Clips, Transcripts & Coughlin Corner

GIANTS NOTEBOOK & CLIPS

‘I was a big part of us losing’: The fumble that changed Giants’ fate

three interceptions for the Eagles, but said “A win is a win. To beat that team by 20 points … very pleased with that result.’’

By Paul SchwartzNew York PostOct. 20, 2015

The Giants trailed by a touchdown in the second quarter Monday night when they got a 9-yard re-ception from Odell Beckham Jr. for a first down and

an extra 15 yards from a roughing the passer penalty on Eagles defensive end Cedric Thornton. Just like that, the Giants were in Eagles’ territory.

And then they weren’t.

A seemingly safe dump-off pass to Rashad Jennings picked up 6 yards and, as Jennings appeared about to pick up the first down, he was hit from behind by safety Malcolm Jenkins, causing a fumble that linebacker DeM-eco Ryans recovered. The Giants never threatened again in a 27-7 loss at Lincoln Financial Field.

“It was a momentum swing,’’ Jennings said. “Didn’t hold onto the ball. We put our defense in a tough situation. Our defense played well and we kind of left them hang-ing. I feel I was a big part of us losing this game.

“It was a routine play, setting up the blocks, the ball was right beside me and the guy made a play, came from be-hind and somehow it came out. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot, everybody kind of took turns. I take a lot of credit for this ‘L.’ ’’

Remember all the nice things that were said and written about the Giants’ offensive line? A mute button and a delete button might be needed after the performance of the line, which allowed three sacks after giving up only four in the first five games.

LB Jonathan Casillas was forced out in the fourth quarter with a neck injury. … The Giants got interceptions from Brandon Meriweather, Jayron Hosley and the first career INT for rookie Landon Collins. … Fullback turned defen-sive tackle Nikita Whitlock was used early in the game in pass-rush situations and in the third quarter used a spin move to put a big hit on Sam Bradford. … Strange but true: When the Eagles won the toss and deferred, the Giants got the ball first for the first time this season.The Giants were hoping this would be the week their best defensive end, Robert Ayers, would return to the lineup but it was not to be, and he missed his fourth consecu-tive game with a strained hamstring. … Eagles CB Nolan Carroll on his pick-six interception of Eli Manning: “He came back to the intended receiver at the last minute. I just saw him and the ball came out.’’ … Bradford threw

Coughlin tries to explain the disappearing Odell Beckham

Beckham said he felt no setbacks by playing and does not expect it to be an issue Sunday against Dallas at MetLife Stadium.

“I felt good enough to play, and I kind of just stayed right where I’m at, so I don’t think there were any major set-backs,’’ he said. “I feel good. It ’s all a work in progress. It ’s about staying on top of it. It ’s part of being a pro, learning how to manage it.

“I don’t remember the last time I was 100 percent, so it ’s just trying to stay on top of it, and manage it the best I can.’’

Asked if he expects a week of uncertainty again leading up to the Dallas game in terms of his practicing and his status, Beckham said, “I don’t know, I play football, I’m not a trainer. So whatever they want me to do I follow their plan. They do a great job of managing it and keeping me as healthy as possible so I trust them and follow what they say.’’

By Mark CannizzaroNew York PostOct. 20, 2015

Well, Odell Beckham Jr. played for the Giants on Monday night. So they had that going for them.

It did them no good, however.

Beckham, though he led the Giants with seven catches for 61 yards and scored their only touchdown in a putrid 27-7 loss to the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, was rendered a non-factor by the Philadelphia defense.

And it had little to do with the fact he had not practiced all week after suffering a hamstring injury in the Giants’ previous game eight nights earlier.

Beckham was targeted eight times by Eli Manning, catching seven. But seven of those eight targets — and all seven catches — came in the first half. Beckham had only one pass thrown his way in the second half despite the fact the Giants trailed 17-7 at the half.

It all started so well for Beckham and the Giants, who took a 7-0 lead on their opening possession of the game as Beckham scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass.

“We were very, very confident,’’ Beckham said of the first drive.

Then everything went wrong.

“Well, we would have liked to have gotten [the ball] to him [in the second half], but it didn’t work out that way,’’ Tom Coughlin said. “Obviously, we were having a lot of trouble protecting the quarterback. A little later on, they were playing him a little bit differently. Once they got the lead, they had one defender low and one high to be able to cover him vertically up the field.’’

Manning said, “Once they got the lead they were doubling him a good bit and kind of challenging us to run the ball, giving us run looks. But we were down and having to throw it and they were getting pretty good pressure.’’

Beckham credited the Eagles’ defense.

“They mixed it up [in coverage,]” he said. “They did a good job of rolling some coverages late. They did a good job dis-guising it and keeping it hidden ’til the last minute. We’ve just got to make more plays.’’

Giants DE blames his football smarts after epically dumb play

rules so I can eliminate these penalties. I take full responsibil-ity for it. It’s a learning mistake and I’ve got to fix it. I’ve got to eliminate the mistakes.

“Honestly, I think it was just part of me having poor football IQ, not aware of the rules of dumping him, because I dumped him. I was just trying to make a play and be a high-energy guy. I’m going out there and I’m trying to run from sideline to sideline and hit someone as hard as I can.’’

When Moore reached the Giants sideline coaches and players immediately got after him about the rule.

“That was the penalty — me driving him into the ground,’’ Moore said. “The refs didn’t say anything to me, but the coaches told me and other players told me that you can’t do that.’’

The Eagles would score the next 20 points after tying the game while the Giants, who looked so in control in the open-ing minutes of the game, looked more dysfunctional with each minute that passed.

It was all so disillusioning for the Giants, who entered the game at 3-2, riding a three-game winning streak and had a chance to separate themselves from the 2-3 Eagles.

Now, the Giants and Eagles are tied at the “top’’ of the NFC East at 3-3, yet it hardly feels like the Giants have a piece of first place at all.

Blame it on Damontre Moore.

By Mark CannizzaroNew York PostOct. 20, 2015

One mindless play changed everything for the Giants Monday night.

One mindless play injected life into the previously life-less Eagles.

One mindless play led to the worst Giants loss of the sea-son to date — yes, even worse than the blown fourth-quarter leads in Dallas and against the Falcons in the opening two weeks.

You cannot blame the Giants 27-7 loss to the Eagles Mon-day night at Lincoln Financial Field entirely on third-year defensive end Damontre Moore. There were plenty of cul-prits who helped author this mess of ugly football for the Giants, who looked like pretenders residing in sole pos-session of first place in the NFC East entering the night.

But you can trace the Eagles’ resurgence on this night directly back to Moore’s completely unnecessary roughing the passer penalty in the first quarter, because it woke the Eagles up, ticked them off perhaps, gave them life.

“It was a very, very bad penalty,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said. “I didn’t notice any surge [of energy from the Ea-gles], but it was a bad penalty. You can’t play like that. That’s bad football.’’

