Ben McAdoo Addresses the Media at the NFL Owners Meeting

Ben McAdoo – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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BEN MCADOO ADDRESSES THE MEDIA…
New York Giants Head Coach Ben McAdoo spoke with reporters on Tuesday at the NFL Annual meeting and addressed the following subjects:

• On offensive lineman Ereck Flowers: “It’s still early in the process, but I have a lot of confidence in Ereck. One of the best games Ereck played all year was the playoff game, the last game of the season… If he comes out and works hard and has a little bit of success to start the season, that confidence will come. It’s just a young player and it’s a maturing confidence that he has to go through… He’s working hard on his technique. I’m pretty confident that he’s working very hard right now at being a better player and putting a lot of time and effort and energy into it this time of year. You see his face a lot. He’s in and out of the building a lot. I know he loves the game and I have a lot of confidence in Ereck.”

• On new wide receiver Brandon Marshall: “He almost didn’t fit through my doorway when he came to the building. He’s a big man. He’s like a tight end body out there, a big strong man who knows how to run the whole tree. There is a lot of value in that… I look forward to getting Brandon out there and seeing what he brings to the table when you get everybody together, but he is a big target. He’s a big target who has played a lot of football and has been very productive. A confident player, so it’s always good to add that chunk of confidence to the offense and the locker room. That’s good. And he’s a big target for Eli and that will help Eli.”

• On new offensive lineman D.J. Fluker: “Fluker’s a big man, he can block out the sun. Brandon (Marshall) almost didn’t fit through my doorway, Fluker didn’t. He had to turn sideways to get through the doorway. He’s a big man and loves the game, provides a lot of energy.”

• On if quarterback Geno Smith could eventually replace Eli Manning: “I can’t see why not… I find it very exciting. A guy who has his skill set is hard to find. You can’t find guys out there who have that type of arm talent, the quick release, the throwing motion and the feet to go with it. And he’s a competitor. It’s exciting to be able to bring a guy in and be able to work with a guy like that and see where you can take him… To me with Geno, you look at it and you study the guys coming out and you study Geno, I think he’s right in the mix of one of the better players available this year. We spent a lot of time talking about fundamentals and football and preparation and how this could be a great fit for both of us. He felt the same way and it’s exciting for us… I told Geno he has a clean slate.”

• On if he intends to use a fullback this year: “Rhett (Ellison) is more of a tight end who has some fullback-type qualities to him. But you can certainly use both types of plays… Anytime you have a big fullback type in the backfield it adds an element of physicality that is tough to replace when you don’t have it. It just didn’t work out last year. It’s not by design… I hear that I don’t want to have a fullback on the roster, and that’s news to me. I think you want the best team you can put out there, but that position has to have special-teams value. I don’t think you just want someone on your roster who plays seven plays a game. They’re not going to play a ton of plays, but the plays they do play are impactful-type plays in the ballgame. But they need to have some value special teams-wise.”

ARTICLES…

• Ben McAdoo’s to-do list for Giants — win Super Bowl by Bob Glauber of Newsday
• Giants co-owner Steve Tisch is ‘very proud’ of this new addition by James Kratch for NJ.com
• Odell Beckham Jr. receives a good character reference from John Mara by Bob Glauber of Newsday
• ‘Never say never’ on Adrian Peterson to the Giants and what it really means by Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com