Postgame Tom Coughlin
Q: Opening remarks
A: We did some decent things in the first half. The two interceptions and the long kickoff return but our defense played solid football. The turnover thing hurt us and the kick returns hurt us. We mishandled some punts tonight which we really haven't been doing and that's unfortunate. We got stopped on the goal line and obviously that was very, very unfortunate. We didn't play very well with our twos at all. I didn't think they played well at all and they are getting as many reps as everybody else. There has to be some improvement there no doubt. I thought we had some real chances and didn't finish anything obviously offensively but we have some work to do no doubt. There were some positives in the first half and a lot of yards but no points.
Q: What happened on Eli Manning's two interceptions?
A: The first one was a blitz and we didn't get a sight adjustment by either the tight end or the Z. Unfortunately there was no time for him to do anything about it and he threw the ball and it was picked off. The second one, I don't think he saw the linebacker at all.
Q: What should he do next time?
A: I would prefer him throw the ball away.
Q: Should he have thrown it away the first time?
A: There is really not a lot of time. The only thing he could do is throw the ball into the ground or near somebody or just take it down. When it is a pressure situation like that, where you are being blitzed, you have an issue and it is very difficult because it's strictly a timing thing. The receiver is supposed to make a break. The quarterback is supposed to be confident in where they are going to be. They blew it, they didn't make the proper break and he threw the ball because he was about to go down. I mean, you could talk all day about that one. If you ride it down, you've created a very bad down and distance sequence. On the other hand, you'd rather have it than the turnover. It's easier said than done.
Q:…secondary coverage?
A: I was happy with the way the defense played, to be honest with you. Again, the field position was ours pretty much all of the first quarter. I'll bet we had field position far away in the first quarter; didn't have anything to show for it. We got down there, and then ran out of gas, made a play here or there, missed a throw, so that hurt. Even coming out in the third quarter we were fine. We had them backed up there after we didn't make it on the goal-line, the fourth down play. They created some field position for themselves with the very good punt in that situation. Our offense started to bring it back down--the second group--that's probably the best thing they did; but again-- no score.
Q: Are you concerned about how Eli has looked this preseason?
A: I'm not concerned. Would I have liked to have done better? Yeah. I'd like to think that we would have put some points on the board. Until tonight, he's been very good with the ball; very conservative with the ball. Our running game starts to come around, so you look at that as a positive against a very good defense. A lot of eight-man front looks that we did end up running the ball into. I think from that standpoint, we can take full advantage of--I hope--our play action game, which we did tonight. Whenever we were in a play-action we did well. The interception did not come in that situation.
Q: Are you inclined to try Domenik Hixon as your punt returner?
A: Well, we try to do the best we can during the preseason to stay away from that, because of the obvious. I don't want to jeopardize. I want his confidence to be there when he goes back. I'm sure he'd tell you he's ready to do it, but obviously we're going to have to re-think that a little bit.
Q: The little Jacobs scuffle, and then Deon Grant taking a penalty…?
A: Yeah, it's not good football. I didn't really see either one. You don't want it. One of their players is out, one of our players is out. You can't lose your cool, which is the message, really. When you do, you're going to pay the consequences. We got a penalty. We didn't have to have a penalty, and we get two players ejected from the game--one of theirs, one of ours.
Q: How are Kiwanuka and Tuck?
A: How do you know? I don't know. He's got a groin, so we'll have to see. Tuck says he's fine.
Q: How do you prepare for New England in a couple days?
A: We've got to go to work tomorrow and the next day. It won't be much more than jog -throughs, but we'll do that. We'll do what we have to do.
Q: Do you expect Eli to play Thursday?
A: We'll see about all of that stuff. That's all after I look at the tape. We'll see.
Q: Is it tough having to reduce your roster after a game like tonight, then having to make cuts?
A: It doesn't help.
Postgame QB Eli Manning
Q: What is your assessment of the two interceptions you threw tonight?
A: One was fourth down. Had a good blitz on and tried to hang in there and wait for Victor [Cruz] to open up. It just took a little longer than expected, but one of those deals. You don't want to throw it away or take a sack in that situation. Tried to time it out and it looks like the ball may have floated on me a little bit.
The next one, they had a good blitz on again. Tried to back-shoulder Ahmad [Bradshaw], but the linebacker played it pretty well. That one's on me. Just have to throw it away, make a better decision right there.
Q: There was a third down play - Victor Cruz over the middle, just a little high on that one. What did you see on that play?
A: They were playing two-man and he was the read. I just put a little too much mustard on it. Tried to lead it out in front and just overthrew him, just by a touch. Those are some of the things we need to clean up and just get on the same page. We have a little time to do it. We did a lot of good things tonight. I thought me moved the ball well. I thought guys made some plays. There are just enough things that are keeping us from finishing drives and putting points on the board. It's just little things, but those things can add up. That's what we have to continue to work on and get better on. That's what preseason is for, to learn those. You have new guys in there, but we can work all of that out.