The Giants had a 7-0 lead and Eagles had just gotten the ball back on an interception by their linebacker, DeMeco Ryans. The Eagles were facing a third-and-10 from their own 22-yard line and their quarterback, Sam Bradford, under pressure, dumped a short pass off to Darren Sproles for a 3-yard gain.But, instead of having to punt, the Eagles got a free first down because Moore unnecessarily drove him into the turf — giv-ing him the business — and was called for the 15-yard pen-alty that changed everything.

First down Eagles, who were a dead team walking at the time. Suddenly, the Moore penalty injected life into them. And four plays after the penalty, Bradford connected with receiver Riley Cooper on a 32-yard touchdown pass.

Now the game was tied at 7-7 and the restless sellout crowd at the Linc was rocking.

“There’s no excuse,’’ Moore said. “I’ve got to get my football IQ and awareness up and get a better understanding of the

Eli Manning plays down a level in Giants bad loss

“That’s football sometimes,” Manning said.

His worst throw came early in the second quarter. He tried to hit Dwayne Harris along the left sideline, but Nolan Carroll jumped the route at the Giants 17 and easily scored on Manning’s first pick-six of the season. “Just a terrible read by me,” Manning said. “I thought they were in two-man.

“They were in zone. It was a bad, bad decision by me to make that throw. I should have seen by the way the nickel was playing. I should have gone to the next guy in my progression.”

It started so pretty for Manning and ended up so ugly. He had the three picks. He was called for intentional grounding twice. He fumbled but was fortunate the Giants recovered. He was sacked three times.

In the first half, he targeted Odell Beckham seven times and completed each for a total of 61 yards and a touchdown. In the second half, with the Eagles doubling Beckham, he was targeted once and did not have a catch.

The Giants really miss Victor Cruz. Beckham is a star. Rueben Randle is productive on the other side. But the Giants need Cruz back in the slot. They need his ability to find openings in the middle of the field and give Manning some easy throws. But there is still no indication when he’s going to be ready to play.

The Giants lost an opportunity to build on their lead in the NFC East. They need Manning to outplay second-tier quarterbacks like Bradford. But this loss is not all on him. The rest of the Gi-ants were pretty bad, too. There were mistakes all over the field. Penalties at the worst time.

Just a mess.

“You can’t play like that,” Coughlin said. “That’s bad football.”

The Giants lost on opening night when the Cowboys had Tony Romo. On Sunday, they get the Cowboys with Matt Cassel. This is another game in which Manning is the by far the best QB on the field. But he must play like it.

By Gary MyersNew York Daily NewsOct. 20, 2015

One week ago, after Eli Manning led a last-minute drive to beat the 49ers, Giants co-owner John Mara got caught up in the moment.

“That ’s why we pay him the $22 million,” Mara said as he walked toward the locker room.

If Manning was worth the $22 million last Sunday night, then he and the rest of the Giants were not worth $22 on Monday night against the Eagles in a dreadful 27-7 loss that dropped Big Blue to 3-3 and into a first place tie with Philadelphia in the miserable NFC East.

Manning, a two-time Super Bowl champion, is supposed to separate the Giants from the rest of the division, where the other starting quarterbacks are Sam Bradford, Kirk Cousins and Matt Cassel. But as bad as Bradford was against the Gi-ants – and he was really bad — Manning not only played down to his level, but sunk even a bit lower. Bradford threw three interceptions and Manning threw two, but Manning’s second was returned for a touchdown.

For the first time in his life, Manning is a better quarterback than big brother Peyton. And he started off Monday night like he was going to throw a perfect game against the Eagles. He was 5-for-5 for 59 yards on the opening drive, ending in a 13-yard touchdown pass to Odell Beckham.

Manning then looked to his left for tight end Larry Donnell. Last week, Donnell snatched the ball from 49ers linebacker Navarro Bowman in the end zone for the winning touchdown. This time, he had his hands on the ball but linebacker DeMeco Ryans ripped it out of his hands. It was ruled an interception, but when Coughlin spoke about it after the game he called it “Larry’s fumble,” and it was more a fumble than an interception.

“We should have had 14 points on the board,” Coughlin said.

Instead, the Eagles took over on their 22 and the Giants stopped them on third down. But Damontre Moore was called for rough-ing the passer, which kept Philly’s drive alive. Four plays later, Bradford launched a 32-yard touchdown pass to Riley Cooper, the start of 27 consecutive points.

After completing his first 10 passes, Manning was just 14 for 28 for 102 yards. Completions were hard to find. How can the of-fense be unstoppable to open the game and invisible for nearly three quarters?

TRANSCRIPTS

Head Coach Tom CoughlinConference Call, October 20, 2015

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 in an interception, it ’s really nothing but a strip of the ball that we got two hands on they 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 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 oppor-tunities 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 who 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 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 that 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 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 those kind 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 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 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 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 had got on him. There wasn’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 on in 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 im-mediately?”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 got to handle them better. You 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 tiny 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 got to move on to the next opponent. You got to get moving.

Q: What about the scenario obviously this year and last is 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 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 the running underwater and stuff?A: Yeah he’s been in the treadmill, the underwater treadmill, yeah.

THE COUGHLIN CORNER

THE COUGHLIN CORNERQ: The offensive line has been a popular topic all sum-mer. But when you look at the line, you have a high second-round draft choice at center (Weston Richburg) and two first-rounders (Justin Pugh and Ereck Flowers) to his left. So it seems like you’ve got a lot of individual talent there. Is it just a matter of them now coalescing?Coughlin: “They have to play together. They have to see what they ’re going to see on the field. And this is a great place where they ’re going to see it. These people (the Cowboys) rely on the stunt game rather than pres-sure, at least on paper going in. Last year, by down and distance, they ’re not a high-percentage pressure team. But they ’re going to move that front all over the place, they ’re not big. They ’re penetrators, and they ’re power-ful. And then seeing (Tyrone) Crawford, he’ll knock the living daylights out of you. Ereck Flowers has this (Jer-emy) Mincey guy. I hope he prepares himself, because he’s a powerful man for not a big man.” Q: I was going to ask you about Flowers. He’s the first Giants rookie to start at left tackle in a season opener since William Roberts in 1984. Do you like what you’ve seen in his progress?Coughlin: “I like what I’ve always seen in him, okay? He’s a rookie. He’s had good days, he’s had bad days. That ’s got to work itself out. There’s no room for a bad day. There can’t be a bad day. He’s a left tackle with a right-handed quarterback. But he’s a competitive kid who fights you. That ’s not bad to start with. And he’s a big man.”

