The reason Robert Griffin III won the Heisman Trophy and was the second overall pick in this year's draft is his rare combination of talents in both passing and running.
So rare that the Giants have two men on the job simulating the rookie in preparation for the Washington Redskins this week.
Meet David Carr, the arm.
Meet Jerrel Jernigan, the legs.
"How do you do it?" Coughlin said Wednesday, repeating a question about replicating Griffin's speed in practice. "You do the best you can. We have two or three guys that can hopefully do it. David Carr is slick enough to do it, and quick enough to do it, and give us that look. Jerrel Jernigan has given us a few plays over there last week, and the week before."
This is nothing new for the Giants or teams around the league. Just last week, the Giants did the same for backup quarterback and wildcat specialist Colin Kaepernick of San Francisco. Two weeks before that, it was Michael Vick of the Eagles, and a week before that, it was Carolina's Cam Newton. And so on and so forth.
But each week presents a new challenge as the Giants prepare for a quarterback that has thrown for 1,343 yards this season and rushed for another 379, including a 76-yard touchdown last week in the Redskins' win over the Vikings.
"I feel like I'm a little bit faster than him," Carr joked after Wednesday's practice. "I know that he's young, he's got a long road ahead of him, but I've been running for a long time. No, it's fun though. I've said this before, it's fun to kind of simulate those guys. We did it last week with San Francisco, and it worked out pretty good. Defense had a great week. So hopefully we'll do the same thing."
While Carr himself has rushed 302 times for 1,331 yards in his 11-year career, he's only "RGMinus-V" according to his teammates.
"They've used a lot," Carr said of the nicknames thrown his way. "But we'll leave that one out there."
Meanwhile, Jernigan's speed is no joking matter. Neither is his quarterbacking.
The second-year pro was a dual-threat prospect out of Eufaula High School in Alabama before splitting time at wide receiver and under center during his record career at Troy.
"Anytime it was third-and-1, third-and-2, fourth-and-1, I was going in," said Jernigan about playing at Troy, where he saw action at quarterback, H-Back, split end, slot receiver, punt returner and kick returner. "I'm used to it."
Jernigan went on to say it felt good to be back running the option again, even if it was for scouting purposes.
"A lot of them were talking to me today out there, and me, Osi [Umenyiora] and [Justin] Tuck were having fun joking around with it," Jernigan said. "They were like I wasn't that fast to get around the edge on them. I told them I would show them or whatever, but I'm doing pretty good at it."
As for the passing, there's a reason Jernigan was drafted in the third round by the Giants in 2011 as a wide receiver.
"It's no surprise when JJ comes in we're not going to throw the ball," Carr said. "He might have attempted a pass, but I'm not really sure how it worked out."
