now $300,048.

Reese used the word “deadline” several times in discussing the holdout, but the Giants can’t do anything to hasten Strahan’s decision. They can either fine him or release him, and they are not going to do the latter.

Reese believes Strahan is working out, but said that won’t replace training camp in getting a player ready for the season.

“We just worry about the guys who are here day by day,” Reese said. “It’s Michael’s decision whether or not to be here. He’s still pondering, and he deserves the right to do that, so that’s what he’s doing.”

Giants co-owner John Mara said Thursday that he still believes Strahan will play this season.

Packers: Wide receiver Robert Ferguson’s injury-marred career with Green Bay is over, coach Mike McCarthy said after practice Thursday night.

McCarthy said the team has decided to cut ties with the seven-year veteran, although he didn’t say how that would be accomplished.

Ferguson, a second-round selection of the Packers in the 2001 draft, wasn’t on the practice field for the second of Thursday’s two practices.

“Robert will no longer be a Packer. We’re going to go another direction,” McCarthy said.

Asked if Ferguson would be traded, McCarthy responded, “Possible.”

The team also could release Ferguson, who is under contract through 2008.

Patriots: New England released 11-year veteran punter Josh Miller on Thursday, leaving the team with two punters in camp, neither of whom has appeared in a regular-season game.

The 37-year-old Miller played his first eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before signing a free agent contract with the Patriots in March 2004.

The two remaining punters in Patriots camp are Danny Baugher and Tom Malone. Both were on the practice squad last season and both played in NFL Europa last spring.

The Patriots also released offensive lineman Brian Barthelmes and claimed rookie offensive lineman Chris Patrick off waivers from the New York Giants.