Transcripts

Quotes: Coach Joe Judge, WR Kadarius Toney, DL Dexter Lawrence

Oct 15, 2021 at 05:30 AM

Giants.com

Head Coach Joe Judge

Opening Statement: Thanks to the people who are the hard-working crew. The weekend didn't start early, so I appreciate you coming out today. We'll just jump right into questions and anything you guys have got, start firing away.

Q: Is (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones) going to be a full participant today?

A: He will be. So today we'll have to simulate some contact for where he's at in the process and he'll have a doctor's appointment later today with the independent doctor and that'll be the final step.

Q: Sorry, you said the final step is later today with the independent doctor?

A: Correct.

Q: So everything's on track for him starting Sunday at this point it appears?

A: It appears. But he's got to get through a couple more steps.

Q: What about some of your other injured guys? We asked you yesterday about (Wide Receiver Darius) Slayton and (Wide Receiver Sterling) Shepard and you wanted to see how they went through it. How are you feeling about them?

A: I thought both guys had a decent day yesterday. We'll see them go out here again today and make the final decision on all those guys as far as ruling guys officially out after practice today, but I thought both guys made positive steps yesterday in terms of having a chance to play this weekend.

Q: How about (Tackle) Andrew (Thomas)?

A: I think he's in the same boat as those guys right there. Obviously, he's a little bit different because he dressed out last week for the game. We thought he was obviously well enough last week to play at least in a limited role. He's gotten better throughout this week, so we'll see how he moves today in practice and see where it's going to put him in terms of what we expect out of him on Sunday.

Q: If he doesn't play, how do you determine which side you put (Tackle) Nate (Solder) or (Tackle) Matt (Peart) because obviously you switched Nate from right to left last week. How do you determine that?

A: We just go ahead and roll it on through. All three are good to play either side right there. So, we just kind of play them based on where we think the matchups are and what's best for that player and best for the team each week. But all three guys can play right and left.

Q: With Daniel, is it strictly kind of a medical thing with what the doctors say or do you kind of go by what your eye and say, 'are we bringing this guy back too quickly?' How does that all work?

A: Specific to this decision right here, look, there's a lot of doctors that have a job to do and I'm going to go ahead and let the doctors do their job before we have any further discussions. To me, it's more of a medical decision right here in terms of can you put him on the field, and can they play and stay healthy?

Q: (Guard Ben) Bredeson we saw was limited yesterday. I'm not sure of the nature of his hand injury, but is this something he can play through? Do you think there is a possibility?

A: There is a possibility. There is a possibility. He had a good day of practice for us yesterday. He'll go through today. There's obviously – if you have an injury with whatever body part, you've got to test that body part out to make sure you can get to Sunday and be effective. He's got another day right here today of going out and seeing how he does.

Q: It sounds like when he tested it out yesterday, he did OK with it?

A: I'd say that's fair to say.

Q: Given how kind of scary that looked with Daniel kind of wobbling around last week, if he is able to be cleared and play, it certainly didn't seem to look that good just watching last week. Can you just speak to how critical that would be for you if you can get him back out on the field without having him miss a game and what that would do to the morale of the guys?

A: I don't think it plays into anything of the morale. I think we just want to make sure we have all of our players available to play in the game. Obviously, Daniel is a critical part of this team. He's done a good job. He's improved consistently throughout his time here. He's obviously playing at a high level for us right now. He's doing a lot of things to facilitate the offense. He has great command of the line of scrimmage. This guy does a lot of things in terms of making plays, extending plays. He's made plays with his legs, with his arm. I can continue to see this guy progressing within his craft, his profession. So in terms of getting him on the field, our goal is to have all of our players at the game and have everybody healthy. At this point right here, we're encouraged and that's the way the steps and the process is going with him, and we're hopeful we'll have him out there.