Q: Eli Manning is entering his 12th season as the elder statesman on the offense. Has he taken more ownership for what happens with that unit in terms of leadership and mentoring?Coughlin: “He’s always the same. That never changes. He’s always been that way. Totally involved, interested, always coaching somebody. He’ll stick his nose in the receiver room or go in with the offensive linemen. That ’s always been that way, whether it ’s year four or year 12. That doesn’t change. He does have ownership for his team. But he’s a quarterback. Quarterbacks are completely engulfed in what they do, because they ’ve got to see, and they ’ve got to react, and they ’ve got to get people in the right (place). All the things that go into the cerebral part of the game before the ball is even snapped. That ’s what takes their time. (Phil) Simms never said a word. He was busy. Well, this guy is busy. He’s got things to do.”

By Michael EisenGiants.comWeek 1

The Coughlin Corner, Giants.com’s exclusive weekly in-terview with head coach Tom Coughlin:

Q: On Sunday night in Dallas, you will be standing on the sideline for your 19th NFL opener as a head coach. What are your emotions at this time of year?Coughlin: “I’m excited, I’m anxious. This is my first game on the sideline as the head coach of the New York Giants, that ’s how I look at it. I don’t look at it any other way. The cumulative, yeah, there’s experience there and there’s reason to feel confident, because I’ve been there before. However, it ’s the start of a new season. It ’s all new. Look at the team. It ’s all new. So I look at it that way. I’m excited, I’m looking forward to it. Hey, it is what it is. The season begins whether you’re ready or not, that ’s what I always say. I told the players that. ‘Fellas, buckle your seatbelts. Because whether you’re ready or whether you’re not ready, it ’s starting Sunday night. You better be ready.’”

Q: Some of the players said you get a little more intense this week. Do you ratchet it up to make sure that they understand the importance of the game?Coughlin: “No, they have to be ratcheted up, so I’m ratcheting them. We talk about game day culture around here. Well, that ’s what has to happen in practices. Some-body has to show me that they do get it, because you are playing in a whole different kind of context. It ’s not preseason. People aren’t counting snaps. I start the week off with that one. ‘Guess what? You were tired last week with 30 (snaps)? Guess what, you’ve got 70. Be ready.’” Q: Judging by the tone and content of many of the ques-tions you get at your news conferences, this was the most calamitous preseason ever.Coughlin: “They ’re all negative, everything is negative.” Q: Has this been any different than any other preseason? Don’t you deal with numerous issues every year?Coughlin: “You do, you do. The one that nobody saw coming is with Victor (Cruz). It ’s not the knee. It ’s some-thing else (his calf). But as far as where we are and the things that happened during training camp? Sure, every year it ’s the same thing. Nothing ever changes that way. So for me, what are you talking about? What’s different about it?”

Q: Is there a corresponding player on defense? Cullen Jenkins, a 12-year veteran who has won a Super Bowl, comes to mind.Coughlin: “Well, he’s done more. Cullen has done more, there’s no doubt. It ’s very much needed, it ’s needed.” Q: You need those leadership guys to step up.Coughlin: “We need a lot more than we’re getting. We need people to jump up. But it ’s what they stand for, and their example. And if you’re smart enough to be a young guy and plugged into a veteran guy, it ’s an advantage for you. (Take advantage of it) if you want to be around. Everybody has limitations. So whatever your limitations are, overcome them by virtue of how you take care of yourself, how you prepare yourself, how you are when you go to work. Don’t be a ‘Nobody is at home’ guy, you won’t be here five minutes. Who wants them? I don’t want them.” Q: Larry Donnell caught 63 passes last season, but seems to dwell more on his four fumbles (all recovered by the opposition). Do you want him still thinking about the turnovers?Coughlin: “He’s got to address it, because every team in the league is going for it with him. This (Dallas) will be the number one team. This is the team that goes right after the ball against him, so he’s got to take care of the ball. And it ’s a matter simply of grasping the ball prop-erly when you catch the ball, and then converting it to the proper position. I think lots of times he doesn’t get it in the right spot, and then he can’t get it where he wants it. Then, it ’s vulnerable. That ’s what he has to do.”

Q: If he stops that, do you view him as an ascending player?Coughlin: “I do. I think it ’s all in front of him.”

Q: So much is expected of Odell Beckham after the sea-son he had last year. Did you ever say to him something like, “Don’t feel like you have to light the world on fire. Just play your game, play within the offense.” Or do you just let him play?Coughlin: “Play. Play. Get started, and play. All the stuff we talk about, the things he is in control of, the profes-sional things, that ’s where he has to step up. He likes to play, and he loves to compete. He’s going to run into some different things, and he’s got to be able to handle that, too. That ’s part of maturity, too. That ’s not going to be as easy. They ’re not going to let it be. Especially if the other people out there on the field don’t balance up for him. Hopefully, (Shane) Vereen can help too there.”

Q: You have a new punter (Brad Wing), new return man (Dwayne Harris) and a kicker (Josh Brown) com-ing off his best season. Are you excited about the spe-cial teams?Coughlin: “I am. I’m excited about seeing us with fi-nally our best foot forward in those areas. I was very impressed with the punter yesterday, he had a nice day.”

Q: You seem to have a lot of new components to help special teams this year.Coughlin: “Yes, and we need that. We need better. That ’s why we brought Harris in here, for that reason. He’s the leading tackler on special teams (last season for the Cowboys). Their punt return team and their kickoff return team, I think, were 13th in the league. Well, we need a top 10.”

Q: Dallas has 10 of 11 offensive starters back. The one guy who is not back (DeMarco Murray) led the league in touches and rushing yards. Do you think they ’re go-ing to change much without him?Coughlin: “Why? Why? What they ’ve done is they ’ve taken the pressure off the quarterback (Tony Romo). The quarterback had a great year. They ’re going to run, they ’re going to run, they ’re going to run, and hopefully we can do something about the run. The of-fensive line hasn’t changed. That ’s the reason.” Q: You alluded to this before, but defensively they were second in the league with 31 takeaways. Taking care of the ball is a focus every week, but is it particu-larly important vs. Dallas?Coughlin: “No doubt. We’ve pointed out all the stats with that. We have to take care of the ball. We can’t give them any advantage. Any advantage they get, you watch some of their close games. You see even late in the game, all of a sudden, the other team is backed up. They ’re coming out of their own goal line. Same thing we did over here. You cannot give them any advantage, because they ’re a 12-4 team.” Q: Do you go into every season expecting the NFC East to be a close race, down to the wire, with every team involved in it?Coughlin: “I do. I think it ’s obviously a great division, and historically a great division. Everybody says they do it, they point toward the divisional games. I just keep going back to what Joe Gibbs said to me one time, ‘I just hope we’ve got enough guys left for the following week.’ Because that ’s how they play these games in this division.”


