It did not take long into the Giants’ first Organized Team Activity workout of the spring for the first injury to hit the Super Bowl champions.

Cornerback Brian Witherspoon, attempting a return after missing the entire 2011 season, went down yesterday in a coverage drill. Head coach Tom Coughlin announced afterward the initial diagnosis was Witherspoon re-tore his left anterior cruciate ligament.

Witherspoon, 26, tore the ACL in his left knee for the first time last Aug. 22 in a preseason game against the Bears, the same night starting cornerback Terrell Thomas went down with a torn ACL. Thomas is taking his time coming back and is expected to be ready to roll for training camp.

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Brian Witherspoon

Witherspoon never made it out of the first OTA. He had to be helped off the field and eventually was carted off, keeping his helmet on and hanging his head as he was driven away.

Another cornerback, Antwaun Molden, pulled up holding the back of his left leg while covering a deep pass. He was carted off with a hamstring injury. Molden played for the Patriots against the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI and was signed as a free agent.

The Giants hope this does not begin a repeat of last offseason’s spate of injuries. It is in incredibly tough break for Witherspoon, a four-year veteran who previously played sparingly for the Jaguars and Lions and was set to make the Giants roster last season based on a strong preseason showing.

“It was tough to see him go down,’’ Thomas said. “He’s one of my teammates. We kind of had the same injury — it kind of hit home with me.’’

Thomas has said all along he is ahead of schedule and he will hold himself out of practice until he believes his knee can handle the workload.

“I’m in no rush,’’ Thomas said. “I’ve been saying it from Day 1. ... I’m going to do what I can and going to keep pushing it. But I’m not going to rush it at all.’’

Thomas participated in individual drills in the OTA and said he might sit out today. He insists he will be “full-go’’ by the time the Giants head to the University at Albany for training camp, which opens July 26.

* As expected, defensive end Osi Umenyiora was not on the scene. Rookie tight end Adrien Robinson is still in classes at Cincinnati and did not attend. ... With Will Beatty sitting out while recovering from a detached retina, second-year pro James Brewer got some work at left tackle with the starting offensive line. David Diehl played right tackle. ... Free safety Antrel Rolle was the only starter in the secondary on the field participating in practice.

* Starting in 2013, all players will be required to wear thigh and knee pads during games, a requirement that has not been very well received.

“I’ve never known it to make or break whether you get an injury or not,’’ linebacker Michael Boley said. “I’ve had times where I’ve actually had thigh pads on and I’ve gotten a deep thigh bruise. To me it really doesn’t matter.’’

* First-round pick David Wilson said he was not awe-struck taking the field with the Super Bowl champs.

“It’s not, ‘Oh man, it’s Eli Manning,’ ’’ said the running back from Virginia Tech. “He’s a great quarterback, but now we’re teammates and we need to work together. I don’t have no time to idolize him. He’s my teammate now. We’re going to go out and compete together, eventually.’’

paul.schwartz@nypost.com

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Mariano Rivera still hasn’t been able to set a date for surgery to repair the torn ACL in his right knee he suffered in Kansas City earlier this month, because the blood clot doctors discovered following the injury hasn’t dissipated.

“We’re trying to work out the clot,” said Rivera, who remains on medication to get rid of the clot and is rehabbing the knee in the meantime.

“I have to strengthen the knee. I’m doing a lot of therapy.”

The hope is the rehab will help offset the delay of the surgery. Because the Yankees don’t expect Rivera back before next season, manager Joe Girardi is confident Rivera's return won’t be affected by the clot.

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“The doctors have talked about waiting until he’s really strong,” Girardi said. “I joke with him, ‘How about July, since you’re walking around so well?’ ”

Rivera, who walked around the clubhouse without the aid of crutches, insisted he’s not bothered by the lack of progress and hopes his increased range of motion will aid his eventual recovery.

“It’s better and the pain is more [tolerable],” Rivera said. “It’s not frustrating because you can do nothing about it. You just have to do it.”

Because of their recent struggles, the Yankees have hardly even missed their closer since they haven’t had many leads to hold. Rivera, though, is confident the team will turn its season around, despite his absence.

“The team is not doing so well, but we’ve been through this before,” Rivera said. “We’ll bounce back and will be fine. We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves. We have seen this before.

