Apr 032014
 
Tom Coughlin, New York Giants (March 26, 2014)

Tom Coughlin – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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New York Giants Offseason Workout Program Schedule Set: The dates for the New York Giants offseason program schedule have been announced:

  • April 21: Start of the offseason program.
  • May 28-30: Organized Team Activity (OTA) workouts.
  • June 2-3: OTA workouts.
  • June 5: OTA workout.
  • June 9-10: OTA workouts.
  • June 12-13: OTA workouts.
  • June 17-19: Mandatory, full-team mini-camp.

The Giants will not hold a rookie mini-camp this year because the 2014 NFL Draft is three weeks later than usual.

Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), each club’s official, voluntary nine-week offseason program is conducted in three phases:

  1. Phase One consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only.
  2. Phase Two consists of the next three weeks of the program. On-field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills as well as team practice conducted on a “separates” basis. No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.
  3. Phase Three consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of OTA workouts. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.

Giants.com Q&A With Head Coach Tom Coughlin: A lengthy Q&A session with Head Coach Tom Coughlin is available at Giants.com. Some key points of note:

  • Coughlin on assimilating so many new faces: “Absolutely, it is (a challenge). You’ve got a big part of our football team that has not been through our routine, the way we do things, the presentation of our values and our principles, what we believe in, how we work, how we practice, how they are  to come to work. So we have a lot of basic, fundamental teaching to do. It is definitely a year of transition, no doubt.”
  • Coughlin on the impact all these new faces will have on the team’s culture: “The culture’s going to change, too. The culture will change. Now, the principles and the values will not change, but how we go about our business has to change, because we have so many new people that have to be integrated into the system.”
  • Coughlin on what WR Trindon Holliday brings to the return game: “If we can get somebody who gives us a little bit of the spectacular – I mean, when you sit down and talk about this guy’s track speeds, are you serious? He runs 100 meters in 9.98 (seconds) or whatever the heck he ran. It’s fun to think about. Go ahead, outkick the coverage, please do. Not only for kickoff returns, but for punt returns. What it would mean to us to have some field position, a short field all of a sudden, and take care of the football, play good defense, get turnovers for us on that side of the ball, not beat ourselves, how about that one for a theme? That would be a very nice thing.”
  • Coughlin on RB Rashad Jennings: “I think he’s an all-around back. Whatever question I asked when I was looking at the tape got answered. In other words, he went 80 (yards for a touchdown last season for Oakland in a game at Houston). Is he fast enough? He goes 80. Does he catch it out of the backfield? Yes. Does he run the screens well? Yes. How is he from scrimmage as a runner? Good. First and second down, can he play on third down? Yes, he can. What does he need? Well, he’s 230 pounds with a great attitude. He needs a little work on his pass protection, but I think we can get that done. I think he’s an all-purpose guy that fits us very, very well.”
  • Coughlin on RB David Wilson: “All in due time with David. Just pray, you’re praying that he has a return to excellent health and that the doctors are totally convinced that he is recovered and ready to go. When that time comes, you’ll have another contributor who, if he gets a step, he’s gone…I’m counting on him, but I am not going to put him in any circumstance until it’s an absolute that he’s 100 percent. I’m not going to mess with that one.”
  • Coughlin on WR Mario Manningham: “It was exciting and fun to talk to him, because he’s so pleased to be back. He is more mature, physically and otherwise. He wants to be here, he wants to help us win. He’s more appreciative of his first tenure here and he certainly wants to make it even more productive this next time back – even for a guy who will go down in history as having made one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history.”
  • Coughlin on DE Robert Ayers: “Sure, he can (play strongside). He’s played right, he’s played left, he’s played inside on third down, he’s played in a lot of spots. He’s a powerful player. He’ll be very, very good against the run. I really, quite frankly  don’t think there are any tight ends that will block him. He’s really got exceptional hand position, does a nice job with that, and he can be used in a versatile manner and he has consistent effort. He’s got the hunger and the desire and he’ll make up for a lot with hustle.”
  • Coughlin on the impact of new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo: “I’ve been in the same system since 1988. We have incorporated whatever we can from our system that we’ve always had here, but there’s a lot of new terminology. There will be lots of new teaching just in terms of the way in which it’s presented, which will force people to study and to learn and to be anxious. When the huddle breaks you’ve got to go do it. They’re going to have to learn it to be able to do it. The plays will become familiar to them once they recognize what the responsibility is. You have to be able to talk it, discuss it and communicate. That’s different.”

Giants.com Interview with DE Robert Ayers: The video of Wednesday’s Giants.com interview with defensive end Robert Ayers is available at Giants.com.

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Eric Kennedy

Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.

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