Daniel Jones – © USA TODAY Sports
GIANTS PLACE LORENZO CARTER ON INJURED RESERVE…
The New York Giants have officially placed linebacker Lorenzo Carter on Injured Reserve. Carter ruptured his Achilles’ tendon against the Dallas Cowboys on October 11th. He will miss the remainder of the 2020 NFL season. The Giants drafted Carter in the 3rd round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Carter played in 15 games as a rookie with two starts, finishing the season with 43 tackles, 4 sacks, and 4 pass defenses. He started 12 games in 2019 and finishing the year with 45 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 5 pass defenses, and 1 forced fumble. Carter started the first five games this year and was credited with 14 tackles and one sack.
OCTOBER 19, 2020 NEW YORK GIANTS INJURY REPORT…
The Giants have a short week, next playing on Thursday night. The team did not practice on Monday, but issued the following estimation had the Giants practiced:
WR C.J. Board (concussion), LB Tae Crowder (hamstring), DB Darnay Holmes (neck), and DB Adrian Colbert (shoulder) did not practice.
WR Darius Slayton (foot) was limited and RB Dion Lewis (hand) fully practiced.
OCTOBER 19, 2020 JOE JUDGE PRESS CONFERENCE…
New York Giants Head Coach Joe Judge addressed the media on Monday to discuss his team’s 20-19 victory over the Washington Football Team (the video is also available on Giants.com):
Q: You gave a detailed explanation of why (Andrew) Thomas didn’t start yesterday and how that went with Matt Peart. In the second half, was it also your plan to rotate the two, or was Thomas coming out in the third quarter after a missed block a performance-based move?
A: No, there was just a plan to go ahead and move our players on through the entire game at multiple positions, so we just stuck to the plan right there. There was nothing performance-based on that at all in that right there, no. I stress again with Andrew, obviously, this is something the guy made a mistake on a team policy. Again, I’d like to stress this guy is a great dude in the building. We love Andrew. Nothing disrespectful or malicious. He just made a mistake and there are consequences.
Q: So, in the second half, the plan was to rotate them just the same as you did in the first half?
A: Yeah, Marc (Colombo) had them on a rotation. He kind of just stuck with the number of series that were going in and out at that point right there.
Q: I know you guys didn’t practice today, but how much closer is Sterling Shepard being ready? I know it’s a quick turnaround to Thursday night, but how much closer are you to having him on the field?
A: Yeah, I think we’re a little bit closer than we were last week. Obviously, he didn’t make it to the game. He worked with the trainers today. I’m going a lot right now off the information they’ve given me from today’s workout. We were in staff meetings when he was out there on the field doing some of his rehab stuff. Being a walkthrough week for us, we’ll have to go really based on what the trainers tell us. We’ll have to go ahead and look at him. We’ll see. This could go up to a pregame workout. We’re not sure. We’ll see where he’s at throughout the week.
Q: They’re pretty banged up on their side. Reports came out today no Miles Sanders, no Zach Ertz. How much does that change your preparation for a team knowing that they could be without, and probably are going to be without, two of their most dynamic weapons?
A: I think they have enough weapons on all fronts to really prepare for with these guys. Look, you don’t want to see any players get hurt, to be honest with you. You want to play teams when they’re at their best. That’s what competition is all about. We’re expecting (Alshon) Jeffery and (DeSean) Jackson to be back, and they’re going to give you a lot of trouble, along with all the other receivers they have already. They know how to use their receivers, their backs and their tight ends all very well, so it doesn’t matter who’s in there. They’re all very capable.
Q: When you prepare for Philadelphia, have you done any work prior to this week so it’s not such a short week?
A: Yeah, absolutely. I think with all opponents, we actually go back in the spring and through the summer and really build a base on what they are historically. Now, obviously, that changes within the regular season based on who’s on their roster and how certain things have shaken out for them. But I always try to work weeks ahead. Especially knowing it’s a Thursday game, you want to work a couple weeks ahead to really build your base on them. For me personally, I’m always a week ahead on the opponent as it is anyway. That’s something I’ve always done, that’s something I’ve gotten accustomed to doing through what I’ve done at different places. You just rely on your notes, you watch the tape on Monday from the previous game the night before, you update where you think you are with everything, and then that helps you as far as your planning day on Tuesday and going into Wednesday and Thursday, putting together the game plan. If you wait until the game week to really start diving into the next opponent, I don’t think there’s enough time to really dedicate recapping your game from the day before, getting into a new opponent, really learning what they are. Then at the same time, formulating a plan for it. Some people can do that. For me personally, that’s not the way I like to work.
Q: Just going back to the previous question about the left tackle. Now that Andrew has served his punishment, is he back as your starting left tackle on Thursday night?