The Coughlin Corner, Giants.com’s exclusive weekly inter-view with head coach Tom Coughlin:

Q: You’ve coached long enough that you’ve had your share of tough losses, like the one the other night in Dallas. What is the key to learning from the end of the game and moving on, without dwelling on what happened?Coughlin: “You have to state the facts. But by the same token, you have to recognize the things that were done well. I was encouraged by the effort, I was encouraged by how hard they played, I was encouraged by different things throughout the game. The turnovers, obviously going plus-three was huge. I was encouraged by the 5:12 drive (in the third quarter). Only came away with a field goal, but I was encouraged by that. But the fact is that the last two drives of theirs - six plays, 76 yards and six plays, 72 yards – we have to do something about that. That ’s too easy. When you’ve got somebody with basically 1:29 (remaining) and they use 1:22 of it, and had no timeouts and once got the ball out of bounds, it ’s a little bit too easy, too fast. There’s a big learning experience for us there, in terms of what we have to do is trust in our preparation, trust our fundamen-tals, trust the way we’ve been playing, and play through the aspect of the last two minutes or whatever of the game with the idea of don’t worry about the result. Compete, play hard, challenge your opponent, and play with the same in-tensity that you played throughout the game.” Q: You answered my next question in part. What happened on the offensive end would not have been as scrutinized had the defense stopped Dallas on its last possession. What does the defense need to do if you’re in that situation this week?Coughlin: “It ’s the same thing I was just telling you. Play the way you played the game. There’s no reason to back off. The running back (Lance Dunbar) had basically two checkdowns that took them from the minus-28 (yard line) to the plus-32 (on the first two plays of the decid-ing drive). Two plays in a row. You tackle the back for a five-yard gain, and they ’re at the 38 and the ball is in bounds and the clock is running. If they ’re going to check the ball down to beat you, you better make the tackle in a reasonable amount of yardage. Lay on the ball carrier, do all the things that you do when the other team doesn’t have any timeouts. You’re put in a mode where you know what you’re defending. They had to have a touchdown, I under-stand that part of it. But it ’s got to be more competitive just as you play. You certainly don’t give up the big play,

but you compete more intensely for the underneath stuff, so that ’s not what beats you.” Q: Eli Manning seems to have almost a unique ability to be able to shed things, good or bad, and go onto the next task. Do you see that in him and have you seen that this week?Coughlin: “I’ve seen it in him many times before. It ’s a discipline, just like anything else is a discipline. He’s bet-ter at it than most, to be honest with you. He’s probably better at it than I am. The term that I use, you know what it is, it ’s remorse for opportunity lost. Wow. We’re on the road opening against a divisional champion. We give our-selves what amounts to be two defensive touchdowns, and we don’t win. Plus-three (turnover differential) and you don’t win, that ’s rare, very rare. The offensive team is not scoring touchdowns. Taking care of the ball and scoring touchdowns, that ’s our job, however you define it.”

Q: You said immediately after the game to the players and a few minutes later to the media, “This is on me, this loss is my fault.” In your opinion, how important an attribute is accountability for a head coach?Coughlin: “Credibility is all important, and you’re not go-ing to be credible unless you can be honest. And the honest thing to do, you’ve got to understand where responsibility starts, and if in fact the responsibility is violated, I’m the guy that ’s in charge. I’m the guy that is responsible, that ’s all there is to it.” Q: You’ve said a few times you’d like to see the ball thrown down the field more often. Is that one of the harder facets of an offense to develop?Coughlin: “The defense has got to give it to you, first of all. You just don’t throw it down the field. But you do want to have opportunities where you stretch the field a little bit, because it ’s really a strategic part of the game. If you don’t do that, sooner or later, even the most disciplined defensive back is not going to respect any kind of depth in your route. They ’re going to start sitting all over the underneath stuff. So you have to have a better combination.” Q: You had five players last week that made their NFL de-buts: Ereck Flowers, Landon Collins, Uani ‘Unga, Geremy Davis and Nikita Whitlock. In your experience, once these guys get past the excitement and jitters of their first game, is there a noticeable improvement the following week?Coughlin: “You’re going to see improvement. You’re going to see, hopefully, steady improvement. I don’t think you’re going to see any major, drastic change, but you’re going to see steady improvement. That ’s what you train for.”

THE COUGHLIN CORNER

Q: If you had said at the start of training camp that ‘Unga was going to be your opening night middle linebacker and he would have 12 tackles, you would have received some sharp questions. When did he start really catching your eye and what did he do to catch your eye?Coughlin: “First of all, he impressed on special teams. And then he began to impress from down and distance. When the opportunity allowed him to play, he handled it pretty well. Did some good things. He is athletic, he can run, he is physical, he does have size. So those are all good ingredients. The fact that we were in the pre-dicament we were in, hoping that (Jon) Beason could play, but really not a lot of medical backing behind it, it was just a natural move that he would start. That ’s what he was here for. He did a good job. He was on the spot, he tackled well. It was a great experience for all those young guys to be in that environment, and play in a game of that nature, and play reasonably well.” Q: When you go into an environment like that in an opening game are you concerned how the newcomers will react to it?Coughlin: “Well, you talk about it. You also add all the ingredients that take away from that - you’re playing in the division, you’re playing against a good football team. Our overall responsibilities and training have got to trust you to go out and play. For the most part, that takes place.” Q: Are you going to have season captains this year?Coughlin: “We have season captains. Eli, Beason, and Zak (DeOssie).”

Q: And you’re going to add more on a per-game basis?Coughlin: “Maybe one. But I added two the other day (Cullen Jenkins and Mark Herzlich) because Beason’s not out there.” Q: This week you play the Atlanta Falcons. Watching them the other night, it ’s obvious they like to move Julio Jones all over the formation to try and create mismatches.Coughlin: “They throw their of crosses, a lot of play-action. They ran the ball 35 times, and threw it 35 times. So obviously balance is a real important factor for them. Last time Matt Ryan was here (a year ago), he threw it 50 times. Obviously, stopping the run is going to be a huge factor.” Q: Dan Quinn, their new head coach, was the defensive coordinator in Seattle. You faced the Seahawks each of the last two seasons. What are the characteristics of a Dan Quinn defense?

Coughlin: “Physical. They lure you into believing - and they do, they play fundamentally sound football. Their techniques are played very, very well. They have nine de-fensive linemen that dress, so they constantly roll people in there, and they ’re fresh. They play with outstanding corners. The safeties are good football players. Nor-mally you see (Ricardo) Allen back 15 yards deep, and (William) Moore is going to man the line of scrimmage and react to what personnel grouping you have on the field. So they ’re disciplined, they ’re physical, they run to the ball very well, they ’re opportunistic. They do more within the concept of how they play than you think they do. That ’s where you’ve got to prepare yourself, because not everything that you see in the first game is inclusive on what they bring to the table, as they advance their defensive scheme. So you do have some thoughts about what Jacksonville (whose head coach, Gus Bradley, pre-ceded Quinn as Seattle’s D-coordinator) has done for a couple years, with regard to how we’ve played them. Then, Seattle themselves, you watch that tape, too.” Q: Devin Hester has not practiced because of a toe injury, so the Falcons might be without their best return special-ist. But is Matt Bosher, their punter and kickoff specialist, a weapon himself, with his ability to flip the field?Coughlin: “Both of them are, (kicker Matt) Bryant and Bosher. Bosher punts the ball, of course last week was indoors, but 57.8 (gross average), followed by a 51.5 net. There’s no doubt he’s a weapon, strong-legged. It ’s like last week, in that dome in Dallas. You’ve got the same thing here, you’ve got a guy who kicks it out of the end zone six out of six times.”