Q: You've said all along since you became a coach here, you trust in the medical opinions of every injury. Obviously, in the concussion protocol, there's another layer to all this. The trust in the medical part of it, is that how you have to handle this situation with Daniel and not your feelings as far as what you may have seen during practice and if he's cleared, he's cleared? Or is there another layer to it because of the concussion?

A: I think you've got to make a clear distinction of what everybody's job is and what their role is in the team. The doctors, the medical staff – they have a very clear job in terms of getting our players healthy and determining their health and availability for the game. If I get involved one way or the other with an emotional decision, that's not always going to be the right decision. It may be a situation where I know we really need a player and I want to get him on the field, but medically, that may not be the right decision. It may be a situation where I think maybe this guy is not ready to play, but if I've got every expert and doctor and trainer saying, 'this guy's fully cleared to play, Joe. He's not at risk of getting hurt again. He's fine', I've got to trust those opinions. I know that I'm not a doctor. I know I've got to trust the opinion of the guys that have done a lot more education and research and practice in that field. I've got to listen to what they say. Look, with me, there's one simple question I always ask whenever anybody has an injury: is this dealing with pain or can he get hurt worse? If it's an injury risk, that's a different issue. If it's dealing with pain with different issues, then that's up to the player to a degree. Can they go out there and manage the pain? But it's not up to me to determine whether someone can or can't get hurt worse. I've got to listen to the opinions of the experts.

Q: Obviously, one of his weapons is his legs and the way he moves. He kind of led with his head last week. Can you speak to how you've seen him get better avoiding bad hits like that? And did you think he made a bad decision?

A: I'm not going to go into specifically on that exact play. I would say in terms of the technique we teach our players, in terms of taking on contact, whether you're delivering a blow as a tackler, you're shedding a block, you're initiating contact as a blocker or you're running the ball, we always want our eyes up and we want to lead with the shoulder. So there's drills we've done through training camp to train that and build that in. There's things we do and emphasize. That's something we want to teach everybody. Now look, realistically, that doesn't happen 100 percent of the time. It just doesn't. But that's why we have film, and we have meetings, and we correct those things. We work the fundamentals in practice. We always want to make sure we push into that. In terms of how he's gotten safer with running, yeah, I think that there was obviously a very clear jump between the first game of the year and the second game of the year this year. Daniel's a very competitive player. He's always looking to go ahead and get that extra yard. I think there's an element with Daniel where he doesn't want the guys to see him slide and step out of bounds because he wants them to know that he's in it with them. He wants to go out there and he's a part of contact. You saw Daniel come out here the other day in full pads and he wasn't participating. He doesn't want to do something different than the rest of the team. What we've had to explain to him is, there's a time and a place for that and there's also a time and a place to protect the team by sliding, getting out of bounds and making the right decision. That's not always the easiest thing for a competitor to hear. That's something you just have to teach them as a coach and keep on harping on it and pressing on it. I think he's done a really good job of making those decisions and really being productive with his legs and still getting out of bounds, sliding at the right time, doing what he has to do for the team.

Q: On defense, do you have to think about kicking the green dot back to (Defensive Back) Logan (Ryan) or is that something (Linebacker) Tae (Crowder) can handle?

A: Tae can definitely handle it. No, Tae can definitely handle it. We practice this way, whether it's all through training camp, whether it's the spring when they're here, whether it's throughout the practice within the week. This week, we had green dots on Tae, (Linebacker) Reggie (Ragland) and Logan for the game. They're the three declared green dots we have for every game. So every week, we'll practice all three of those guys. Now, that may be as simple as get Tae out of there for a couple of reps and get Reggie in there and call it. Or if they're in there with two other linebackers or Logan's in there with two other linebackers, Logan calls it. So we'll make sure we work all three of those guys making the calls and making the adjustments. Ideally, you want the linebackers upfront to do it just because of the nature of when a play happens and guys are spread all out and they're walking back, you really want that linebacker in front so you can talk to the front and then get the message to the back end. Now, it's not that you can't do it with the secondary, we've done that before here and other places as well. A lot of teams do that. I'd say specifically with us, dealing with Tae, he's very capable of it. He's worked very hard at it. He's done a good job. When (Linebacker) Blake (Martinez) went down in the Atlanta game, you really saw this guy immediately raise his level of play. We went down the next week in New Orleans, obviously it's a very loud atmosphere, a lot of external factors you've got to deal with, and he did a terrific job through that game of getting everyone on the same page. He's done a really good job through practice this week obviously simulating a lot of things the Rams are going to bring us in terms of tempo and multiples and motions and things of that nature. He's done a really good job preparing for it. You hear him in the meetings prepare that way and it carries onto the field.