A: Yeah, we’ll go through practice this week and kind of see where everything shakes out right now. But I was pleased with the way both he and Matt played, along with Cam (Fleming). We have multiple guys who can play the positions. Matt’s a guy that’s worked on the right and the left. We’ve practiced Andrew both on the right and the left as it is anyway, and Cam gets reps on the left as well, just to make sure we’re all in position if we have to get our numbers called. We’ll go through practice these next couple of days and kind of see how everything shakes out. But again, we expect all of them to be at the game and we expect all of them to play.
Q: When you have a decision to make on a fourth down, what goes into that? Do you have someone in your ear telling you the win probability and how it’s affected? Is it gut feeling? Just what goes into that for you?
A: There’s a lot of that. There’s a lot of, you talk through the situation as they come up. With Pat (Graham) and Jason (Garrett) calling the plays on offense and defense, as I go through a series, I’m really looking down the line of, okay, if this gives us a fourth and short here, what am I doing? Are we kicking or are we going? If this gets to a fourth and medium, what am I doing right here? What am I looking at if we punt the ball down here on a long field goal situation versus taking the attempt at a long field goal? What could be the it factor right there? To me, I’m kind of playing out the game and scenarios of what’s going to come up, what’s going to happen, and how we can best handle it. I’m always evaluating where we are with timeouts versus clock and score. Then, to be honest with you, a lot of it is just the flow of the game. You can look at the whole analytics pages of different things and they tell you when to go for two, when to go for it on fourth down. That’s all great, but you have to understand the flow of the game. Sometimes, there is a lot of emotion that goes into it, not to just go out there and pound your chest but knowing what your team needs at the time and how they’re playing.
Q: Does facing an opposing coach who you know is going to be aggressive like Ron (Rivera) was make you a little bit more conservative like you seemed to be yesterday?
A: Yeah, I wouldn’t necessarily say conservative with different things. You need to play to the strength of your team and the flow of the game and what you have confidence in. While sometimes you may say it’s conservative not to go for it on fourth down, a lot of times it’s aggressive to say we’re going to trust our defense to go out there and do the job. We’re going to have faith in our team we prepare in all three phases. That being said, you always have to consider how the other coach calls the game. When Ron had the ball and they were driving with about five minutes left in the game, you start looking in terms of they’re going to treat this like it’s a two-minute situation. You start kind of putting it through your mind and talking to the offense like, ‘ok guys, let’s be ready. We have a couple of timeouts. Let’s get ready to start working on two-minute, talking to our players, thinking about what calls we may want to make. If I have to burn a timeout here, guys, think about how that may change our calls with only one timeout.’ We talk ahead on the situations on the series to make sure everyone is on the same page. But you have to understand how the other coach calls it, Ron being a good example because he’s been very aggressive throughout his career. Is this going to be a guy who’s going to go for it at midfield? Is it going to be a fake situation? That’s how Tom (Quinn) and T-Mac (Thomas McGaughey) really do a good job getting the guys prepped and ready in the situation in the game, being aware of the gimmicks and the gadgets that may come up in the kicking game to try to extend drives. For us, we try to go ahead and apply all the principles of all the phases. But the opponent is always the biggest factor in the decisions you make. Whether you’re going for it on fourth down, it’s who are you playing, how are they playing and how are you playing against them?
Q: I also want to ask you, I know you love talking about yourself, but you’re going back to Philly this week. What are your thoughts? What are your emotions there?
A: I’ll probably buy a helmet too because my in-laws are already buying batteries. To be honest with you, it’s not my first time going back to Philly as an opposing coach. It’s a great city. It has great, passionate fans. It’s an excellent team. It’s obviously a great rivalry. I grew up watching these games. They were always tough games, blue collar type games, when the Eagles and the Giants were playing when I was growing up watching the games. Again, you’re so focused on the opponent, the emotion doesn’t really get tied into it. We just know we have a heck of a team we have to match up against.
Q: Specific to the fourth down decision. Why punt on fourth down and two from the 38 there where you take the delay of game? You intentionally take it to punt but why not go for that there?
A: At that point right there, I had a lot of confidence in our defense. Hey, look we put the offense out there, sometimes it looks like it’s intentional, sometimes maybe, sometimes it might not be. We have a lot of situational calls and different things we work at all times. In that situation right there, it’s easy to say, hey, it’s fourth and two, go for it, it’s in short range. The defense is playing good, you got a punter you trust. You got special teams that are put on the field to create field position. If you can put the punter on a long field, you trust the way your defense is playing, then you trust them to give it back to your offense in good position.
Q: Kyler Fackrell has made big plays in two straight games now on defense. Another one of those guys who’s playing through injuries. Why has he been able to come up with some big plays in big moments for you guys?