Q: The players are probably hearing all the negative feedback after two close losses. How important is it for you to stay positive and upbeat?Coughlin: “Well, it is. And I’m fighting the same battle, I really am. I don’t read anything and I don’t like that. I don’t like being someone who really doesn’t know what’s happening in the world, but I’ve decided that I don’t want to be affected by what’s being said on the outside. So I really don’t care for that. But I continue. I suppose I tell our players the facts and then I encourage them, and I always look at the things - for example last weekend - when have you seen special teams numbers like that before? Not while I’ve been here. I can’t remember. I’m excited about that part of it. And the fact that there were some good things, 17 unanswered points and so on and so forth. In the long run, 75 percent of the games in the National Football League are seven points or less in the fourth quarter. The games are won in the fourth quarter, or lost. In our case, we haven’t put together a formula to win. We’ve been there, last week, fourth-and-two, we got a penalty (for illegal motion). When is that penalty ever called? But nevertheless, it ’s called, so we kick a field goal. There’s the four points at the end of the game. And then on the other end, we’re going to go up 27-10. We’ve got a guy wide open, there isn’t anybody even close to him. Never sees him, then gets hit from behind and the ball comes out, they get it, and we don’t even get a field goal there. If you get that field goal, you come down and you’ve got your one-point difference, you’re already on the 50 (yard line on the Giants’ final possession). For all practical purposes, you have to get to the 32 and you have a shot instead of a touchdown. But it didn’t happen, so we’re back scratching our heads.

“You’re right, they ’re young men, they ’re bombarded. They ’re out in the world a hell of a lot more than I am. They leave here, I don’t leave here, so I don’t have to listen to that stuff. I would like to shield them, but I can’t, it ’s the world we live in. And they understand it, they really do. But everything that happens of a negative na-ture, unless they ’re really strong, provides that little bit of invisible shield about coming fully together. It ’s going to take coming fully together, because we’re a team that really - we’ve had one turnover in two weeks. We’re plus-three in the opener and still found a way to lose it. I’m

just praying that the lightbulb comes on, that they start to play good, sound football. I had 18 critical plays last week, 18. I tell people most of the time, five in a game. We had 18 of them, 18 plays that could have, one way or another, made a difference in the outcome of the game for us. It ’s got to stop. It ’s got to happen. We’re at mid-field with 1:02 to play and two timeouts, and we have to win the football game. Just move the ball down the field. That ’s so frustrating.”

Q: You often talk about finishing. Is that something that, collectively, a group of players has to learn to do?Coughlin: “They do. You know what the problem is, it happens all of a sudden, and then they get it. But until it happens, the positive reinforcement is critical, so criti-cal. Until it happens, it ’s just verbiage again. But I really don’t like all those things that are associated with los-ing in the fourth quarter in terms of the quality of the men. The quality of the men is very good. Sometimes we certainly don’t play to that level, but nevertheless, some-thing good needs to happen here.”

Q: You talked about in the league 75 percent of games are decided in the fourth quarter. Do you think teams are more evenly matched now than they ’ve ever been? It just seems like so many games come down to the wire now.Coughlin: “Well, I don’t know about that. I think we’ve pretty much always been that way. Very few teams have extensive leads going into the fourth quarter, I guess maybe New England last weekend, but the majority of them are not that way. What do I see? I see around the league, just like any place else, strengths and weak-nesses, strengths and weaknesses. So you’ve got to utilize your strengths to the fullest of your ability and you have to somehow use your strengths to help mask or brighten your weak spots.”

Q: You’ve scored two touchdowns in eight green zone op-portunities this season. I would imagine that has been very frustrating.Coughlin: “Yes, it has. But remember, the fourth-and-two was a green zone play, that ends up a penalty. That stat, they were three-for-three, we were one-for-four. That tells it.”

Q: For whatever reason the decision was made to release Preston Parker, it was made. Does that get the attention of the players?Coughlin: “Everybody wants to know that. The message is you have to perform, you’re here for a reason. The reason is very specific. If the reason you are here is not being fulfilled, then the question becomes, what are we here

THE COUGHLIN CORNER

for? So the message is loud and clear: You have a job, you have to do the job. That ’s part of it, and the other part, we felt we needed a defensive lineman. We’ve got guys that are nicked and can’t play, especially in a short week.”

Q: Middle linebacker Jon Beason is going to make his season debut against Washington. What will he bring to the defense?Coughlin: “Energy, enthusiasm, I hope confidence. De-fensively, we have to challenge our opponent. Offen-sively, have to use all of our talents. Rueben (Randle) has to get involved. We got (Shane) Vereen involved, but we have to get Rueben involved. We’re obviously going to be using Dwayne (Harris) more, and the young kid (rookie Geremy Davis) will get a chance. He’s the fourth one, that ’s all there is.”

Q: I’m not judging how well he played, but does Jus-tin Pugh’s ability to play any spot on the offensive line make him a modern day David Diehl? You can move him around when and where needed?Coughlin: “Yes. We were obviously able to practice that way the week before, so it was good that he had some of those reps. He played left tackle in college. It was good. He played against an exceptional rusher (Vic Beasley Jr.) when he was playing over there.”

Q: Preparing for a Thursday night game presents unique challenges. Did you accomplish everything you needed to get done?Coughlin: “You do, but it ’s like a shoehorn with a size less than what fits your foot. You’ve got to cram it in there. So we even use (game day) morning for a couple of things they will hear for the first time. But we do get it all in.”

Q: Washington is different than most teams in the pass-happy NFL, because it likes to run, run, run. And this year, they have not one, but two backs running the ball effectively. Coughlin: “They do, and they ’re darn good, too. It ’s the way to play. They ’re almost 38 minutes time of posses-sion, 37 rushes a game. Their defense is playing 52-55 plays a game. They ’re doing very well with it. They ’ve played really well against two good teams, and even in the Rams game, they scored 24 points as well. But the quarterback (Kirk Cousins) has really taken full advan-

tage of this. He’s at 75.9 completion percentage, he’s playing well.”