“We’re not going to worry about it. As long as our mentality is good, everything will pass.”

* The Yankees’ catching depth is showing no signs of improvement, with prospect Austin Romine out until at least July with an inflamed disc in his back after seeing Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles nearly a month ago.

“He saw Watkins in Los Angeles about four weeks ago and is on his third week of rehab,” general manager Brian Cashman said.

Watkins is the same back specialist the Mets’ David Wright visited for his injury last season.

After trading Jesus Montero in the offseason and sending Francisco Cervelli to the minors, what was once an organizational strength doesn’t seem so impressive, since Romine is a long way from being able to help in the majors this season.

* Mark Teixeira batted seventh in the lineup for the second straight game last night. Girardi said he didn’t check with the first baseman or the training staff before deciding to play Teixeira after he missed two games with severely inflamed bronchial airways.

* Raul Ibanez batted fifth again and is one of the Yankees’ lone bright spots. He entered the game tied for the team lead with 27 RBIs, coming on just 30 hits.

* CC Sabathia will serve as the team’s representative at the first round of the First-Year Player Draft on Monday, June 4. The Yankees have the 30th overall selection.

Additional reporting by George A. King III.

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WASHINGTON—Ryan Crocker, the unflappable diplomat who became the civilian face of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over two administrations, is stepping down as ambassador to Afghanistan and retiring from the U.S. foreign service after a storied tenure in some of the world's most dangerous hot spots.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday the 62-year-old veteran envoy would leave his post in Kabul this summer because of health reasons she declined to detail.

His departure comes a year earlier than planned after Mr. Crocker came out of retirement in 2011 to take the helm of the embassy at President Barack Obama's personal request. His resignation was announced as the U.S. and its NATO allies forged ahead with plans to close the largely stalemated conflict by the end of 2014 but keep their troops fighting there in the meantime.

With that timetable on track, Mr. Crocker's departure from Kabul won't likely herald any new U.S. approach to the conflict. However, the loss of his presence as a troubleshooter since the 1980s will be felt as the administration struggles to prevent Afghanistan from descending again into the caldron of extremism that gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and leaders of his al Qaeda network.

Mr. Crocker's departure comes at a time when the NATO and U.S. civilian efforts in Afghanistan face increasing strain while the military draws down its forces in time for the 2014 end of combat operations.

The U.S. embassy in Kabul confirmed Mr. Crocker's departure "with regret" while officials in Washington said he made his plans known to Mr. Obama during this weekend's NATO summit in Chicago at which the allies discussed the way forward in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan for his second tour as America's top U.S. envoy in Kabul—he reopened the U.S. embassy there in 2002 after the ouster of the Taliban regime—Mr. Crocker was called on to lead a ramp-up in civilian operations similar to one he supervised in Iraq.

In nominating Mr. Crocker for the Kabul post, Mr. Obama hailed him as "one of our nation's most respected diplomats," who "is no stranger to tough assignments."

Indeed, Mr. Crocker was a six-time ambassador, running embassies not only in Iraq and Afghanistan but also in Pakistan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Syria. An Arabic speaker, he held diplomatic posts in Qatar, Iran, Egypt and Lebanon earlier in his career.

As a young officer, he was in Beirut when the U.S. Embassy there was blown up in 1983. His residence in Syria was ransacked by a mob when he was ambassador there in 1998.

Such experiences contributed to Mr. Crocker's calm under fire. When a Pakistan-based group allied with the Taliban staged a spectacular attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul last September—taking over a nearby building and firing rockets and bullets at the compound during a 20-hour siege—Mr. Crocker was unfazed.

"This really is not a very big deal," he told reporters at the time. "If that's the best they can do, you know, I think it's actually a statement of their weakness."

It isn't immediately clear who will replace him, although officials said the most likely candidate is James Cunningham, a former ambassador to Israel and deputy U.N. envoy who is now one of the ex-ambassadors serving under Mr. Crocker in Kabul.

Mr. Crocker will leave after international donor conferences for Afghanistan are held in Tokyo and Kabul, Nuland said in a statement.

"Ambassador Crocker's tenure has been marked by enormous achievements," she said, listing the successful negotiation of a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan and the Chicago summit as highlights.

