Head Coach Tom Coughlin
That last drive in the first half was very welcomed, obviously. It put the score at 10 – 7, but it also gave us the idea that we could move the ball; we were in a two-minute mode. Eli [Manning] made some great plays. Rueben Randle hooked up for the touchdown, which was obviously a good thing. I thought we ran the ball pretty good early in the ballgame. It didn’t materialize into any big drives. They had the ball, I think, 36 snaps in the first half. We had 38, so that wasn’t too bad. It was a very physical ball game. They’re a very good team. They’re an excellent, excellent defensive team. Their offensive line performed well. They rushed the ball. But in the second half, our group came out and hung in there, made some plays, got the ball down the field. The drive before the last drive with Andre Williams carrying the ball was a very bright spot for us. They jumped into an eight-man front, then we started throwing the ball and Ryan [Nassib] stuck the ball in there for a couple of big plays as we came down the stretch. We got a couple of guys hurt tonight and that’s very upsetting. I think the report is for you guys – you’ve already seen it – but [Geoff] Schwartz with a dislocated toe, [Marcus] Harris with a shoulder injury, don’t know really much else about [Markus] Kuhn, just a lower leg is all I’ve heard so far. Is that it? [Zac] Bowman, they’re talking about an upper arm injury of some type. I didn’t hear much about that, either.
Q: How serious is Geoff Schwartz?
A: Pretty serious. Hard to play with a toe that’s not functioning.
Q: What about [Marcus] Harris?
A: We’ll have to wait and see. I don’t know anything more about it. We’ll have it wait and see. That’s the best I can do. The doctors haven’t told me anything about time limits for any of them.
Q: How impressed are you with the way Nassib played last week and then this week?
A: One thing that was very impressive was that he didn’t have a very good game two weeks ago and he came back last week and this week and played very well. He ran the offense well. He stuck the ball in there down the field well. He didn’t run the ball today; he didn’t come out of there running it, but he directed the running game into the right spots and that was a good thing as well.
Q: In the first half in the two-minute you had, was that in the new system or did you guys have plays just to exploit personnel matchups?
A: Well, it’s all part of the new system. The play-calling comes from the new system. You’re always looking for the right matchups and we did take advantage of a couple of them. Q; How much do you view the first half with your first team as progress for the offense?
A: I think it was progress. I definitely do.
Q: What about it did you think you progressed, or where?
A: I’ve already said this, and I’ll say it again. I thought we ran the ball early on and I thought that Jennings did a nice job with that. I thought that we blocked the run pretty well. It was inconsistent, which I think the Jets’ defense is very good at shutting down what you’ve just done. And then with the two-minute drive, we did advance the ball with the pass. I think it’s a good step.
Q: The last drive, the protection was obviously great for Eli. Were you concerned a little about the protection on the previous drives before that?
A: He re-established himself as a tough customer tonight because he got drilled a few times and bounced right back up and made plays. You never want to see him hit, but he got hit and he got back up and made some plays down the stretch at the end of the half.
Q: Are you seeing progress with that line or is that still an issue?
A: Well, obviously somebody is doing a pretty good job. We did eventually move the ball. I’m going to have to look at the tape to tell you exactly what my thoughts are on that, but I would say for the most part I think that people got a little bit better today.
Q: Will [Weston] Richburg be your guy there likely if Schwartz [doesn’t return]?
A: We’ll have to wait and see. Let me look at the tape.
Q: Is this clearly the most unlikely 4-0? I know it’s the preseason, but this team is 4-0. Is this the most unlikely 4-0 for you?
A: Why?
Q: Why? First of all, last week you were down 26-0 and you come back and win.
A: I didn’t see anybody writing about how historic that was, either. You guys are not checking your history.
Q: It would’ve been if it had been in the regular season. It would’ve been the best comeback in the history of the franchise.
A: Franchise? How about the league? Fourth quarter, print that one out. I don’t know, you guys are a little bit asleep on the pencil.
Q: Are you considering getting Eli some work in the last preseason game?
A: I think we will. I’ll think about that, but we don’t play until Monday night, so that’s quite a hike. I would think that maybe we’ll play some snaps with the ones. We usually do that – one or two series.
