Oct 202015
 
Cooper Taylor (30), New York Giants (November 10, 2013)

Cooper Taylor returning a blocked punt for a TD – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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GIANTS WAIVE COOPER TAYLOR…
The New York Giants have waived safety Cooper Taylor. No other roster move was made immediately to fill Cooper’s roster spot.

Taylor was selected in the 5th round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Giants. Taylor missed six games in 2013 with shoulder and hamstring injuries. He played in 10 games that year, serving almost exclusively on special teams. Taylor missed the entire 2014 season with a semasoid bone issue in his foot that required surgery. He was active for three games this years.

VICTOR CRUZ REPORTEDLY IMPROVING…
According to The Bergen Record, there has been recent improvement in wide receiver Victor Cruz’s calf injury. Cruz supposedly is no longer experiencing pain in his left calf and is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Wednesday to reassess his status. The Record says that if all goes well, Cruz could receive clearance to begin running again and then practice, perhaps as early as this week. It is unlikely that he would be able to play this weekend against the Cowboys.

Cruz has not fully practiced since August 17 due to the calf issue. He attempted to practice on September 30 but suffered a setback and received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection on October 1 to help quicken the healing process.

WILL BEATTY UPDATE…
Offensive tackle Will Beatty, who has not been able to practice since teaning his pectoral muscle in a May weight lifting accident, is eligible to return to practice this week if he is healthy enough to do so. Beatty is current on the Reserve/Physically-Unable-to-Perform (PUP) List.

Head Coach Tom Coughlin said on Tuesday that when the determination is made that Beatty will practice, the team will take it slowly. “We’ll first start with individual (drills),” said Coughlin. “When exactly that happens, I’m not sure if that’s going to start this week or when. But when we do, it will be with the idea of bringing him back slowly…He hasn’t done (football work) for a long, long time. And he’s got to get used to his pads. He’s got a lot of work ahead of him.”

Once Beatty begins practicing, the Giants will have a three-week window before they must move him to the 53-man roster.

DANIEL FELLS RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL…
Tight end Daniel Fells, who has been hospitalized for almost three weeks with a life-threatening MRSA infection (staph), was released from the hospital today. Fells has undergone seven surgeries with at least two more scheduled. Fells did have an infected bone removed from his foot, but the foot did not have to be amputated as was once feared. ESPN reports that additional surgeries in the future will be required to further clean out the infected area and likely will include plastic surgery. It is believed Fells career is over due to permanent damage to the foot.

JASON PIERRE-PAUL TO MEET WITH GIANTS ON WEDNESDAY…
According to ESPN, the Giants will meet with unsigned Franchise Player defensive Jason Pierre-Paul on Wednesday. This will be the second time the Giants have met with Pierre-Paul since he permanently-disfigured his right hand in a July 4th fireworks accident. The first meeting occurred in early September when the Giants determined that Pierre-Paul was physically not ready to return to the playing field.

HEAD COACH TOM COUGHLIN…
Tom Coughlin addressed the media by conference call on Monday:

Good afternoon. I’ll just start out by summarizing the frustration of, I think, the first quarter, and that pretty much sums up the way I feel about the whole day. We take the first drive and go 80 yards in eight plays and score. They go three and out, we get the ball back, we take it the length of the field, we get down in there. They call it an interception, it’s really nothing but a strip of the ball that we’ve got two hands on, they’ve got one hand on—they strip the ball out, rip it away. Then they start their drive from the minus-22, they get a third and 10. We get a roughing the passer, which is no question a good call on the officials’ part, which gives them the continuation of a drive that they still have to go 60 yards, but they do. At the conclusion of the drive, they have a 32-yard pass for a touchdown which we’ve got a player in a half-field coverage right there for the ball and just doesn’t play the ball. The safety from the other side of the field comes over and almost gets a hand on it, but the person who’s back in that deep-half does not defend the ball in the air. It probably should have been intercepted, to be honest with you.

Then you go on and you get the running into the punter call and they still have to go 72 yards after that. But in those situations it is the idea that you’ve stopped them and you’re out. And it’s a good stop and it’s something that you work hard, it’s not an easy thing to do. And yet, then they take the ball and they go and score. The frustration on the part of our inability to take, if you can believe, four turnovers and have nothing to show for it—no points. To have some opportunities as we got the ball into position, only to go backwards with the foolishness of the penalties, the bizarre nature of the penalties—12 penalties for one team and eight for the other. And we’re the team with 12. We constantly, constantly harp on knowing full well that the team that we were going against led the league in forced fumbles, and yet to have that happen a couple on different times in the game in obvious circumstances. Then you add to it the second and one, third and one, and fourth and one, which had we been able to put the ball out there on the second and one just a little bit further, the ball was a little bit underthrown, I think that ball would have been caught. And then to have a third and one and fourth and one and not make the necessary yardage when you know that north-south is the answer to it. Let’s get ourselves in position where it couldn’t have been more than three or four inches that was the difference. And I thought we had an opportunity with regard to both times to get it, to pick it, but it didn’t happen. I’ll always take the responsibility for that and for everything else that happens on the field.