Q: Is the plan to activate (Linebacker) Cam Brown for this game?

A: He has a chance to be. He's had a good week of practice. We're going to go ahead and see how the final roster shakes out in terms of after today and make some decisions in terms of the different positions and how he would factor in. Look, he's a guy that played at a very high level for us last year through training camp. We lost him early in the season. This is an opportunity to get him back. We want to make sure that if we get him back, we can get him back and keep him back. It's a little bit about watching and monitoring how he's done throughout practice. We also brought him out here on Tuesday in the week to put him through some rehab and make sure that he was good to put on the field Wednesday. He obviously passed that mark. We went out there Wednesday, it was a lighter practice for us or a shorter practice for us in the morning. Yesterday was a heavier practice for the team, so we'll kind of see how he responds from yesterday and see where it goes into this weekend. But he has a chance.

Q: When you saw what (Wide Receiver) Kadarius (Toney) was able to do in the game last Sunday. Do you guys come back here and erase the white board? Does that give you excitement to create more for him, seeing that he can handle it in a game?

A: I don't think it cancels out anything previously you've done as an offense, but I think what it does do is, as with any new player, especially a young player, demonstrates the level of trust he has, you start putting more on his plate. To me, one of the biggest plays he's made for me as a coach is when we called the reverse pass in New Orleans that he pulled up on. It's key to see a young guy like that make the right decision because you go into the game and you say, 'Hey, it's going to be great if we hit this pass. This is going to be a big play for us.' What you have to also consider is what if they hang out and cover? What if the coverage adjusts to pick that guy up, which they did. Do they make the right decision? Actually, that play came up in Friday practice exactly the way it came up in the game. He made the right decision in Friday practice. I asked (Offensive Coordinator) Jason (Garrett), I said 'Jason, do you want to get that play going any other way?' and he said, 'No, I think we're fine. We'll be okay with that. We've already hit it earlier in the week.' So, alright, let's move onto the next one right there. Sure enough, we go to the game on Sunday and exactly what happened, he makes the right decision again. When you see a guy that makes those right decisions, it gives you more trust to say, 'alright, give him some more on his plate.' And when he does more of that, we'll give him some more of that.

Q: Have you gotten him in the quarterback room at all this week?

A: No.

Q: Not yet?

A: No. (laughs)

Wide Receiver Kadarius Toney

Q: What's this last week been like? Everybody's been singing your praise now, kind of a big change from three or four weeks ago it seems like.

A: It's been the same for me, I come in every day and work. You know, put it all out there.

Q: Has this been one of the stranger weeks you've had? You played great in the game, but also had that incident you'd like to have back. Was that one of the weirder games and weirder weeks that you've had coming out?

A: No. Nobody really made anything out of it but the media. At the end of the day, we're just ready for the next game. We've got to get ready for the L.A. Rams. We're going to play them in 48 hours, so that's pretty much everybody's focus right now. We're not worried about the past.

Q: Looking forward to this game, what have your teammates told you about (Rams Cornerback) Jalen Ramsey, a guy you've not gone against and a really good corner, but also kind of a pest?

A: There's not really much they've really got to say. I grew up – not grew up, but the past year I've known about Ramsey myself, so it isn't really a lot that they had to tell me already.

Q: Can he cover you?

A: It's football, everybody has their on-plays and off-plays. It's equal when you step on the field.