Q: They have a new defensive coordinator (Joe Barry) and a very disruptive scheme. (Linebacker) Ryan Ker-rigan has the most impressive numbers. When you look at tape of them, does he jump out to you?Coughlin: “Yes, but it ’s not just him. He’s playing very well with (Jason) Hatcher and (Trent) Murphy and those two linebackers on the inside, (Keenan) Robin-son and (Perry) Reilly (Jr.) Those guys are all play-ing very, very well. The thing of it is, you’re talking about a team that ’s fourth against the run and second against the pass. So they ’ve really done a nice job of taking care of all matters. Let ’s face it, they ’re 10-10 in the fourth quarter, and a punt return is the differ-ence in the game they lost to Miami (in the opener).”



Q: What would it do for the team’s confidence and psy-chology if you are able to get to 2-2 after a 0-2 start?Coughlin: “Obviously, it keeps us in the hunt. It would be a great thing to build on. You hope to not be disrupted once you start to get going. But the key thing is, we have to keep improving and playing better. That ’s the whole key. Some things are being done well, and some things aren’t being done well. But the fact of the matter is, in our league, 75 percent of the games are decided in the fourth quarter. They either end up with a two-minute drill on offense or a two-minute drill on defense, and we’ve got to get better in those areas to expect to be able to fin-ish these games against very good people we’re playing.”

Q: You’ve been pretty candid about the need to finish better and about the need to rush the ball better. Do they go hand-in-hand? Particularly last week, you had the four-minute drill and had a chance to close out a game. Do they go together?Coughlin: “They do. But the other message that I’m try-ing to tell people, people that think they know football, you’re going to have to look hard. It ’s very rare when somebody just puts it on the ground and finishes, very rare. At some point you have to throw the ball to keep the ball. When you do that, you’re obviously trying to do something as safe as you can, but you do have to throw it and you’ve got to catch it. And you have to put it into play. We threw the ball on third-and-10. That was me. You make a first down there, it ’s two minutes, you kneel, and the game is over. They don’t ever touch the ball again. It ’s always a part of the psychology or the thinking involved.” Q: You have to make the play there.Coughlin: “You have to make the play. Well, you don’t want to be third-and-10. How about two runs make two yards, at least? I mean, come on. We had an opportunity for that, too. I didn’t think at the end of the game we were sticking it up in there the way we should have.” Q: Each of the last two weeks you’ve won the coin toss and deferred. Have you changed your philosophy at all on that?

Coughlin: “The percentages two weeks ago (against

Atlanta) were overwhelmingly in favor of deferring at home. The percentage was 65 percent, I think, of people who deferred at home and won the weekend before. I told my team, perhaps it was an anomaly. I told my staff it will come back. Most of the time, it ’s 48-52 percent, something like that. Well, it did come back, but I still de-ferred. And the reason I deferred is that it made great sense for us. If you remember, we had 17 unanswered points before and after the half we scored in a game that we should have won. But, theoretically, if you could plot it to score before the half and to have the ball coming out at the half, that ’s what you want.” Q: Do you think when you defer and you stop the op-position and force them to punt with that first posses-sion that ’s almost as big as taking the ball and getting a touchdown?Coughlin: “No, but it nevertheless reinforces why you do it. That ’s what the whole idea is, stop them, get the ball back. A lot of times it isn’t great field position, but you’ve got the ball back. So now it ’s just like taking the kickoff and you’re hoping you have an opportunity to return af-ter the half.” Q: You’ve always preached the importance of turnovers, but the past two years you had negative differentials. This year, you’re plus-five. Has the light gone on? Are they getting the message?Coughlin: “Well, they always get the message. It ’s the ability to go out on the field and act it out by significance. So what it is we’ve got? I’ll tell you exactly what it is, we were talking about it today. Off of six takeaways, we have 31 points, 5.2 points per takeaway. That ’s huge. And we’re second in the league with that.

“We’ve put the ball on the ground and got it back. Buf-falo has been plus-three in (each of) their two wins and minus-one in their loss. They threw three picks and New England fumbled twice, they stripped (Tom) Brady at the right time of the game. (Defensive end Jerry) Hughes got Brady, knocked the ball out. Gave them the football at the middle of the field. To continue to take care of the ball is very significant as we look at taking the ball away and converting it into points.” Q: You’re second in the league stopping the run, but 32nd against the pass. Do you think because you’re doing such a good job stopping the run, they ’re going to pass?Coughlin: “Buffalo? No, they ’re going to run the ball. They ’re going to run. They want to run, they want to play action pass, they want to move the quarterback, they want to bootleg. They started the game last week with

THE COUGHLIN CORNER

two bootlegs for good plays. That ’s what they want to do. They ’re going to try and pound it. What they do is they pop up and throw the deep ball, he (quarterback Tyrod Taylor) is good at the deep ball. If it ’s a rhythmic throw, he’s right on the money. That ’s where they balance it off. And their third downs aren’t bad. They had a pretty good game last week third down-wise (converting seven of 13 opportunities).” Q: In your coaching career, have you had a player like Nikita Whitlock, who you can play at both fullback and defensive tackle?Coughlin: “No.” Q: How is he able, at 240 pounds, to go against offensive linemen that outweigh him by 80 pounds?Coughlin: “He doesn’t come down the middle. He’s got to get on the edge. He’s a dynamo. He gets on the edge and he causes problems that way. And he’s very energized. He continues to come.” Q: What prompted you to put him in there at defensive tackle?Coughlin: “Because he played defensive line in college, that ’s what he was. And then when he got to the pro game, he obviously made his mark on special teams. We brought him here, I don’t even know if he was a fullback before he came here, but that was the position suited for him, I thought. We kept him up in camp with rushing the passer, that kind of thing. We have a few plays for him every game.” Q: A guy like that who can do so many things, he saves you a roster spot.Coughlin: “Valuable guy. That was the intent. That is the reason he is here.” Q: Several of the players were noticeably disappointed yesterday when Victor Cruz had to leave practice. Do you think that will affect them going forward?Coughlin: “I hope not. We’ve played an awful lot of games without him. It ’s not what you want to have hap-pen. And it ’s a great lesson for everybody. I was asked before practice on Wednesday, ‘How many snaps will he get in the game?’ My response was, let ’s see him practice first.

“Monday, he was running around out there catching the ball not at 100 percent speed but at 80-85. On Wednes-day, he runs three routes against air; nobody was on him, nobody pushing on him, nobody banging around, nothing.”

Q: You alluded to Tyrod Taylor. He never started in four years in Baltimore, now he’s running Buffalo’s offense very efficiently. What do you see in him that has en-abled him to be so effective?Coughlin: “He’s a good player, he’s a good athlete. He’s done a very good job. He’s part of that rushing game that they have that ’s number one in the league. He pulls it down and runs or he runs the option, and he’s good at it. He’s got a strong arm. He’s been ac-curate, 74 percent, that ’s not bad.” Q: Is their defensive front as good as you’ll see this year?Coughlin: “I think so. They ’re very good, they have a nice combination. They have guys that have played a while and guys that have been in there for a little bit and are tasting it. They are a team that has led the league in sacks two years in a row. So, yeah, they ’re good.”