The frustration of the day continues with some of the penalties that were recorded for intentional grounding which, quite frankly, I thought we were through that. We’ve opened that can of worms again. We’ve got to do a better job with that. Protection, we had protection breakdowns as the game went along. We did have some good runs. I thought at the beginning of the game and sporadically throughout, we did have some opportunities with runs that gave us the chance, I thought, to have a good mix and have good balance. And we did have early on, and it did hold the rush in check. Then as the game got on, the rush did an outstanding job against us. Many times it was a four-man rush, too. Our ability to rush their passer to force them to throw the ball when they didn’t want to wasn’t quite as good as we had hoped it would be. We went over there, I thought we had a good week, we were really into this game and look forward to playing it. We knew what to expect from the big crowd, loud crowd, in the division—all of that. It did not turn out the way we wanted it to. I’m sure that knowing in our locker room the number of people that take great pride in what they do and the way we felt about it afterwards, we’re going to have to come bouncing back. It’ll have to happen really fast as it is a short week. Hopefully we have a limited number of things to deal with in terms of the injuries, but I’m not quite clear on any of that today, it’s a little bit early.

Q: Do you have an update on where things stand with Will Beatty? He’s eligible to come off the PUP list.

A: Yeah, when that is decided it will be slow going. We’ll first start with individual. When exactly that happens, I’m not sure if that’s going to start this week or when. But when we do, it will be with the idea of bringing him back slowly.

Q: What are the challenges? What needs to be done to get him up to speed?

A: Well naturally, you have to put him on the field. You have to put him in football work. You’ve got to do all those kinds of things. He hasn’t done that for a long, long time. And he’s got to get used to his pads. He’s got a lot of work ahead of him.

Q: Can you trust Damontre Moore to be on the field and not make the kinds of penalties that he made last night?

A: I can’t honestly really say that. He’s obviously of a high-energy, he does give outstanding effort, there’s no question about it. But with regard to that, there’s absolutely no excuse for anyone for the unnecessary roughness penalty that he committed last night. Not knowing and being aware of the fact with what the down and distance was, and I realize he may not have known what’s going on behind him, but clearly, clearly to understand the way in which the quarterback is protected and rightfully so, and what can and can’t be done from a standpoint of his position. There’s no excuse for that. You used the word trust, I don’t know. That’s a good word.

Q: Did you have to sit down and talk to him? Is that something that you plan on doing or have done?

A: There’s been a lot sitting down and talking. I certainly will do more of it and he is very good about listening etc. But we’ve got to see whether it can hold true on the field.

Q: Given all the penalties and mistakes, did you feel heading into this game that the team had maybe started to turn the corner and you were just surprised maybe a little bit by the setback?

A: Oh, for sure, I was. We had played our way into three wins, we had gotten ourselves into a position we wanted to be in. We had created a big opportunity for our team, Philadelphia had done the same thing with their start and then where they had come. I was confident that our team was going to play hard and to be play in the same style and fashion that we had been. The number of things that occurred in the game just weren’t anything that we had been doing. We hadn’t done that, we hadn’t just carelessly given the ball away. We hadn’t really had an outbreak of the kind of penalties that took place. We played hard, as I mentioned last night. We didn’t play balanced, we didn’t help each other at all. We didn’t do the things necessary in order to complement each other on offense, defense and special teams. We put ourselves in a bad position, didn’t accomplish what we needed to, didn’t take advantage of the opportunities that were there for us—all those things which I really felt we were on our way, we were growing into the type of team that can handle those things and those situations in very important games. It was a disappointment to me, no doubt.

Q: When you had a chance to look at the offensive line and the pass rush that they got, did you see one-on-one guys just getting beat or was it mental breakdowns?

A: When there was pressure or whatever, there were occasions where people were beat and some occasions where the pressure was coming and we really didn’t have the opportunity to get rid of the ball yet. So the timing was such that the rush got there before we had an opportunity to declare who was going to be running free or if anybody was going to get open. There’s a combination of things, as there always is.

Q: Despite having the three turnovers, you were plus-one in the turnover margin. Was this kind of an uncharacteristic game for you to win the turnover battle and force the Eagles into so many turnovers but really not capitalize on their mistakes?