Perhaps one of the best known ambassadors outside the famously insular diplomatic circuit because of his 2007-2009 stint as U.S. ambassador to Iraq during former President George W. Bush's military "surge"—a period in which he testified before Congress in nationally televised hearings with his military counterpart Gen. David Petraeus—Mr. Crocker was favored by Republicans and Democrats alike to correct errant policies, clean up messes and begin planning for the drawdown of U.S. forces.

Mr. Crocker ran the civilian side of Mr. Bush's buildup, overseeing a massive influx of development experts, diplomats and academics throughout the country as it emerged from a brutal and relentless insurgency and fought to improve infrastructure, governance and the rule of law. He and Mr. Petraeus laid the groundwork for the eventual withdrawal from Iraq.

After leaving public service following his time in Baghdad, Crocker became dean of Texas A&M University's George Bush School of Government and Public Service. But he was pressed back into duty in Kabul in July 2011 to replace Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, a retired general whose poisonous relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai had become untenable.

Sen. John McCain, one of the top Republicans on the Armed Services Committee, told reporters, "Ryan Crocker has served the nation with such distinction and such a long time. I respect his decisions whatever they may be. Obviously I'd like him to stay forever. But he has other understandable priorities."

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The beat goes on and on and on. Hondo wiped out yesterday with the Yankees, D’backs and his Preakness investments involving Creative Cause, which creatively caused the debt to grow to 1,645 draveckys.

Today, Mr. Aitch threw the dart and it landed on Hudson -- 10 units on Los Bravos.

-$

Obama hosted France’s new President Francois Hollande Friday night at Camp David. It would have been great to have been a fly on the wall at that sleepover date, just to listen in on a couple of world leaders comparing notes on socialism ... Walter Cronkite always despised Dan Rather, according to Douglas Brinkley’s new biography, “Cronkite.” That’s probably one of the reasons “Uncle Walter” was frequently cited as being “the most trusted man in America” -- he was such a good judge of character.

hondo@nypost.com

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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the big trading loss at JPMorgan Chase shows the need for Congress to put more teeth into Wall Street reforms intended to prevent the practices that led to the 2008 financial meltdown.

The $2 billion loss has renewed calls by Democratic lawmakers for tougher rules on major financial institutions.

"Without Wall Street reform, we could have found ourselves with the taxpayers once again on the hook for Wall Street's mistakes," Obama said in his weekly media address Saturday. He added: "We've got to finish the job of implementing this reform and putting these rules in place."

Obama promoted rules that would require big banks or financial institutions to have more cash on hand to cover losses and that would take away big bonuses and paydays from failed CEOs.

The president said financial institutions that "aren't cheating customers or making risky bets that could damage the whole economy" have nothing to fear from reforms.

"Yes, it discourages big banks and financial institutions from making risky bets with taxpayer-insured money. And it encourages them to do things that actually help the economy — like extending loans to entrepreneurs with good ideas, to middle-class families who want to buy a home, to students who want to pursue higher education," he said.

One focus of the financial oversight overhaul is a provision that restricts banks' ability to trade for their own profit, a practice known as proprietary trading. It is named for Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman. But a draft of the rule has failed to satisfy either banks, which says it would disrupt some of their core functions, or advocates of stronger regulation who say it would have prevented JPMorgan's loss.

In the Republican's weekly address, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson faulted what he called a "do-nothing Senate" under Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada for the frustrations he said he has felt in his 16 months in Congress.

Noting that the Senate hasn't passed a budget in three years, Johnson said House Republicans have fulfilled their responsibilities by passing a budget but that Senate Democrats have not fulfilled theirs.

This past week, the Senate rejected by a 99-0 vote a budget that Republicans offered up based on an Obama proposal in February. Four other budget plans also were voted down.

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Norman Thomas has remained under the radar this spring by design. The team’s motto is “nice and quiet.”

The Tigers will need a new one for the playoffs – after topping defending PSAL Class A champion George Washington, 4-3, in Manhattan A East baseball Thursday afternoon they’ll be marked men.

Junior Garbin Villar allowed just three hits and struck out two in a complete-game victory and Jeffrey Ledesma and Paul Garcia each homered for Thomas, which snapped a personal five-game losing streak to GW.

