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(opening remarks) “Good Morning. I thought I’d recognize the University of Indianapolis and the fine folks that work there for their hospitality and their preparation. The facility there for us to practice is outstanding. I know the NFL has been involved closely, and I know the field will be used for some needy school following our work here in preparation for the Super Bowl. The people there have been outstanding, the hospitality has been great, and the facility is an outstanding facility to practice in. Our players have adjusted very well to the routine, getting to the locker room facility. In fact, the weight room was heavily used following practice yesterday. Just an acknowledgment to the job they’ve done and the preparation for us here in order that are practices are good ones. Yesterday’s practice was an energetic one as you can imagine, and the players are excited. They’re excited by the sense and the feel of the festivities that are hyped by the media. What we’ve done is discussed is building that type of practice and that type of energy and level of execution as we go forward with today being a very big day for us.”

(on his philosophies about the coin flip) “I’m out of that one. We have our captains and they decide who’s going to make that call. We do keep track of who wins and losses, thank you very much. That’s basically up to the captains. We’ll make a decision going forward. I won’t say exactly what we’ll do, but you can check the record as to how we usually go.”

(on QB Eli Manning’s toughness in San Francisco) “He’s always displayed that. He’s been able to focus and he’s a tough guy, as you mentioned. He takes the hits and gets right back up. He’s not one of those who starts pointing fingers and yelling and screaming. I think our people know full well what their responsibilities are. We take care of him, he takes care of us - that type of thing, no question. His focus, pride, determination, the role he has chosen as the leader of our team, all those things are involved with the way in which he plays and how the team responds.”

(on Jacksonville Owner Wayne Weaver’s comments that he wished Coughlin would have stayed) “I don’t do hypotheticals, thanks. I appreciate what was said, and it was mentioned on a couple of occasions. I have great respect for Mr. Weaver. My time in Jacksonville was very, very important to my family and I. We cherished that time.”

(on how his mantra of ‘talk is cheap, play the game’ seems to differ from the Giants’ players approach) “I’m not sure you deny talking much in this atmosphere. We’re all supposed to cooperate, and quite frankly, I think that players today have an understanding of that. They do respond to most questions, and sometimes those questions aren’t worthy of an answer. I haven’t seen anything, and if there was anything that I would be upset about, then (Senior Vice President of Communications) Mr. (Pat) Hanlon would’ve informed me of that. I’ve seen some of the statements in the past where I’ve tried to corral the player and make him understand basically what significance that may have played or not played. The players have a pretty good idea of what we expect of them. We try to frown on anything that becomes bulletin board material. I think that, for the most part, they’ve done a pretty good job.”

(on how his win in Super Bowl XLII has molded him personally and professionally) “It’s a wonderful thing to have someone hand you that trophy, for sure, following a win. It does have a significant impact on your life and you going forward. You find out pretty quickly that the next offseason and the next season rolls around very quickly. What you try and do is build on that. You build on the confidence, you build on your team, and you challenge them to do that again. That usually keys when the media starts asking about your team and will they be complacent, et cetera. We’ve been through that before and we’ve had an opportunity to come back the following year with a very good football team we felt. Then, we had a couple of seasons where we weren’t quite what we anticipated. Now, to have that magnificent opportunity again only reinforces the deep feelings and the emotions that you do have, and the idea that it is so rare and difficult to get to this point that you have to try and share and cherish every moment.”


(on how different it is to be considered a favorite in the game instead of the underdog) “It’s still us against the world, and that’s how we play that, period. We’re in here and I’ve seen a lot of the stuff that’s been said in terms of where we are. We’re still the underdogs and we still have an awful lot to prove. As I said, talk is cheap, play the game. That’s exactly what it is. All of this has to be a part of that as well.”


(on DE Osi Umenyiora’s absence from media availability yesterday) “We weren’t pleased with that, but Osi will participate and be there today.”


(on whether he changes his professional approach with son-in-law RG Chris Snee) “Not at all. He wouldn’t want it any other way, and that’s never been an issue. I never think twice about it. We’ve been able to keep business, business, and family, family. He does a great job of making sure of that.”


(on RB Ahmad Bradshaw’s and LB Jacquain Williams’ participation in practice) “We’ll have to see about Ahmad. Certainly, the time off has helped him. He worked a little bit today earlier a week ago, and he’s worked two days early this week. We’ll see what his circumstance is today. Hopefully, he’ll get at least one more day in this week which I think really helps him to be able to practice and go through it himself and do it rather than just watch others and watch tape and try to visualize how he would’ve handled that. We were pleased with the way he worked yesterday and he seemed to be fine. He does have the issue and if there’s any question about it and how he comes back, today will be something we’ll be concerned with. I haven’t gotten any report of it, and I haven’t seen him. Jacquain did well. Jacquain went out and at first we tried to be reserved, but he did practice well and hopefully he will be able to do some more today.”


(on WR Hakeem Nicks’ development since leaving North Carolina) “He’s an extremely competitive young man and he’s powerful. He has more speed than people give him credit for. He’s just about as fast as anyone who’s chasing him. He competes for the ball as well as anybody I’ve ever been around. He’s worked hard refining the little details to his profession and trying to study and get better at what the opponent is trying to do to him. I think he’s made outstanding progress along those lines.”


(on how QB Eli Manning’s approach to games helps his teammates) “His tradition to grab…he has a meeting every week with the receivers following the Friday practice. At that point in time, he goes over things that he’s accumulated over the course of the week. He has a tape made, he cuts it up, and he decides how to implement what he wants and gives a part to the receiver in terms of what he’s looking for and what his expectations are. Then, he listens to the receivers while they talk in terms of what they felt they could or couldn’t do or what they should and shouldn’t have done. He does go through that. He starts early in the week and he goes through the tight ends and running backs, and talks protections. He’s involved with all groups throughout the course of the week and, of course, he’s very much involved with the offensive linemen. They enjoy his company, and they bust his chops and he likes it the other way around, too. He spends time with everyone over the course of the week and it’s almost all football.”


(on whether he has changed from when he began coaching) “I like new, but I’m looking for young…I don’t think so. There’s no question you change, and I’ve said it a thousand times, but you better work to improve year in and year out. You better have an ability to self-analyze, make it honest, try to adjust, and try to do the things that you think are necessary to make your presentation and your team respond better to you on a yearly basis. Probably the number one thing that I’ve done is I’ve kind of gotten better at being patient and picking my spots better rather than be automatically spontaneous.”


(on what it says about the Giants and Patriots to have the same two teams back in the Super Bowl four years later) “I think what it represents is on the part of these two franchises, the continuous search to improve, be better, find new players and better players as the game goes on. The stability, in fact, of the two organizations and how they’ve performed with the continuity and mantra that has been established for anyone who has worked in the Giants organization starting with the Mara and Tisch families going down through the general manager Jerry Reese, who does an outstanding job. I think it speaks to that, and it speaks to organizations that are committed to excellence and trying to be the best that we can be. To all the various functions within an organization, all having the same purpose and working toward the same end. Being able to accomplish that to a certain extent, as you mentioned a four-year basis, we’d like to do it yearly.”


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