A: Well, I think you just said it all. What more can be said? I started out by saying we had four turnovers and nothing to show for it. I think that’s a very, very unusual circumstance in any game. Usually when you do have an opportunity for those things to take place, and quite frankly, there probably could have been more. We could have had another, at least one more interception. We didn’t take advantage of anything and that’s disappointing. Momentum, the ebb and the flow, teams are going to surge, teams are going to have their plays, people are going to make plays, there’s going to be things that come up in the course of the game that give you an opportunity to take advantage of.  I was just disappointed we didn’t do any of that no matter when they came.

Q: You mentioned the lack of pressure you got on him. There weren’t a lot of blitzes in the game. How much was that the plan and how much was it the way it unfolded? What can you do moving forward to improve that pass rush?

A: Well first, there’s always a plan for pressure, without a doubt, but other things have to be taken into consideration as well. So you can add one, two to the list. When you do rush more than five, you obviously have some issues where you’re locked in and on the back end you’ve got to do a superb job of covering for that amount of time—you better get to the quarterback. You’re always going to have your pressure game. The extent of which it gets called has to do with a lot of things. You can always say you’re going to add to it, but you’ve got some other considerations as well. So aggressiveness, you want to maintain it, no matter how it comes about. It will all be looked at again going forward.

Q: Do you have an update on JPP? He’s supposed to be coming in this week for a re-check.

A: We’ll know more about that when it happens. I don’t really have a lot to talk about there.

Q: Do you just treat this as a bad game and move on from there or do you sit there and say, “We’ve got to change immediately?”

A: Well, it’s a bad game, it’s a bad production. We’ve got to be able to handle the big games. The games where things don’t go our way, we’ve got to handle them better. You’ve got handle those situations better. You’re going to always have your little adjustments to adapt to the team that you’re going to play that you may add something to or you may not do something as much of. But you are who you are, and you do have your scheme in hands and you’re going to stay within that scheme as you plan and go forward. You’re going to try and make the players understand how different this could have been had some things been taken advantage of, had we been able to score the second time we marched down there. Just the little teeny things that happen that each play becomes so monumental when you’re playing against a good football team. The third and one, the fourth and one, the opportunity to catch the ball, put it away and not let someone take it from you—all those things add to the winning and the losing and the ebb and the flow that take place during the game. So you’ll make some adjustments. For example, I thought we had some good runs. We had some good runs going for us and our balance might have been better had we been able to do something with the ball to make first downs, not shoot ourselves in the foot so often, there may have been even better balance. Frustration? Yeah, no question about, you can sense it in my voice. Especially when you’ve got a day where you don’t have your team around here. You’ve got tape to look at and the coaches to talk with, but at the same time, because of the nature of the week, you’ve got to move on to the next opponent. You’ve got to get moving.

Q: What about the scenario where, obviously, this year and last are so similar in a lot of ways?

A: That was last year, this is a new year. What am I worried about? I’m worried about getting our team ready for the Dallas Cowboys. Forget about last year. Last year was last year.

Q: You mentioned about keeping your chin up and not dwelling on the loss. How do prevent things from snowballing and preventing the turnovers when you play Dallas next week?

A: Well, you’ve got to shut the turnovers down, there’s no doubt about that. I think the conscientious effort on the part of everybody here will be directed at that. The players have definitely got that message, there’s no doubt. At the expense of anything else, both hands have got to go on the ball and you just can’t be careless, you just can’t. Especially when you go into a game with a team that is leading the league in forced fumbles. I just shake my head sometimes because we’re not aware of, and that’s an area of frustration as well. But remorse, the players will be remorseful because of the opportunity that we had. But let’s not forget there’s a long way to go, we are 3-3.

Q: Do you have any update on Victor Cruz? Any change in him?

A: No. I don’t have any update for you there.

Q: Has he been doing anything? Is it still just running underwater and stuff?

A: Yeah, he’s been on the treadmill, the underwater treadmill, yeah.

GIANTS ON WFAN
The audio of Tuesday’s WFAN Radio interviews with the following players available at CBS New York’s website:

NOTES…
The Giants are 3-12 in their last 15 regular-season games vs. Philadelphia.

The Giants have lost four consecutive NFC East road games.

The Giants fell to 23-36-1 on Monday Night Football, including 15-27-1 on the road, 1-7 vs. the Eagles, and 1-6 in Philadelphia.

The Giants have not rushed for at least 100 yards in any of their first six games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time the Giants have rushed for fewer than 100 yards in six consecutive games. They are the only NFL team without a 100-yard rushing game this season.

ARTICLES…

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The players return to practice on Wednesday to start preparing for Sunday’s home game against the Dallas Cowboys.

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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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