Q: Do you go into a game aware when a guy like that is going to try and get under your skin? Particularly because you're younger and obviously the incident last week, so he's probably going to try to feed off of that. He's that kind of player generally. Do you go in with a mentality that you're not going to let him get under your skin? What's your mindset going up against a guy like that, an agitator?

A: My mindset is always positive. If that's what he wants to do, then that's just what he's going to do. If he's going to try – I mean, you can always attempt, but you can't always get the result that you want out of it. Like I said, it was a learning process last week, so you shouldn't expect anything like that from me.

Q: How much do you expect him to try that?

A: I really don't know. I can't control what anybody else does. It's not a game, so I really don't know.

Q: When a guy does talk a lot of trash on the field, do you find it better to just say nothing?

A: No, I'm a silent assassin. I don't talk to nobody on the field.

Q: Serious question: when you're healthy, has there ever been a corner who has locked you down? Like going back to Florida or high school?

A: I played quarterback up until I got to Florida, but there's always great competition out there, so I mean there isn't anybody that's locked me up or anybody that I haven't been able to get open on. It's always been 50-50, no matter who I played against. Everybody has their up-plays and their down-plays and stuff like that.

Q: So, if a guy talks a lot of trash to you, you don't respond generally?

A: Yeah. If I wasn't here and we were talking, I probably wouldn't talk to you either. (laughs)

Q: My wife says the same thing. How does that work? Does that kind of shut that guy down or does he keep going? Does it frustrate him when you don't respond?

A: Typically, a person would probably get mad, but that's just the person I am. I'm not going to talk to you regardless. If I don't have to talk to you, I'm not going to talk to you.

Q: There's a moment when (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones) had to go off on the cart. I don't know if you realized it late or what, but you sprinted from the sideline to make sure you said something to him. What was that all about?

A: That's my brother. That's my dog. At the end of the day, if he's hurt, I'm hurt. That really kind of made me go harder, just knowing that he wasn't able to do what he'll normally do, like contribute as much as he can, just put another chip on my shoulder. I already came in with one and that just added another one. Had to go check on my brother. At the end of the day, we're all for one, one for all.

Q: It looked kind of scary, he was wobbling and stuff. At that point, it would've been hard to imagine maybe he's going to play this week. Now, it looks like he may go play. What would it mean to you guys to have him back so quickly after what you saw last week?

A: It would mean a lot. He's basically going to put the team on his shoulders at times, so that's always encouraging when a guy like that is able to step back out there on the field and contribute as much as he can.

Q: What is exciting about when they give you the ball in your hands as a quarterback, whether it's wildcat or in New Orleans when they gave you a chance to throw? How is that different for you as a playmaker than catching the ball down the field?

A: I would say it's all football to me. I played quarterback, so I'm used to having the ball in my hands and having to make decisions and stuff like that. It's not much of a big deal to me, it's just what I do.

Q: How important will it be to be able to get Daniel back if he does get cleared and he can play?

A: That's pivotal in a lot of ways, but at the end of the day we still have guys that can step up. Daniel, he makes sure everybody's prepared no matter if he's playing or he's not playing. Even when he was concussed, he came up to me right after. When I'd see in him in the locker room, he'd say, 'Hey, you good?' or whatever situation it was, trying to always be that person that he's always been, no matter if he's able to be in the position or not.

Q: If you are sat down at all at the start of this game, how do you plan to approach that mentally compared to a normal game?

A: At the end of the day, I'm just playing my role. At the end of the day, I'm not this or that. I was able to go out there and showcase what I can do, but at the end of the day I'm still the rookie. There's still a lot that I have to learn, a lot of stuff that I have to overcome.

Defensive Lineman Dexter Lawrence

Q: Before the season, I think I asked you something about the d-line being one of the deepest positions and if you guys have to lead the way, and you said, 'The team will go the way we go, we need to lead the way.' Do you think you guys as a group are doing that to this point?