Q: Are you okay with going into the season with no touchdown passes in the preseason?
A: Yeah, I'm fine. No one ever counts how many touchdown passes you've thrown in preseason. It's one of those where you're on limited scouting time and you're out there running plays. We had some opportunities, there were some big plays out there - a fade to Mario [Manningham], a go-route to Mario that we missed on. We just have to get sharp on those things and the touchdowns will come.
Q: Are you seeing stuff you may have been able to fix in the offseason?
A: No, I don't think so. We've had practices and we've had a training camp to go over things. Some of these guys are veterans. I think it's just a matter of keep practicing, make sure everybody's on the same page with things, go over things. When you get into a regular week, you have a lot of time to game plan, know exactly what to expect, what you're getting. Right now, in a sense, not a whole lot of time to prepare and study, get your exact reads. You're
Postgame DE Justin Tuck
Q: Based on Coach [Tom] Coughlin's interest in the conditioning of the team and his plan to play the starters into the third quarter, on this mild and cool night, could you tell how the conditioning was? Because this was the furthest you guys have gone.
A: This was sort of a perfect storm, I guess, as far as a player playing into the third quarter of the pre-season. I don't necessarily know that we saw what we wanted to conditioning-wise considering the elements, but I still feel as though it was good work and it allowed us to practice some things as far as our first time coming out after halftime and seeing how we hold up and I think we did pretty good.
Q: This is sort of the dress rehearsal being the third preseason game, with one more game coming up, how ready do you feel this defense is?
A: I think we're pretty ready. Considering the injuries we've had and the guys we've brought in and things of that nature, I feel as though we're flying around, and we showed some great things. Once we get to game planning a team like we will, watching them, for that first game, you'll see us really get a whole lot more comfortable with our schemes, and fly around. That's the only thing I ask from my defenses, no matter what the call is, just make sure you're running fast and I think in preseason we've done that.
Q: Are you ok?
A: Yeah, Ronnie Barnes didn't want me to break another fingernail, so he pulled me out.
Q: They said it was a burner?
A: Fingernail.
Q: Fingernail in the back of the head?
A: (Laughs) No, I got a little burner and I'm fine.
Q: They checked the x-rays and everything and you're fine?
A: Yup. Good to go.
Q: Were you happy with the way the defense played for the most part?
A: Yeah. I like to see them get out there with that stand there on that long kick-off and hold them at least to a field goal try. I think we played pretty good, that's a good offense they've got, they have a pretty decent offensive line, a great running game and an up and coming quarterback, you know, good weapons. So I think we did an OK job but you always go in and you watch the film and you see things that you need corrected, but I'm still pretty happy with our performance tonight.
Q: The guy wearing number 17 didn't catch any balls tonight.
A: Well, that's a good thing, especially for us, you know? You know Plaxico [Burress], he's going to have a big year for them and I'm just glad to have our corners go up and get some work against a guy like that. You know 6'5 guy, you don't get a lot of work in practice against a guy like that and they were up for the challenge.
Q: Are you worried about Eli [Manning] and the passing game?
A: I'm not. I'm really not. Eli's one of those guys, he's harder on himself than anyone else is going to be on him and he'll learn from this, but that's a good defense man. We drove the ball well, but the turnovers, they will kill you. He knows that better than anybody, but I'm not worried about it, I know he's going to come to play when we kick the season off and he's going to be one of the reasons that we have a great year.
Postgame Safety Antrel Rolle
Q: It looked like the only pass they threw your way was the one to Santonio Holmes?
A: Yeah. I tried to put my hands in there as much as I can. With the receiver, if you disrupt the route, it throws off the timing. I think that's definitely my strength when you're talking about press-man coverage. I just try to play with consistency. I tried to make sure I was on the same page with my defense, making sure I knew all my key assignments and adjustments.
Q: First week without Terrell Thomas. Missing Bruce Johnson too. How do you gauge the progress the secondary made?
A: For the most part, I think we're solid. We have a lot of things to work on, a lot of things to learn. I think our major adjustment is knowing how to communicate and understand adjustments on the run. The young guys, they've been thrown in the fire pretty fast. There's no doubt about it, they're going to get it. It's just a matter of more repetitions. Once things are cut down, they get more reps and we'll be more focused and focus on things we need to focus on.
Q: I know it's preseason, but the game looked a little chippy. Looked like you guys were in midseason form in terms of intensity.
A: Definitely. When you go out there any game you play has to be all or nothing. Doesn't matter if it's preseason or regular season. You want to go in there and give it your all, evaluate yourself at the end of the day.
Q: How comfortable are you getting in that slot spot?
A: It's my first week at it. It's going to take a little while to get comfortable at it. Nickel is nothing new to my game. I've been playing it pretty much my entire career. Just to get back in the groove and the feel of things and understand my assignments and adjustments and make sure I'm on the same page as my team. I'll be good.
Giants Players Quotes
Zak DeOssie
On the special teams:
It's important to keep in mind it's the preseason. We have the young kids out there and we're trying to learn it. It's the preseason and we have to learn from it. The way we played last week and the way we played this week, it's up and down and we have to be more consistent than that.
