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Transcript: Coach Tom Coughlin

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A:  He bumped his shoulder, it's sore; you see him go back in and then hit it again.  It is a reoccurring type thing.  I think he has enough time now, hopefully, to get over that.

Q:  He had shoulder problems last year. Is it a chronic condition?

A:  He had something like that last year, I think, but I don't know if I would say chronic.

Q: Is it popping out again?

A:  No.

Q:  Bradshaw. After last week, he didn't have many touches yesterday. Is it difficult to make sure all three runners get the ball enough?

A:  Well, we tried even earlier.  But it didn't turn out to be that kind of game, as you see.  We did end up rushing for some yards, but they were tough yards; it was uphill yardage.  We did try to do some of that.  It will work different ways in different games.  And I try to tell you this every time: there is no exact formula other than to play all three of those guys.  But sometimes it doesn't work out exactly the way you want it to.  And the game sometimes dictates that as well.

RE:  changing running backs based on the feel of the game and gut instinct

A:  Well, there is.  And it is not that they are not doing that well.  It is just that you have opportunities to do some different things.  They aren't necessarily plays assigned to each guy, but there are certain things that each one of them brings to the table that you may feel is the time to go ahead and try to exploit them.

Q:  Was Derrick Ward's running style more conducive against Bengals' defense?

A:  As it turned out, I think there were probably four or five plays difference between the number of snaps that Brandon had and the number of snaps that Derrick ended up having.  I don't know that the style --- he did end up having some nice runs.

Q:  This team has demonstrated an uncanny ability to play well when its back is against the wall. At 3-0, why do you feel this team is capable of handling prosperity with two weeks to think about it?

A:  Because they have done it.  It is just a good thing that we won.  Because these kinds of things can send the right message; the same message that you preach all of the time.  Which is, in every game in this league, the potential is there for someone to beat someone else.  And there is no question about that.  It has been driven home over and over and over.  And it is, in fact --- we played hard.  The effort was there.  It is just that some of the things that we have done very, very well we didn't do quite as well yesterday.  And as I said, you have to give the Bengals some credit for that as well.  Now the thing that you started to say, which I did want to make a good point because I think it is important - with our players we talk about, let's just slow down a little bit now and look at this tape and see the things that weren't done as well as we can do them and improve on them, because we do have the opportunity right now. And hopefully that is what will happen.  We did take a lot of time with the tape today and we aren't going on the field for corrections but we wanted to spend a lot of time with each group looking at the tape. We held the entire offense and defense together for any number of snaps so that we could make some very strong points before we even broke into the position stuff.

Q:  Is one of the keys to your offensive success in crunch time just having more options?

A:  I think that is part of it.  One of the keys is that you have a team that has been in that situation before and has performed in that kind of pressure.  And you always feel like, if the opportunity is there - we are going to take advantage of it.  We are going to go out, whatever the objective may be, however difficult it might be, we are going to go out in those pressure situations, very close game, late in the game, and we are going to make something happen that gives us a chance to win.  And I think that is part of it.  And there is any number of people that we can get involved if you are talking just offense or defense as well.  And certainly that is a plus. 

Q:  Are you surprised you have 13 sacks in three games?

A:  I don't know that I'm surprised.  I think at the end of the game yesterday I was kind of surprised at the number of sacks.  A lot of them came was a little bit earlier on.  But no, not that we have them.  I think you have people that can be productive and rush the passer.  And we have a nice scheme that can find a way to get some people singled up in certain situations.  And I think that is a good thing as well.

Q:  Tuck said the pressure on the quarterback was not as consistent as it needs to be yesterday.

A:  Well, they did a pretty good job of keeping both backs in and being able to hold off the seven-man rushes. And the ball came out very quick yesterday as well.  No, it wasn't to say that, but there were times when the pressure was good and the ball came out.

Q:  Are you surprised at your lack of takeaways?

A:  We went into the game thinking that that would be one of the keys, would be, if we didn't turn it over --- and we didn't turn it over two weeks in a row --- we haven't had a turnover.  But we didn't get any.  We had our hands on a couple of balls.  It is something that we want to continue to urge, but want to keep it in perspective as well.  We need the turnovers, we need the field position.  There was one where Corey (Webster) knocked the ball out of the quarterback's hand.  The ball was right at our feet.  If you just take that one turnover right there, or take the punt return and put the ball at the 39-yard line that costs us 33 yards with the penalty.  Those are the kinds of things that really jump start you.  You come into it with a little bit shorter field, and so on and so forth.  So moving forward you need those kinds of things.  It is kind of like watching --- I saw a little bit a couple of weeks ago in Green Bay and Detroit and Green Bay runs a couple of interceptions in.  But those kinds of things give you a chance to have the kind of field position that maybe it is a little bit shorter distance.

Q:  Is that something that is contagious or something you practice?

A:  We practice it.  You have seen us practice.  We have practiced some form of taking the ball away every day.  And it is strip drills, the quarterback pressure drills, interception drills, blitz drills.  They are all designed to do that.  And I really do believe that if we can get started in that vein, I think it will be more of a factor for us.  Right now we haven't had any.