A: Clearly not. We're 1-4, so we know that we have to step it up. We know that we have to bring more energy, more leadership, just to execute, type of thing. We always put that pressure on us as a front to go out there and just lead. Just go out there and show, 'Okay, we're playing for each other. We're going to try to do this to get everybody going.' We know that we have to do more.

Q: Why do you think guys aren't getting more pass rush pressure?

A: Teams typically don't pass too much when you're playing from behind. That's obviously the goal to try to stop the run first. We obviously haven't done that well, so teams are going to keep running if they think they can run it. So, we've got to do better stopping the run.

Q: You brought it up, I think to have 201 and 170 were the rushing totals over the last couple of weeks, how crazy is that to see?

A: It's wicked. You don't want to see that, especially as a d-line you don't want to see that. Like I said, we have to step it up. We have to be more disciplined in our gaps and get more knock back and make more plays.

Q: What do you see as the problem there? Is it just gaps? Is it guys not winning one-on-ones? Is it more just guys being out of place?

A: It's just as a whole, like on defense if one guy's out of the gap, it's a big play. If one guy is out of the zone, it's a big play. So, it's about just all being on the same page and playing as one.

Q: Why would be guys lined up wrong like this late into a season?

A: I don't know if it's alignment. It's just executing the play type of thing. It's not really – I wouldn't say it's alignment, it's just being locked in into your 1/11th on the play.

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The L.A. Rams and New York Giants raise dust during game action at Los Angeles, Aug. 23, 1957. Identifiable players are Rams' Don Burroughs (25) and Dick Daugherty (50). (Vic Stein via AP)

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A night game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants at Los Angeles, Sept. 15, 1960. Identifiable players are: Rams Dick Bass (22), Charlie Bradshaw (79), and New York's Dick Nolan (25), Lindon Crow (41) and Jimmy Patton (20). Giants won, 20-6. (Vic Stein via AP)

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Erich Barnes (49), New York Giants halfback, blocks field goal attempt by Los Angeles Rams' Danny Villanueva (11) in first period of NFL game in New York's Yankee Stadium, Oct. 22, 1961. Los Angeles quarterback Frank Ryan (15) held the ball for Villanueva. (AP Photo)

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New York Giant end Del Shofner (85) has his eyes on the ball and his hands ready to catch a fourth quarter Charley Conerly pass, top left, as Los Angeles Ram Alvin Hall (46) appears to be outrun. All the giants passes weren't in vain. Conerly completed two for touchdowns in the fourth quarter to give giants a 24-14 win at Yankee stadium in New York on Oct. 22, 1961. It was giants first win at home this season. (AP Photo)

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Les Josephson (34) of the Los Angeles Rams runs into a driving tackle by New York Giants Tom Longo (44) after a short gain in the first period of their game at Yankee Stadium, Dec. 20, 1970, New York. Giants Spider Lockhart (43) got a piece of the tackle. Coming up to help are Giants Scott Eaton (20) and Willie Williams (41). (AP Photo)

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New York Giants tight end Bob Tucker on Dec. 20, 1970 at New York's Yankee Stadium. (AP Photo/ML)

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Fran Tarkenton, the Giants quarterback, gets off a pass, incomplete, in the face of a furious charge by a trio of Los Angeles Rams defenders in the second period at Yankee Stadium, Dec. 20, 1970, New York. Closing in on Tarkenton are Jack Pardee (32), Coy Bacon (79) and Diron Talbert. (AP Photo)

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Rams' running back John Cappelletti, the former Heisman winner, is dragged down by a shirt tackle as he tried to circle the New York Giants' left side in Los Angeles Sunday, Sept. 26, 1976. Giant linebacker Brad Van Pelt pulls him down. At right is New York's Dave Gallagher. (AP Photo/George Brich)

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New York Giants linebacker Dan Lloyd (54) stops Los Angeles Rams running back Wendell Tyler (26) during an NFL game at the Los Angeles Coliseum on October 28, 1979. The Giants defeated the Rams 20-14. (Peter Read Miller via AP)

