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Giants Daily Quotes

Tom Coughlin


Good Morning. Nice to be here. Beautiful day. It's nice to get the team on the field, to get them all together, and to get the details worked out about scout squad, and so on and so forth. We got the practice squad guys integrated, do a few things like that,  just a little light workout. I have some administrative meetings here very shortly, and we move into tomorrow where there is just training room. Then, we're back Wednesday ready to go.

Q: Are you pretty set with this as your 53-man roster and 8-man practice squad?
A: This week it's 53, who knows after that?

Q: Where's Aaron Ross in his rehab?
A: He's getting better. The reports are good. They have some things they have to try and work out with him, in terms of his comfort level with the shoe. He's getting there.

Q: Expect him out on Wednesday?
A: I have no idea. We'll see.

Q: Is Shaun O'Hara good to go?
A: He worked today. We'll see what he's like tomorrow.

Q: Is Sage Rosenfels going to hold?
A: He's got to be ready. He's not the holder, but every one of these positions has to be backed up. He's the backup holder.

Q: One of the most interesting roster decisions you made was carrying two tight ends and not an obvious blocking tight end. Is that a concern?
A: Well, it is. Through the course of training camp, you have to shape your 53. When you go ahead and line up where you are and what your needs are, the numbers you need to have to go through the season. We just felt that right now, that's where we are. As you can see, there are two practice squad tight ends that are just an up-down away. Right now, they're our two guys. What's really important for us is if (Travis) Beckum can practice and stay out there. That's a big factor right now.

Q: You have some of your backup linemen working at tight end?
A: We have guys who can do that.

Q: Assuming Beckum is okay, does that change how you approach the offense at all?
A: No.  

Q: Is Darius Reynaud is a running back?
A: He is a receiver. He will take snaps as a receiver.

Q: Not as a running back?
A: No. Not unless we need him as a running back. He's played both.

Q: Is he the top guy at both return spots?
A: He is the punt returner for sure, and we'll see.

Q: The Andre Brown cut was a tough one:
A: Very tough, very tough. Same thing. It's a numbers thing and decisions have to be made with regard to numbers. We knew in more than one spot that there is risk involved. Unfortunately, Andre was claimed and we just wish him well, that's all. Decisions have to be made, and people always ask about whether it's tough, and yeah, it's tough. It better be. You hope it's tough. It better be tough.

Q: Was this cut day across the board one of the tougher ones for you?
A: You had to sit down and evaluate over the course of the preseason. It was tough in regard to some people, no doubt.

Q: Is Corey Webster's injury something that might linger?
A: We'll see.

Q: Pulled groin?
A: Got to have him back come Wednesday.

Q: He had it wrapped during the Pittsburgh game, was it something that has been going on for a while?
A: I think so.

Q: Any change with Phillip Dillard's hamstring?
A: No. Doesn't appear to be.

*

RB Darius Reynaud

Q: How'd you find out that you were coming here?
A: Friday night, during the first day of cuts, Rick Spielman from the Vikings called and said I had been traded to the Giants. It happened so fast that I'm still in shock.

Q: What'd you think immediately?
A: I didn't know anything. I got the phone call, and they said they'll fly me up the next day, and here I am.

Q: What have they told you that they want from you here?
A: Mainly special teams, punt return and kick return. They gave me a good look at the receiving end.

Q: Are you a receiver or a running back?
A: Anything they want me to play, I'll play it.

Q: How quickly do you have to get into what the Giants do on special teams?
A: Right away. It's totally different from what we are doing in Minnesota. The schemes are totally different. As soon as I got here, they gave me this book, and I've  been right at it ever since.

Q: Do you have more experience as a punt returner?
A: Yeah. I can do kick returns, but if you miss the first guy in punt returns then it's off to the races. I'm more comfortable doing that than kick returns.

Q: What'd you do at West Virginia?
A: I didn't do punt returns. I did mainly kick returns. When I got to Minnesota, they tried me at punt returns and I was good at it. Everything went well after that.

Q: Do you think you had a good spot on the team in Minnesota?
A: I thought I was good. I had a great preseason, all four games. I wasn't worried about anything until I got that phone call on Friday night when I was traded.

Q: Is it tough to leave? Good feeling to be wanted?
A: Being there two years, I got adjusted to the players and the coaches. My family was out there, my wife and my daughter. She was supposed to start school on Tuesday, so we had to adjust to that. As long as I'm still playing football, it's all good.

Q: Are they staying up there?
A: No, they're coming down here immediately.

Q: How much were you at the mercy of Percy Harvin's health?
A: If anything ever happened to Percy, I was his backup. I did punt returns, kick returns, anything they needed me to do.

Q: The Giants needed help on special teams, and then they go out and get a guy like you. There must be a lot of pressure on a guy like you coming in:
A: I kid you not, me and my wife were talking after the Denver game on Thursday. I said I had a good feeling that I'd be going to New York. I didn't know which team, but just New York. On Friday, they called me and told me I was traded to the Giants. I was kind of surprised, but I had a good feeling. I have no clue. My wife says to this day, 'I don't know why you were thinking about that and how this came about.' I had a good feeling.

Q: How much do you think you can contribute on offense?
A: A lot. It depends on how quick I can pick up the playbook. I've been reading it the past two days, so I'm picking it up really good right now.

Q: Do you think there is a shot that you get in at wide receiver Sunday?
A: Hopefully. It depends how fast I pick up everything.