“It’s a big one for us,” first-year coach Luis Monell said. “It’s exactly what we wanted going into the playoffs, to have momentum. The kids know they can play with anybody in the city. We’re gonna ride this momentum and see how far we can take this.”

David Allen

Norman Thomas' Garbin Villar went the distance in the Tigers' 4-3 upset of George Washington on Thursday.

With a win Saturday over one-win West 50th Street Campus, it would share the Manhattan A East crown, the first time the Manhattan school has won the division title since 2009, the same year it won its first city crown.

“We’re definitely happy, but we still have a lot more to do, a lot more to accomplish,” Monell said.

Villar was brilliant, limiting the potent Trojans over seven brilliant innings after they battered Ledesma, the staff ace, for seven hits and eight runs in a commanding 10-3 win last Friday.

“He’s the type of kids everything he throws moves,” Monell said of Villar who picked up his fifth league win and lowered his ERA to 2.08. “He’s the one pitcher on our staff who will throw inside to any hitter no matter who they are. He has a filthy two-seamer that runs into hitters’ hands. I’ve never seen so many grounds balls hit to the left side of the infield.”

Norman Thomas led 1-0 until the two teams combined for six runs in a wild seventh inning. Garcia hit a solo shot off GW starter Edwin Corniel and Ledesma followed with a two-run bomb off reliever Reynaldo Hernandez.

Thanks to errors by second baseman Francis Vasquez and shortstop Keven Rodriguez to start the seventh, the Trojans (14-2) rallied for three runs. But Villar got out of the jam with a few groundball outs to cap the unexpected victory. A win Saturday would be significant for Thomas (13-2) on many levels. Few expected the Tigers to share the division crown with George Washington and even less thought they would get a high seed – a victory Saturday would ensure both.

“It would put us on the same pedestal with all the other top teams in the PSAL, the teams that everyone predicted would be at the top,” Monell said. “It lets everyone know baseball isn’t played on paper, but on the field. We showed that today. It’s a message to the rest of the PSAL the playoffs aren’t going to be about what everyone expected."

zbraziller@nypost.com

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After allowing a barrage of homers to the Blue Jays in the series opener, the visiting Yankees hope to bounce back with a third straight impressive start from Phil Hughes on Thursday night to wrap up this two-game set.

Yankees, the Blue Jays, Phil Hughes, series opener

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John Crudele

TAMPA — Everyone calls him “Jamie.”

And until a couple of days ago the nickname seemed to fit the altar-boy-like CEO of JPMorgan Chase, officially known as James S. Dimon, aka the last untainted executive on Wall Street.

But just like Bear Stearns’ “Jimmy” Cayne and Alan “Ace” Greenberg before him, guys with one-of-the-boys nicknames seem to fall hard and quickly.

Jamie, aged 56, was supposed to get his spanking from shareholders at yesterday’s annual meeting here — and protesters — who are not very pleased about a $2.3 billion loss on a trade linked to Bruno Iksil, known as the “London whale.”

But the spanking was done with a goose-down pillow. In fact, the meeting was so mellow that it ran 10 minutes short of the allotted two-hour window.

And even the protests outside were what could generously be called subdued — especially considering that one media outlet was predicting an angry mob of 3,000 protesters.

How seriously can anyone take Wall Street reform when just 20 protesters show up to protest the alleged wrongdoing of the country’s biggest bank?

More people are drawn to a minor fender-bender at a street corner in Manhattan than gathered for what is supposed to be the JPMorgan car wreck in the making.

“If I was in front of Dimon right now I would tell him he has to do everything possible to put in place policies to reduce principals on mortgages,” protest leader Denise Diaz told me after I got her to briefly put down the bullhorn that was hurting my ear.

I asked Jamie what he thought about the protest, or rather, the lack of one.

I gave him the numbers — which totaled five protesters at the time I ran into him before the meeting began. No emotion. Jamie said he’d arrived hours earlier and didn’t know what was not going on outside.

I’m not making fun of the protesters or the shareholders who spoke out in favor of proposals that the company predictably opposed.

The company won the vote on its pay packages, on board members and on keeping the CEO and chairman positions united.

Much pushback was expected from shareholders — little was actually put forth.

I am wondering why Americans don’t get incensed any more. Maybe a $2 billion trading loss is nothing more than a blip on Jamie’s balance sheet.