Q: After the first two games your approach with the play-ers was designed to keep their confidence up. How does that change now that you’ve won two in a row and you’re playing better?Coughlin: “You’re trying to raise the entire level of what you’re doing in terms of your preparation, your effort. The games come along, your execution has to be much better than it was a couple weeks ago. It has to continue to grow and develop. So the approach is obvious. If you think about the phrase we’ve been using – ‘So what? Now what?’ - it applies to whatever last week was, it ’s over. Now the idea is to keep going, to continue, to develop, to embrace any challenge that comes your way. And they ’re all very specific, but they ’re all very different.” Q: After the game in Buffalo, you talked about the team’s grit and you said it was the team you expected. This may not be your most talented team, but in terms of effort and attentiveness and work ethic, is this a good team?Coughlin: “We’re trying to identify who we are. I think those attributes that you saw last weekend are very much what you’d like them to be. A team that ’s well-prepared, that ’s very physical, that has the ability to go on the road into a hostile environment with great electricity and re-main focused on why we’re there. To go out right away in a game of that stature and compete, to not be slow to get started or slow to get underway, but to go and compete and play and be physical - and actually address the game the way it was built up and we talked about how the game would go, and to have it that way. Those were all good signs. But it ’s week-to-week. We’ll see how that goes. We’re not very far into this thing. A quarter of the way through, let ’s see what happens here.”

Q: I read a stat this week that 962 penalties have been accepted this season, the highest total through four weeks since 1970. There were 28 penalties in your game last week – most of them Buffalo’s – the most ever in a game you coached. Do you have to tell the players this is the way they ’re calling games now, and that they must be mindful of that?Coughlin: “Yes. We’re trying to be abreast of everything. For example, today I went over the four or five rules that affected last week’s game for us, and one rule that ’s

affected the whole league following the Seattle-Detroit game. We talked about the downfield version of screens, we talked about the press position at the line of scrim-mage. So we’re very mindful of that. You have to keep going, keep hammering the rules. Hammer the rules as you know them, as they are written.”

Q: During pregame warmups, you always meet with the referee and a couple of other officials. Is that just to say hello, or does the referee say to you, “Is there something you want me to watch?” Coughlin: “In the locker room you, that ’s when the of-ficials come to you, whether you’re away or home. You’re on the road, you get the head linesman. So they come in, and you talk to them and you give them all the informa-tion, the captains and all that stuff - who’s got the (chal-lenge) flag, who’s in charge of the sideline, all of that stuff. Then they ask you a few questions. ‘Do you have unbalanced formations? Do you go no-huddle? Do you have any gadget plays? Do you have an onside kick in mind right away?’ And then when that ’s done, you start to tell them what you see. I gather information through the course of the week, but I’ll reaffirm it on Saturday night. ‘Special teams, do you have anything for the officials? Defense, offense?’ And then I give it to them.” Q: So what does happen in that on-field meeting with the referee?Coughlin: “The referee comes over and he does say ‘Hello,’ and ‘Nice to see you,’ and all that business. You might mention something, and he’ll say, ‘We’ll watch for that. I’ll come to you on the sideline with anything I need. I’ll look to you for the kicking violation. If there’s msomething I think we need to discuss, I’ll wait until the proper timeout, I’ll come over to you. If you need to come down to me down there when the ball is in the green zone or down on the goal line, come down. Do you have anything else?’ I tell them, ‘I just spent the last half hour giving everything to the guys that were inside.’ And they laugh. That ’s it.”

Q: Last week was really your first different experience with the new extra point distance (Josh Brown missed a 38-yard try after a false start penalty). There have been more extra points missed this season than all of last year. You preferred to keep it at the old distance. Have you changed your opinion at all?Coughlin: “Not yet. I’ll wait and see the weather change, then I’ll change. I will say that until we made the two-point play (in the fourth quarter), don’t think I wasn’t nervous about the differential.”

THE COUGHLIN CORNER

Q: Is Kerry Wynn a much-improved player over last year?Coughlin: “He’s a good football player and he works very, very hard at his game. He’s there all the time. There’s a lot to be said for that at this level.”

Q: He’s an undrafted player from Richmond. Is Wynn another example that you just never know where you’re going to find players?Coughlin: “You never know. You never know what shape or form they ’re in. I’m telling you, it ’s the guys after you take your last draft pick that are there. If you re-ally know a lot about them, many times you don’t, you know size and the scouts might know them, but they ’re real important, they really are. Those college free agents that you bring in, if they compete for a job, you’re so far ahead, honest to God. You’ve added more guys who can compete. And Kerry Wynn is a great example of that.”

Q: Brad Wing leads the NFL with 12 punts inside the 20 without a touchback. Is that the kind of production you were looking for when you acquired him?Coughlin: “Thank you very much. Not only does he lead the NFL, we lead the NFL. We’ve only had four starts inside our 20. Our opponents have had 18. That ’s a big difference, a big field position impact.”

Q: Are you ever going to win a coin toss and take the ball again?Coughlin: “Probably not. Probably not, although you have to understand that everything in this game is so calculated. When you defer, what you really want to have happen is score at the end of the first half, score at the beginning of the third quarter. That ’s incredible how important that is.”

Q: So you go in knowing you are going to defer if you win the coin toss, but weather or something else could change your mind?Coughlin: “Oh, it might. I didn’t have to worry about that last week. Doesn’t look like I’ll worry about it on Sunday. Now they defer, too, everybody ’s doing it now.”

Q: You played the 49ers 11 months ago, and except for Colin Kaepernick and a few other players, it ’s a much different team.Coughlin: “They have a lot of new names, definitely.” Q: What do you see in this version of the 49ers?Coughlin: “The way they want to play, they want to run the ball, they want to play action pass, they want to put the quarterback on the perimeter. They want to do all those kinds of things. I thought the Arizona and

the Green Bay games were really interesting games to watch, because both of those teams dominated time of possession, 36.5 minutes to 23.5, 50 snaps is all San Francisco had. That ’s a great way to play. San Fran-cisco’s special teams are really good. Cover teams are outstanding. Seventh and 11th in the league in cover-age teams. The kid that they drafted (Bradley Pinion) kicks off and punts, he puts the ball out of the end zone 85 percent of the time. He’s the touchback leader in the league, 85 percent of his kickoffs are not returned.”