A: I think he just does a good job executing the plan. Pat (Graham) does a really good job putting the pieces together. Bret does an excellent job coaching the guys on the edge, working with them. Kyler has a good tool set with a lot of versatility to it. Whether it’s dropping in coverage, rushing, setting the edge against the run, whatever it may be. He does a good job of really applying all his tools to it. He’s got good instincts and savvy to be able to understand, especially as the game goes on when he makes a lot of plays, what his opponent has been showing him, what he can use to kind of set that guy up to go make a play. He’s a good, smart football player. He’s made a lot of players for us when his number has been called, we’re happy to have him.
Q: I know obviously you talked about the preparation weeks in advance for opponents that you do and maybe the coaches do. I’m curious, defensively especially, you want to be week to week with the game plan. Is there hesitancy with the players to know that you don’t want to change too much and go with a blank slate on a week where you play on Thursday night? As opposed to maybe a regular week, do you guys talk about that and shift what you would do philosophically based on the time you actually have?
A: We always think about that. Really, the way we teach in the beginning is what sets us up for situations like this on a short week. Whether it’s a Thursday night game or a halftime adjustment, which we had to make plenty of them yesterday with some personnel changes in the game due to injury. The guys have to understand the concepts of what you’re trying to do. When you start teaching on the front end in training camp and back in the spring, you want to make sure all the players understand the concepts of what you’re trying to do. In a certain type of coverage, okay, what are the elements of the coverage? It’s a certain type of man coverage, what’s the leverage you have to win? It’s a certain kind of rush, what are the details of the rush we have to execute? Then you just plug people in different spots and they understand when they’re in that spot what concept applies to, they know how to play it. We make sure we drill our players and we teach them. Everyone is learning how to play deep field technique, everyone is learning how to play a hard flat technique. Everyone is learning how to play curl-flat or seam-curl, or middle run through. Everyone is learning how to set an edge in the run game. Everyone is learning how to blitz the A and the B gap. Everyone is learning how to work a stunt game and a twist coming off the edge. We make sure we put all of our guys through exercises of it so when it comes up for them, it’s not new. It may seem more new to the opponent, but for us it’s something we have been teaching from day one.
Q: A follow up on the tackle situation. Do you see any advantage for switching guys mid-game, series to series against a defense and what maybe the defense is prepared for? You have Thomas versus a Peart at left tackle.
A: I think the biggest emphasis is just it’s important for us to play as many of our guys as possible, especially these young guys who need to gain the experience. They can only really improve by being on the field and working. Matt’s a guy that’s shown a lot of improvement in the way he works in practice. We’ve seen it from the team periods, the individual one on one pass rush periods. He’s shown progress in the games and the action he’s seen. Andrew has been doing a good job for us as well. To me, it’s just important to get guys involved and let them play and learn.
Q: How much did Matt Peart earn the opportunity to play more from what he did yesterday?
A: I think he did a good enough job. I have confidence to put him on the field. I have confidence in Andrew, I have confidence in Cam. I have confidence in all of our offensive linemen. Has he earned the right to be on the field and contribute? Absolutely. That’s why he’s going to be at the games for us. Everybody on our roster and practice squad has earned the right to be here. We have confidence we’ll play any of them any time.
Q: You grew up in Philadelphia, very provincial city, we know that. I’m just curious, what do you think your friends and even your mom would’ve said to you (if you said) I’m going to be the coach of the New York Giants?
A: I don’t know. Go get ‘em? My brother walked around in a LT jersey his entire life, I think, mostly to make us mad because we were all rooting for the Eagles. Eventually you get used to seeing it and you understand why he was wearing it.
Q: You guys had Ryan Lewis following Terry McLaurin around for a little bit. I was just curious the thought process there and how you think he held up? I don’t think he gave up a catch yesterday.
A: I thought Ryan has been playing well for us. He’s definitely a guy that’s made a lot of progress for us. We’ve been familiar with Ryan for some time. I’ve had experience with him in the past. He’s definitely a guy who has really improved over the course of his career. I have a lot of confidence in Ryan on the field. He’s a tough dude. He definitely rose to the competition. McLaurin is a heck of a receiver. This guy is as explosive as can be. You talk to guys like Colt (McCoy),who had him on the team as a teammate with him. Early in the week, Colt is saying some accolades about this guy about how he’s one of the best receivers he’s ever thrown to in terms of what this guy can do to get open and then what he does with the ball in his hand. It paints a picture that this guy is an excellent player. You see it on tape. I remember when the guy came out of college, he was painted a little bit more as a special teams guy than an offensive guy. I think this guy has definitely shown he’s got versatility and he’ definitely a weapon for their offense. He’d be a player for any team in this league. Ryan did a good job for us right there. That’s just part of the matchups we established for the game plan right there. Later in the game, it was changed up for different reason, but I thought Ryan did a good job for us yesterday.
THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts and video clips of the media sessions with the following players are available in The Corner Forum and on YouTube:
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The New York Giants practice on Tuesday (10:50-11:50AM). Head Coach Joe Judge and select players will also address the media.
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