Maybe nobody did anything wrong — and maybe someone should be doing something more for distressed homeowners. And maybe it should be JPMorgan, whose Chase banking operations hold a lot of distressed mortgages.

But this is the really big MAYBE — maybe Americans should start behaving like people who care. Maybe when 3,000 people do show up for a protest like this, the folks on Wall Street and in Washington will care.

When there are only 20 protesters, the powerful know that regular Americans don’t care. There are just too many cable shows to watch instead of venturing into Tampa’s humidity.

By the end of the day, a report was making the rounds that the Department of Justice had started an initial probe of the matter.

But even that move seemed half-hearted.

john.crudele@nypost.com

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NBA Playoffs

Tonight

Favorite

Line

Underdog

THUNDER

7 1/2

Lakers

CELTICS

4 1/2

76ers

Tomorrow

SPURS

11

Clippers

Odds to Win Series

Spurs

$1200-2000

Clippers

Thunder

$370-450

Lakers

NHL Playoffs

Favorite

Line

Underdog

RANGERS

$115-135

Devils

Odds to Win Series

RANGERS

$125-145

Devils

Home team in CAPS
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CHESTER, Pa. — When the Red Bulls were beset by an injury crisis three weeks ago, coach Hans Backe thought they’d be lucky to muster five points through the four-game meat-grinder they were about to enter. Nobody, from their coach to their keeper, could have expected a clean sweep or dared dream they’d earn all dozen points. But they’ve done just that.

Perhaps the Red Bulls should detour to Atlantic City on the way home, because all they’ve done lately is win. Their latest victory was a come-from-behind 3-2 thriller yesterday over the Philadelphia Union in a wild back-and-forth affair in front of 18,193 at PPL Park that saw the Red Bulls vault into first place in the Eastern Conference standings.

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GOAL-DEN: The Red Bulls’ Roy Miller (left) and Kenny Cooper celebrate Joel Lindpere’s first-half goal during their 3-2 triumph over the Philadelphia Union yesterday.

The Red Bulls (7-3-1, 22 points) went up a man when a rampant in-form Freddy Adu — who had set up Lionard Pajoy’s 31st-minute goal — picked up a second yellow card for diving and got sent off from a tie game just before the half. The Union promptly went ahead on another Pajoy goal, but that just added to the drama.

Defender Markus Holgersson equalized on a 68th-minute header, forward Kenny Cooper ran onto a flawless Rafa Marquez longball and scored in the 78th minute, and goalkeeper Ryan Meara made two huge saves in stoppage time to send the Red Bulls into a surprising first-place standing not even they wouldn’t have believed a month ago.

“Probably not. But ever since the D.C. game, we came together,’’ Meara said, referring to the Red Bulls’ 4-1 loss to the United on April 28. “That’s not the way we wanted to start the second half. It showed a lot that we could fight back. We could tell once we got the first one [we could win].’’

They’ve won four in a row — without a host of starters — to make up a dozen points in just 15 days.

“When we picked up all the injuries and went into these four games, I said if we can [earn five points] we would’ve been at 14, 15 points. Now we have 22 and top of the East,’’ Backe said. “It’s unreal to win four in a row like this ... but it’s about work ethic.’’

Joel Lindpere scored off a Mehdi Ballouchy pass in the 17th-minute. Pajoy equalized off an Adu cross to snap Meara’s shutout streak at 324 minutes, fifth-best in team history and an MLS rookie record. But in the 43rd, Adu — already on a yellow for his tackle on Roy Miller — was shown a second for diving in the box.

But the Red Bulls looked equal parts tired from their third game in eight days and lulled by being a man up. About 20 seconds into the second half, Pajoy nutmegged Holgersson and scored. But Holgersson — wearing the captain’s armband while Thierry Henry is hamstrung — made amends, heading in Brandon Barklage’s corner kick.

In the 78th, Marquez sent a longball over the top that Cooper beat Philadelphia keeper Zac MacMath to for his ninth goal, and the game-winner.

“Being a part of these rivalry games — D.C., New England, Philly — these are fun games to be part of, just great atmospheres,’’ Cooper said. “It may increase the good feelings of winning when you beat a local rival.’’

brian.lewis@nypost.com

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