Q: This week, you’re in the same scenario we saw last year – a three-game winning streak, a 3-2 record, and a night game in Philadelphia. Can the team learn from last year?Coughlin: “Oh, sure, there’s lots of things you can learn. Each team is a different team, each situation is different. I don’t care, the records may be the same going in, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it ’s the same situation. You can learn a lot; you have to learn, you better learn. There’s a lot to be learned. We’ve been pounding away on that for the entire week.” Q: You talked repeatedly in the season’s first month about finishing strong. Last week, you had a great finish in the victory over San Francisco. Did you get over a hump by doing that?Coughlin: “Well, we finished the last couple of games, not exactly the way you’d want to in each of them. The significance of the one the other day was, obviously, the drama: no more timeouts, you’re there, you have to score a touchdown, you really can’t afford to throw the ball in the field of play because you’re going to get tackled and you’re going to have a hell of a time. You may get one more snap, but you’re really going to have to move to do it. The idea is to continue this pounding away to fin-ish and to recognize the strengths of the team that we’re playing. The issue this week, and I find myself always, always talking about their offensive team, but guess what? They have a good defensive team and they ’ve got 13 takeaways, they have eight forced fumbles. They do a heck of a job. Their front is outstanding, you can see the improvement all along the line. Their outside backers, it seems like we face these kinds of guys every week, 270 pounds, guys that are athletic enough to drop into cover-age. (Brandon) Graham and (Connor) Barwin, to drop and to be in coverage, you have to rush. In Barwin’s case, the number of batted balls. (Fletcher) Cox, the number of batted balls. So it seems like, ‘Wow, where do these guys come from?’ It ’s like the guy last week, (Tank) Carradine, holy smokes, give me a break.”

Q: The availability of several injured players was uncer-tain when you put together the game plan for Philadel-phia. How much more difficult is it to construct a plan when you’re not sure who you’re going to have?

Coughlin: “You can just imagine. Imagine what the de-fensive staff goes through looking at, ‘Okay, how many linebackers do we have,’ just for example. Who is go-ing to play? It ’s hard, believe me. This is why you say it, somewhere along in preseason I say the same thing every year, ‘Dear Lord, give us the team that we leave camp with. Let us play with these guys, let ’s see what we can do.’ Now, nobody does, obviously. Everybody gets in the same position, but that ’s why you take your hat off to people. You make the determination, ‘Hey, we’re going to take whoever we have available and we’re going to do the best job we possibly can with those guys, and we’re going to give them every chance to win.’ And that ’s what you have to do, because otherwise, you can’t constantly go up and down, up and down, up and down. It ’s a hard way to do it.”

Q: Your offense is ninth in the league in total yards, sev-enth in passing yards, seventh in points scored, and Eli Manning leads the league is passing attempts. Are you willing to sacrifice the balance you crave for the kind of production you’re getting? Or do you want to see more balance?Coughlin: “I definitely want more balance. I want more balance and I want more production.But again, within that, you’ve got to recognize your per-sonnel. It ’s a game of what-do-you-have and what-don’t-you-have? Nobody in this league has everything. I get upset sometimes with watching the tape, because there is more to this game than pass protecting. You have to be able to push them back sometimes. It would help us.” Q: So you want to get that running game going?Coughlin: “I want the run, I want to have the run. I just believe, I’ve always believed, you’re not going to have the success in the green zone that you think you’re going to have and you’re capable of having unless you run the ball. You have to be able to have the mix.”

Q: Eli has played all season, but the last two weeks he had interceptions that cost you points. I don’t know if “live with” is the right term regarding those intercep-tions, but do you like the aggressiveness, the taking chances or do you want to him to cut back a little bit?Coughlin: “No, no. Look, I trust the guy completely. We’re going to play an aggressive situation. Offensive team, you have 11 seconds on the clock, you’re going for the end zone, then you kick a field goal. It ’s just like the one the week before, ‘Hey you have seven, eight seconds to go, the ball is down inside the 10-yard line. You have one play. There’s a way to conservatively play that, but if we call something that we think is good, and particularly

THE COUGHLIN CORNER

in that situation, we had scored on a slant to Rueben (Randle). But if for any reason you don’t like it, it ’s points, points, points. I don’t see us changing the nature of the way in which - I direct the traffic. And hey, I would like a touchdown. If I don’t get the touchdown, I’ll take the field goal. Like the one at the half last week. There was no question we were going for the touchdown. If you don’t like it, you throw it away.” Q: Jayron Hosley was inactive for the last five games last year. He wasn’t injured, it was a coach’s decision. A lot of people kind of wondered if he was going to make the team this year. Now with Prince sidelined, he’s start-ing again. Did you say specifically to him in the offsea-son, “This is a big year for you, we need you to come through?” Coughlin: “We had plenty of talks along those lines. But it was mainly getting this kid back and getting him on the field and getting him on the field with consistency and in good health to be able to, quite frankly, see what he could do to contribute. He played well the game that he started (vs. Washington) and then he played well the next week on special teams. So his continued improve-ment is critical to moving forward.”

Q: Jay Bromley started at defensive tackle for the first time the other day. How did he do?Coughlin: “He’s a fighter. He gets in there and he battles and you love that in a kid. So he’s definitely improved. Naturally, has a ways to go, but he’ll get in there and he’ll battle you.”

Q: You see so many teams with kicker issues this season. Does Josh Brown give you a sense of security because of what he’s done over the last three years?Coughlin: “As long as he continues to line up. I’ve had my worries, but yeah, when you look at what he’s accom-plished and what he’s been able to do with field goals. You notice that we do have one extra point missed, which I was shocked at that, but everybody seems to have the same kind of deal.”

Q: The Eagles still play an up-tempo, no-huddle offense. Do you practice differently this week to get used to that tempo of them getting over the ball and going, getting over the ball and going?Coughlin: “You have to, you have to. You have to simu-late as best you can. Sometimes you wonder if even in simulation - I felt at times we’ve been able to go very fast because we’re on the practice field. Get the ball down, let ’s go. I think we can sometimes beat even what happens in the game. But all of a sudden when you get in that game, that game to me was very different over there last year versus at home. Over there, they ’re re-

ally fast. I don’t know what makes that condition so, but they are. So we’re trying to prepare as best we can for it.”

Q: You had mentioned their defense, but not their sec-ondary. They ’ve really revamped their secondary and the back of their defense is playing well, isn’t it?Coughlin: “The two safeties (Malcolm Jenkins and Walter Thurmond) are playing outstanding. Walter Thurmond has three interceptions. He looks very good back there, he’s skilled. And, of course Jen-kins, they ’ve always got one of those guys. You’re talk-ing about a hammer, there he is. Had one a few years ago (Brian Dawkins), this one falls right in line with that one. He’s the number one playmaker.”

Q: Darren Sproles scored on an 89-yard punt return this season. Where do you rank him among the dan-gerous return men in this league?Coughlin: “At the top. The guy is amazing. He’s still one of the, if not the most, electrifying members of their offensive team. Great in the screen game, very difficult to tackle. The one he returned 89 yards, he was pinned to the sideline. He’s some player.”

Clips, Transcripts & Coughlin Corner

Documents

Transcript of Clips, Transcripts & Coughlin Corner