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New York Giants running back Doug Kotar (44) leaps as he runs upfield during an NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams at the Los Angeles Coliseum on September 26, 1976. The Rams defeated the Giants 24-10. (Peter Read Miller via AP)

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New York Giants Hall of Fame running back Larry Csonka (39) runs upfield after taking a handoff from quarterback Craig Morton (15) during an NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams at the Los Angeles Coliseum on September 26, 1976. The Rams defeated the Giants 24-10. (Peter Read Miller via AP)

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New York Giants quarterback Craig Morton (15) throws a pass during an NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams at the Los Angeles Coliseum on September 26, 1976. The Rams defeated the Giants 24-10. (Peter Read Miller via AP)

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New York Giants Quarterback Scott Brunner (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine)

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Los Angeles Rams star running back Eric Dickerson (29) makes a short gain during early NFL action against the New York Giants in Anaheim Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 1, 1984, Anaheim, Calif. The Rams defeated the Giants 33-12. (AP Photo/Liu Heung Shing)

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Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Irv Pankey (75) lead blocks for Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson (29) as New York Giants defensive end Leonard Marshall (70) gives chase during the NFL football game against the New York Giants on Nov. 10, 1985 in East Rutherford, N.J. The Giants won the game 24-19. (Paul Spinelli via AP)

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New York Giants running back Ottis Anderson rushes for a third quarter touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams in an NFC playoff game at Giants Stadium, Jan. 7, 1990 in East Rutherford. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jim Everett (11) takes a hard hit from New York Giants defensive end Leonard Marshall (70) after throwing a pass during the Rams 19-13 overtime victory in the 1989 NFC Divisional Playoff Game on Jan. 7, 1990 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. (AP Photo / Al Messerschmidt)

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New York Giants running back Ottis Anderson (24) scores on a 2-yard run during a 19 - 13 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the 1989 NFC Divisional Playoff Game on Jan. 7, 1990 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. (AP Photo / Al Messerschmidt

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New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms (11) moves in the pocket to avoid Rams linebacker Kevin Greene (91) during the Giants 19-13 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the 1989 NFC Divisional Playoff Game on January 7, 1990 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (AP Photo / Al Messerschmidt)

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New York Giants running back Ottis Anderson (24) scores on a 2-yard touchdown run during a19 - 13 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the1989 NFC Divisional Playoff Game on Jan. 7, 1990 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. (AP Photo / Al Messerschmidt)

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New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms (11) rolls out during a 19 - 13 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the 1989 NFC Divisional Playoff Game on Jan. 7, 1990 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. (Al Messerschmidt via AP)

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New York Giants running back Ottis Anderson (24) gains nine yards of his team-leading 60 yards during third quarter action against the Los Angeles Rams in Anaheim, Calif., Nov. 12, 1990. On the same possession Anderson scored on a three-yard touchdown run. New York marched to a 31-7 win to remain unbeaten. (AP Photo/Craig Fuji)

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With teammate Mark Bavaro (89) leading the way, New York Giants running back Ottis Anderson (24) gains nine yards of his team-leading 60 yards during third quarter action against the Los Angeles Rams in Anaheim, Calif., Nov. 12, 1990. On the same possession Anderson scored on a three-yard touchdown run. New York marched to a 31-7 win to remain unbeaten. (AP Photo/Craig Fuji)

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New York Giants cornerback Willie Beamon (21) is seen in action during an NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams Oct. 16, 1994, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Terrell via AP)

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New York Giants wide receiver Ed McCaffrey (81) runs a pass pattern during an NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Sept. 19, 1993. The Giants defeated the Rams 20-10. (AP Photo/NFL Photo/Evan Pinkus)

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New York Giants Rodney Hampton(27) in action during a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California on October 16, 1994. The Rams beat the Giants 17-10. Rodney Hampton played for 8 years all with the Giants and was a 2-time Pro Bowler.(AP Photo/David Durochik)