Despite being on a roll and sharing the NFL lead in touchdown receptions with Randy Moss, Plaxico Burress can’t wait for the Giants’ bye week.

The veteran receiver, who has caught seven touchdowns this season and at least one every game, has even circled the final week of October on his calendar. It’s the week that he can put his sprained right ankle on a pillow and let the pain go away.

“I am tired of saying the same thing,” Burress said yesterday, a day after catching the go-ahead touchdown in a 35–24 win over the Jets. “It’s sore and I am going to have to deal with it and go out and play. I just hope it doesn’t affect me to the point where I can’t play and help my team out there.” Pain has been Burress’s almost constant companion since early August when he sprained the ankle at training camp. He missed all four preseason games, but played in the season opener against Dallas and caught three touchdowns. The ankle was reinjured the following week against Green Bay. For the past three weeks, the eight-year veteran has barely practiced. He watches the workouts to keep up with the game plan.

On Fridays, he is listed a questionable for the game. He then shows up on Sunday and surprises everyone.

After being shut out in the first half against the Jets, Burress had five catches for 124 yards, capped by a 53-yard catch and run in the fourth quarter, a play in which he used a stiff-arm to get past cornerback Andre Dyson.

“I would like to get him back to practice, but if he still continues to play and score touchdowns and make big plays that’s a good thing,” quarterback Eli Manning said.

The touchdown catch came on a play when the Giants caught the Jets in an all-out blitz. The strongside linebacker and a safety both rushed initially and the Jets had its middle linebacker attack late. All Burress had to do to score after catching the ball was to elude the initial tackler. The touchdown was similar to a 33-yard, fourth-quarter catch and run against Washington two weeks earlier.

“When we need to do something, we go out and do it,” Burress said of the Giants’ three-game winning streak. “It shouldn’t have to be that way all of the time.”

Burress has had a couple of slow starts in recent games, and he blames himself. He had never had a persistent injury before this season and he has had trouble dealing with it. At least twice, he has babied the ankle early so he could be around for the fourth quarter. “I just have to find a way to block it out and just go out and play the way that I need to play and the way that my team expects me to go out and play,” Burress said. “But it’s one of those things that kind of sits in the back of your mind. You don’t want to reinjure it or you don’t want to miss a game.”

At halftime of the Jets game, Burress politely threw caution to the wind in dealing with his injury.

Burress said his ankle felt better on Sunday, but it was sorer and had more swelling on Monday, even though he didn’t feel it running for the winning touchdown. “I want to score as many times as I can,” said Burress, who had a career-high 10 touchdown catches last season. “I don’t think me (not) practicing is going to slow me down getting to the goal line. I just want to score touchdowns. Me practicing or not, I don’t think that is going to change my style of play. I want to score. That’s what I want to do.”

Burress’s seven touchdowns have come on 24 receptions. He is averaging 17.1 yards.