Q: Could you be a third down back?
A: That's what they were going to do in Minnesota. Things weren't looking good with some of the guys they had there, and I was looking good in training camp and preseason. That's what my/their main goal was up there, third down back.

*

C Shaun O'Hara

Q: How did everything feel today?
A: Today felt good. It felt good on a number of different levels. Obviously being back out on the field and being out with the boys is always a good feeling. I thought it went well today, and it wasn't a rigorous practice by any means. It was just good to get out there to run around and sweat a little bit.

Q: Would you say the odds of you practicing Wednesday are good?
A: Yeah, that's the plan. The plan is to progress, move forward, and make sure we don't have any setbacks.

Q: Is the ankle more concerning than you thought it would be?
A: I don't know if I'd say more concerned, but I can definitely say it's been frustrating. It was something that at one point it'd feel like it was getting better, and then it would take a different turn without exactly knowing why. It just was frustrating not being able to practice, and going into my 11th year now, I haven't really had anything like this. It was tough every day not knowing how it was going to respond.

Q: When did you get the cast off?
A: I got the cast off last Wednesday, and I didn't feel great initially. Being in a cast for a week definitely makes it shift. With each day after that, it started getting better.

Q: Is this something that will linger? Do you think you could do something like Bradshaw and take a few practices off every week?A: Do you know who our coach is? Feel free to talk to Coach for me. I think we're going to have to monitor it, and it's definitely going to be one of those things that, if it does act up, what are we going to do during the week to try and take care of it. It's not going to be something that is miraculously going to be gone. I'm sure playing in a game, we'll really be able to see how it'll respond after a game. If that's what we have to do, I think I know the offense pretty well and if I have to rest it a little bit, I think I'm comfortable doing that. In my mind, I want to take every rep, and I don't want to miss out on anything during the week.

*

QB Sage Rosenfels

Q: How are you doing today?
A: I'm good. I'm excited to be here. Great team, great organization. I'm doing the best I can to learn this offense as quickly as possible, there's a lot. If I have to play, I have to be ready. There's no excuse to not be ready. I have to be in that playbook as much as I can, and that's pretty much what I'm doing. I'm in the playbook, I'm watching film, just trying to learn this thing as much as I can.

Q: What are your feelings on leaving Minnesota? Are you relieved at all?
A: I think you're just happy to know what the situation is going to be. Everything was up in the air for almost the whole time I was there, and I'm excited to be here and know where I'm going to be. The best thing is that I got traded to a team that has great history. Great history in the past and great history recently, that's pretty exciting.

Q: What are the similarities to anything you did in Minnesota?
A: There's always similarities in offenses as far as route combinations, and reads versus coverages. The verbiage is completely different than anything I've been in, and that's going to be the challenge. Basically, I'll be learning a foreign language. Trying to relate my old offenses to this offense, and as pass protection relates to pass protection in the old offense. Albeit there are always different rules and nuances to what a coordinator or o-line coach does. I'll do everything to make that foreign language to be my first language.

Q: Why do you think you're a good fit for this organization?
A: I feel like I can play. I think I can play in this league, and perform at a high level if the team needs me. I also know that I can be an asset to Eli, who is a tremendous player. He is a very experienced player. For a young guy, he's pretty experienced. There are different times when your play has to be good, and there are times where you have to be a helpful teammate. Everyone has a different seat on the bus, and sometimes you sit in the front, other times you sit in the back. When you sit in the front, you do the best job that you can. When you sit in the back, you take that role with a lot of class. I'm going to do what's best for this team.

Q: Do you go into a game saying "I need to know 50 percent of the plays" or "100 percent?" Do you wear a wristband with everything on it?
A: I'm going to do my best to know everything in the game plan. The playbook is pretty massive that they gave me. It's fairly obvious that all those plays won't be in every week's game plan. What I'm going to try and do is to get down to those hundred plays or anything that is in the game plan so that coach can call whatever he needs to call, and trust that I know what I'm doing. To get to that point, I really have to put in a lot of time. It's great to be in New York City, but I won't be seeing New York City for a few more weeks.

Q: After the way things went down with the Vikings, is there still any kind of frustration that you're not getting a chance to start somewhere?
A: I consider frustration to be a self-inflicted wound. I think a player chooses to be frustrated. Obviously, situations can cause that, but at the end of the day, a player is choosing to either be frustrated or motivated. I've always tried when in tough situations where some people, it might frustrate them, to motivate myself and to improve myself, and to get better for the next situation.

Q: What did you see from Darius Reynaud during the time in Minnesota?
A: He is very talented. My first season there last year, he was a receiver and he was more of a slot receiver. He is very strong, quick, and a very powerful player. When Percy Harvin took that role when they drafted him, they decided to shift him to tailback. They were looking for sort of a third down back this year because they lost Chester Taylor to free agency. He did a pretty good job of that. He does a very good job with the ball in his hands. I thought as a punt returner that he was one of the better ones since I had been in the league last year. It was very surprising to me that the team let him go because we got a lot of great drive starts last year because of his punt returns. I think he did some kickoff returns also. He's one of those players who may not fit a mold for an exact position, but he's a football player and an exciting kid to watch.

Q: Where do you fit with establishing your personality with the offense?
A: I think the only thing I can really do is work hard. I think you have to prove to the guys that you're a hard worker. I think a quarterback has to earn respect by the way they work and the way they carry themselves. That's what I try to do.

Stay tuned to Giants.com for more player quotes... 


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