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HEAD COACH TOM COUGHLIN…
Tom Coughlin addressed the media by conference call on Monday:
Just a couple quick things about the game. There were obviously a lot of good things, but the fourth quarter diminishes all of those positive thoughts. I thought that Shane Vereen really gave us a lift yesterday in terms of another major contributor to the offense. I thought that Dwayne Harris did an outstanding job with punt return/kickoff return. He gave us something that we can be excited about and the players can be going forward. I thought that our 17 unanswered points was a real strong position to take, particularly finishing the half, and then coming back out and scoring more points on the other end to start the second half. I thought all those things were real positive.
You look down to the numbers and you can’t help but see one-for-four in the green zone and the fact that we did not get any turnovers, they were three-for-three in the red zone, and so somewhere in there you find the deficiencies. There were lots of yards on both sides of the ball, but when it really mattered there for us, it’s a difficult thing to say, but the ball was at mid-field, just under a minute to play and two timeouts, and I was very excited about the finish of the game, and I’m very disappointed in the how it did finish.
We have a fast turnaround, we have a divisional game on Thursday night. The situation in our division is very obvious to all of you, I’m going to point that out to the team here in a couple of minutes, about how important this upcoming game is. We have to quickly, quickly, and I’m not going to dwell on yesterday’s game with our players, I’ll make a few points, and move on. With how quickly we have to turn this thing around and get headed in the right direction, I don’t have a whole lot of information for you about injuries, it’s too early in the day, those that had to be sent to the hospital would not have received any information yet. With that being said, let’s discuss this, if you like; otherwise, I have to get going.
Q: You mentioned Dwayne Harris doing a good job in the return game, he wasn’t back there on the final kickoff return, was he injured at that point?
A: Yeah, he has an issue with his toe, it was bothering him, and so he didn’t go back there for that last kickoff, which was a touchback.
Q: Is he also one of the guys that are getting checked out this morning?
A: Again, I can’t tell you that, I don’t have anything in front of me quite yet from downstairs, so I don’t know. He’s not over at the hospital, so I don’t know what that means but anyway that’s the case.
Q: It looked like Dwayne Harris had a couple of times when he slipped on the turf, was that just something that he has to get used to?
A: We had some people slipping and sliding the other day and I mentioned it to our equipment people. It looked like a couple times he got up on the side of his foot and that’s why he slipped, but there were other people out there slipping, too. I would bring the same question up.
Q: What did you see from the game last night when you went and looked at the tape? Is there anything that helps you figure out why in the fourth quarter the team is falling apart and is better in the first three quarters?
A: There are little things that you can grab ahold of. The fact that the seam ball to [Larry] Donnell might have given us the ball, definitely, inside the 30, maybe down inside the 25. You know just things like that, the pass rush obviously was very severe at that point in time, their ears were laid back, and they were coming, and there was pressure, and there was no doubt about that. You saw that happen and that was something that you really have to understand, and even in one situation where you might need to keep some people in or at least do a better job of helping and securing a couple of those spots. Not taking anything away from Atlanta’s front, they did a strong job throughout the game. We had that, we had some misfires, and just some, certainly the delay of game, and things of that nature that just don’t, they can’t happen. They just can’t happen, it’s all got to be positive going forward, and it wasn’t. You can bleed it play by play and find different people involved in different circumstances, but just by and large you have to make it happen right then.
Q: Some of the players talked about needing to learn how to finish games, is there a way that you can help?
A: We’ll continue to talk about that, we’ll continue to be positive, and we’ll continue to utilize our meeting time with positive reinforcements whether it be examples of whatever. Sooner or later, we just have to settle down and play the way we’re capable of playing when the game is on the line. I don’t know how to say it any more simpler. The information comes forth from the sideline, you have x amount of time to digest it all, but then you have to go pull the trigger. Like yesterday, the fourth quarter was 14-0, so here we are in good stead throughout, and then we had the unfortunate turnover, but the next quarter was all Atlanta scoring.
Q: I know you like to have your team focused on just the task at hand, and they’re all business, but you mentioned you were going to point out the division to them. Is that just to show them everyone else is struggling and there’s still an opportunity there for you?
A: Yes, absolutely, the opportunity. It’s just a way to try to again get over the disappointment of yesterday as fast as we can. We realize how important it is going forward.
Q: What did you think of Justin Pugh at left tackle? That’s obviously something you might need going forward here and John Jerry slipping into guard, what was your assessment of that?
A: I think there were some good plays and some plays that weren’t so good. He had an exceptional rusher, Justin did, on his outside, and he caused pressure at the worst time of the game, obviously. Justin had a couple of opportunities to work in there as we went through Ereck Flowers’ ankle injury about a week ago, and fortunately he had some snaps there, and John had moved in as well. It was good experience for them to be able to practice there and they’ll see themselves today and hopefully make some adjustments or minor thoughts as far as how they can play that position better.
Q: I know you don’t have much information on the guys who played yesterday, but is there a plan moving forward this week with Jon Beason?
A: Well, he’ll continue even though there really isn’t a lot of practice time, it’s a lot of mental work here. I’m sure they’ll continue to work Jon on the side or whatever and just see where he’s at. Hopefully he’ll continue to improve and then we’ll maybe get some kind of a word going forward here.
Q: Same question about Victor Cruz.
A: It’ll be the same answer. Nothing has been said differently about his status except the fact that they continue to extend his work, and they’re pleased with that part of it.
Q: But that doesn’t include running yet, I assume.
A: He’s been running, as I told you, on the treadmill in the water. He’s been doing that and he’s been doing some running out on the grass.
Q: How do you squeeze all of the stuff in the schedule? What is a Thursday game like for you? What do you consider the biggest challenge?
A: The biggest challenge is your next opponent. We’ve had experience with Thursday night games before and we have a routine and a process that we utilize for information to go to the players and then at the best we possibly can get the information covered on the field, in most cases just a jog thru. We’ll continue to utilize that format.
Q: How do you feel Jayron Hosley held up?
A: Hosley made some plays and didn’t make some plays, but the ones that he didn’t make, I thought he was playing against an outstanding player, obviously, and he gave perhaps sometimes a little bit too much room, but overall he competed and he played hard. I thought that was a good step forward.
THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts of Monday’s media conference calls with the following players:
ARTICLES…
- Explaining the inexplicable: Breaking down all the Giants late-game breakdowns by Jordan Raanan for NJ.com
- A Game Changer for the Giants, for Better or Worse by Bill Rhoden of The New York Times
- Everything with the Giants — good and bad — starts and ends with Eli by Steve Serby of The New York Post
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
Because of Thursday night’s game against the Washington Redskins, the Giants only hold one practice this week, on Tuesday.
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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