Q:  At the end of the first half did you consider challenging Plaxico's catch?

A:  We tried, but the upstairs people did not have anything to go on.  I just felt like that if I get real good evidence and I'm told that there is a legitimate chance that it would happen, and they say upstairs that it can be overturned, and then I go for it.  It just wasn't the case yesterday.

Q:  Did the coaches tape show you anything else?

A:  The coaches tape, no.  I couldn't tell.  The game tape shot from the angle that we have you can see one foot in, but you can't see the other.

Q:  How about Toomer's catch in overtime.

A:  That was both feet in.

Q:  How do you think Kevin Boss' game has come along and where would you like him to improve?

A:  I think we got the tight end involved in the pass game yesterday.  He is a weapon.  There is no question about that.  It is a continuous --- trying to evolve the entire game and some of the releases need to continuously be worked on.  And some of the blocking assignments need to be worked on.

Q:  Is there a chance a defense can become sack-happy and ignore other things?

A:  No, a lot of it has to do with the call; how the calls are made and when they are made.  I think that if you are asking about the run, the run in the first half hurt us.  Fortunately we played the run a little better in the second half.  But they hurt us with the run, no question.

Q:  Amani Toomer said you guys went back to basics at the end of regulation with the hurryup and in overtime. Is there a danger that you get too complex offensively?

A:  There is no hurryup in the overtime.  You do what you have to do.  You take the weapons in that you have to take in.  They have done a good job with understanding the majority of that stuff.  Sometimes you naturally have a number --- we have a number for every situation that we work with.  And we game plan that way.  I don't think that has a lot to do with it.  Some of the things that are called maybe were put in the first day of training camp.  That is the only thing.  The guys have a great understanding of some things more than others.  As we go forward, hopefully we will have a great understanding of everything.

Q:  Has there been any explanation by league about why your team seems to always have an early bye, with the exception of last season when you played in London?

A:  I have not. But I would like that you would look into that for me.  While you are at it, try to figure out why everyone else in our division is in a little different situation.

Q:  Are you looking forward to answering questions for two weeks about this team being 4-15 after a bye week?

A:  Whatever you want to ask.  I may not be able to come up with the answer.

Re:  Bend and don't break defense at end of game?

A:  I don't know - there were sometimes when we played coverage in other circumstances might have been --- but the result was good.  Are you talking about the field goal at the end?

Q: Yes.

A:  It was, no doubt -- the fact that they marched the ball was not good. But the fact that we --- twice they were inside the five and we held them to field goals.  That is the thing on the day after when we won that I say first and then we will go back and talk about the other things.  It may have been, but you know what, you are going to have to play coverage some.  It is not all about rushing and bringing five, six or seven.  You are going to have to learn to play coverage, too.  As I say, three games have been played.  We are 3-0.  We are where we wanted to be when this thing started.  We do have a lot of things to improve upon.  So be it.  Every one in the league is in the same position that way.

Q:  Normal bye week for you?

A:  We will make it into that.  In other words we take the three games and we do our own self scout, study our self.  Then we take what I call 'worst to best' which flipped over from last season.  And we study those aspects of it.  And then we take the best teams in the league at those aspects of worst to best, which might be third down; it might be red zone, something like that.  And then we go ahead and get some advance work done on the next opponent or on our division, depending what the amount of time that we have is.

Q:  Three games is a small sample, though.

A Yeah, but we also have our offseason study to compare it to.  So if the numbers are close, we think we are probably in the right ball park.

Q:  The NFC East is 10-2. Is it as tough as it seems?

A:  Absolutely.  You anticipated that in the offseason.  I know you all talked about it, wrote about it.  And it is true.  It is an extremely, extremely difficult, competitive NFC East.  And to me it has always been that way.

Q:  Is Eli's ability to rally the team late in games a personal attribute?

A:  It really is; sure it is. No question.  To be able to be in a position where you just want the ball in his hands at the end of the game if the game is on the line.  It is something that he has demonstrated the ability to do very well with. 

Q: Does that change coaching decisions?

A:  It goes whatever the score is; whatever is needed.  Sometimes you are in a position where you have enough points on the board and you are trying to get the clock to run.  So it depends on the circumstances.

RE:  John Carney.

A:  John Carney has done a superb job.  He has done everything we have asked him to do.  And I think since he has been here he has won a couple of game balls in three games.  So he has just been outstanding.  We have to assess every bit of where we are, look at our roster, see what needs to be done and improved upon.  But without a doubt. until we are completely convinced that Lawrence is ready to go and is right where he should be and would be...if other than kicking in game situation he has progressed to the point where we think he should be, that would be the time to make the call.  And I would say right now that is the not the time.

Q:  Has Lawrence kicked kickoffs yet?

A:  He has.  He went through an entire routine the other day.

Q:  What is it like to have two veteran kickers around like Carney and Jeff Feagles?

A:  It is good, it is very good.  Both of our guys are extremely professional.  And both are very much into the game, very smart about the game.  And I mean more than just the kicking part of it --- field position, awareness.  They are both very, very good; very good for a locker room.