On the 70 yard kickoff return:
Nobody tackled him. We have to do a much better job tackling on specials.
Bear Pascoe
On the redzone offense:
We had a downhill play called and they stacked it inside. They just shut off all the gaps. They just kind of piled everything up in there and we didn't get the movement that we needed. We need to sit down and watch film and fix our mistakes and get ready for New England.
On the Jets defense:
Go look at the numbers. They didn't really slow us down any. We still had tons of first downs, tons of yards but we just made mistakes that hurt ourselves. It wasn't anything that they were doing. In critical situations we made a few mistakes that hindered us and that is on us. We will fix that tomorrow.
David Baas
On the offense:
There are a lot of things that happened but there are a lot of things that we need to correct. We were moving the ball up and down and we made plays that basically stopped drives. If you don't score points, you're not going to win. It's a points game.
We have to correct some things. We really slowed ourselves down. That is basically the point right there. We were moving the ball and doing some good things. There are some good things to take away from this game. We have to learn from it and move on. It's frustrating because we did some good things but we just didn't score points.
Jonathan Goff
On the Jets offense:
They did get field position on their first score. But our job is to stop them and get the ball back and not allow any points. Even though it is preseason you want to go out there and put your best foot forward. We had some good plays and some bad plays but you still want to go out there and be as constructive as possible.
I have mixed feelings because we did some really good things out there but we didn't win the game.
Kenny Phillips
On the defense:
I think we did a solid job. We kept them out of the end zone for the most part. But we still can get better. We did give up a big play on special teams. It wasn't really a back breaker but it did set them up and when we go out there we are playing three sides of the ball. Sometimes we have their back and sometimes they have our back. Unfortunately they had a good play and we should have had their backs and unfortunately we gave up a touchdown.
It's the preseason and of course you want to win every game but there were a lot of positives from this week and a lot of positives from last week. We're just going to keep building.
D. J. Ware
On the offense:
We just have to find a way to score. We moved the ball fairly well and they couldn't stop us but we killed ourselves. We had a couple penalties and a couple interceptions but other than that we played pretty good. The offensive line blocked pretty good and the running backs picked up the blitzes. The receivers ran good routes and they were open. It was just one of those things that we have to find a way to put points on the board. We didn't do that.
On the redzone:
It's a "dog" every time you get down there, some days you win and some days you don't. We have to try to get more consistent on winning. We didn't do that today so we are going to go back and look at it tomorrow and try to figure out a way to get in that end zone.
Postgame CB Aaron Ross
Q: How did you feel covering Plaxico Burress, your former teammate?
A: Myself and Corey [Webster] are really good friends with Plaxico [Burress], but when we get on the field it's time to go to business.
Q: Have you been satisfied with the defense's performance during the preseason?
A: I think we are doing pretty well so far. The coaches put in a really good game plan for us and we are executing the plays. The guys feel really confident about what's going on and hopefully we can carry this on into the regular season.
Q: Do you think you showed tonight that you're ready to fill the hole at cornerback?
A: I don't know, did I? I hope so. We will watch film and see how coach responds to it.
Q: What were your thoughts on Plaxico's performance?
A: He didn't get too many balls thrown his way this time, but I am pretty sure that as the season goes on him and [Mark] Sanchez will get on the same page and start to make plays together. I mean he's just a great player. I know he still has it in him, he showed it in his first preseason game. Like I said, our coaches did a great job in calling the right defense for us to keep the ball out of his hands.
Postgame RB Brandon Jacobs
Q: What did you think of the offense's performance tonight? Are you guys close to being ready?
A: We're close, I mean we have just got to get a few things knocked out, you know the little mistakes we made during the game. Like I said, it's not like they stopped us. Everyone could see, everyone in the stadium, everyone watching on TV, they could not stop us, we stopped ourselves. Not taking anything away from them, they are a good football team, good coaching, it's just that we can do better.
Q: How do you think David Baas has been playing?
A: I think he's playing well. I think he's right where he wants to be. He's got one more week of this preseason stuff and then it gets real. He's a veteran. You know, football doesn't change, the moves are all the same. It's a copycat league and I think Baas is going to be alright.
Q: Did you like what you saw from the running game?
A: No question about it. I think we are running the ball really well now. I just think that when we get down to the green area we've got to do a better job at finishing.
Postgame WR Hakeem Nicks
Q: Do you feel like the passing game is not where it needs to be at this point, and do you think it will be there by the last preseason game?
A: We are going to be fine this season.
Q: Talk about those first couple of series when you guys failed to score, and the offense got pretty close but couldn't get it in the end zone.
A: We've really just got to finish. We've got to do a better job at finishing. We failed at some aspects of the game tonight. We still have to go back and watch the film and see where things went wrong.
Q: Are you happy with the performance tonight?
A: I think we still need to get better and start scoring, but I thought we put together some good drives and with time those things are going to come.