Giants Ownership Divided About Fate of Tom Coughlin? Roster Moves

John Mara – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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GIANTS OWNERSHIP DIVIDED ABOUT FATE OF TOM COUGHLIN?…
The New York Daily News is reporting that there have been “several high-level discussions” within the New York Giants’ organization this week about the fate of Head Coach Tom Coughlin. The Daily News says it is not known yet if a final decision has been made, but “there are several people in the Giants’ front office who believe a change is necessary,” including team chairman/executive vice president Steve Tisch. The Daily News reports that pressure is mounting on team president/CEO John Mara to make a change and “most people inside the organization believe Mara will eventually agree.”

“Do I want to come back? I don’t know if that’s a great question right now,” said Coughlin on Thursday. “What I want to do is win a game on Sunday, that’s the bottom line for this group right now. I always have the competitive spirit. Sometimes it takes me a day or two to figure it all out when it’s over. Right now, let’s stick with the game and let’s go win a football game.”

ROSTER MOVES…
The New York Giants have placed linebacker J.T. Thomas (ankle) and long-snapper Danny Aiken (thumb) on season-ending Injured Reserve. Thomas injured his ankle in last Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, while Aiken injured his thumb in practice on Wednesday.

The Giants now have 20 players on Injured Reserve, one player who spent the season on the Physically-Unable-to-Perform (PUP) List (left tackle Will Beatty) and one player on Injured Reserve/Designated-to-Return (defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa).

To fill the roster 53-man roster vacancies, the Giants signed linebacker Nico Johnson from the team’s Practice Squad, and signed long-snapper Tyler Ott.

Johnson was originally drafted in the 4th round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs waived him in August 2014 and signed him to their Practice Squad. The Bengals signed Johnson to their 53-man roster in October 2014, but waived him in August 2015. The Redskins signed Johnson to their Practice Squad in September, but terminated his contract a month later. The Giants signed Johnson to the Practice Squad in November. Johnson has played in 17 regular-season games with three starts, accruing 22 tackles. Johnson is a big linebacker (6’2”, 249lbs) who plays the run well, but isn’t as adept in pass coverage. He is a hard worker.

Ott was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the New England Patriots after the 2014 NFL Draft. He did not make the team, but spent time with the Patriots again and the St. Louis Rams before the 2015 season.

NEW YORK GIANTS INJURY REPORT…
RT Marshall Newhouse (concussion), DE Jason Pierre-Paul (ankle), LB J.T. Thomas (ankle), S Craig Dahl (concussion), and S Cooper Taylor (concussion) did not practice on Thursday. Thomas was later placed on Injured Reserve.

WR Dwayne Harris (back/shoulder) and LS Danny Aiken (thumb) practiced on a limited basis. Aiken was later placed on Injured Reserve.

Nikita Whitlock had surgery yesterday to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee. He's already ditched crutches, recovery 3-4 weeks #Giants

— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) December 31, 2015

HEAD COACH TOM COUGHLIN…
The transcript of Tom Coughlin’s press conference on Thursday is available in The Corner Forum while the video is available at Giants.com.

THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
The following transcripts and video of player media sessions on Thursday are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:

• RB Rashad Jennings
• WR Hakeem Nicks (Video)
• CB Prince Amukamara (Video)

ARTICLES…

• How Giants fans should handle Tom Coughlin’s likely farewell by Mark Cannizzaro of The New York Post
• Could the Giants’ coordinators be candidates for head coach? by Dan Graziano of ESPN.com
• Veteran Rashad Jennings still at the top of his game by Michael Eisen of Giants.com
• Odell Beckham returns with vow: I won’t flip out like that again by Paul Schwartz of The New York Post
• Odell Beckham Jr. won’t change his style by Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record
• Giants’ Will Tye says he’ll be even better in Season 2 by Tom Rock of Newsday
• Jason Pierre-Paul: Why Giants should bring me back in 2016 by Paul Schwartz of The New York Post
• Jason Pierre-Paul is still valuable to Giants by Ralph Vacchiano of The New York Daily News
• In end, Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul in good position by Tom Rock of Newsday
• How it all went down the last time the Giants fired a coach by Jordan Raanan for NJ.com

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
There is no media access to the Giants on New Year’s Day. The team will hold a 45-minute, up-tempo “walk-thru” practice on Saturday that is not open to the media. The Giants play the Philadelphia Eagles at home on Sunday.