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Thursday Tom Coughlin Media Transcript

Eric from BBI : Admin : 9/17/2015 1:31 pm
Tom Coughlin

September 17, 2015

(Jon) Beason is going to do a little work on the side today, so we’ll see. We’ll have an idea what’s going to happen there.

Q: Victor Cruz?

A: Cruz, no.

Q: Anyone else coming back that wasn’t there yesterday? Fells, Kuhn?

A: No.

Q: Is Cruz now out for this weekend’s game?

A: I’ll reserve that.

Q: Has there been any change on anything with Cruz, or is it just exactly the same?

A: He’s working and he’s doing more and more. But they’re not even at the stage where they’re really going to bring him out and turn him loose—let him run for a while—before they make a decision on whether he can practice. So that’s all forthcoming.

Q: Given that he’s been out of practice for a month, it sounds like he might be awhile before he’ll be back. Is that accurate?

A: We’ll see. If he comes back and he practices well, we’ll have to make a decision. First, let’s get him back, then we’ll decide.

Q: With the schedule the way you have it now, is it harder for guys to come back to practice? Seems like it’s only two days of practice and then the Friday.

A: Well, don’t forget there’s a Saturday morning 45-minute session, which is speed. It’s 80 percent to full speed. We do have an opportunity to utilize that, as well. But this day today is a longer day, and there’s a lot of segments that are done today that normally might have been done on a Friday.

Q: You didn’t have any sacks against Dallas. As you look to Atlanta, is there more that could be done possibly schematically, or guys winning battles?

A: Well, it’s always one-on-one, it’s always that if you rush four. But there’s schematics that can be involved, and the development of who in the schematics can get home. That’s also a part of it.

Q: The Cowboys have a very good offensive line; do you kind of tip your hat to them, but maybe you can do better if those guys aren’t so good on the other side.

A: Well, I mean, they have a good offensive line, and we have to work very hard to get home.

Q: I’m sure we’ll ask Steve Spagnuolo about this later, but the risk-reward of sending additional people on the pass rush.

A: There’s always that. But it might be five, it could be five, and you still have somebody in center field. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a zero-coverage blitz, you know what I’m saying? It can be with five, but which five? And if you maneuver that around a little bit, of course, that’s to your advantage. If you have a linebacker who can also rush that has enough speed to get home, you can do some things with that.

Q: Will Owa Odighizuwa work today?

A: No.

Q: A year ago, you guys were as creative with Odell probably as you’ve ever been with a player. Do you need some of that to get the ball in his hands?

A: We’re already doing that.

Q: You were doing that?

A: Yeah. He lines up everywhere. Watch him, he’s got all kinds of motion. He lines up inside, he lines up outside, he’s number two, number three, number one—he lines up everywhere.

Q: Is eight targets enough, though?

A: No. You’d like to have more, but let’s face it, for the majority of the game, there wasn’t a lot of snaps. Believe me, we’re trying to maneuver the ball around. Everybody has an opportunity. If, in fact, any one individual gets doubled, that creates some opportunities for others, as you well know. That’s all been discussed.

Q: Last year we saw him in the backfield, he was throwing a pass.

A: He was in the backfield this year. You were at the game. He motioned out of the backfield. As we go forward, and we’ve played one game, you’re not going to see it all in one game. You’ll see more.

Q: Will you continue to work with Larry Donnell on his ball security?

A: Yes.

Q: You haven’t given up, obviously?

A: No, of course not.

Q: It’s such a repeated offense. He’s a big man, we’ve talked about that. Is there one thing he has to do above anything else?

A: He doesn’t get it put away fast enough, in my opinion. And sometimes, just the hesitating nature of the double-catch allows people to get to him that ordinarily wouldn’t. When that happens, you don’t always have good control of the ball, even as you start to tuck it. So there’s a lot of things. If he extends, he’s a big man, if he extends his arms fully for the ball, which people are taught to do, then, of course, that’s even further for somebody to bring the ball back in. But none of that is—get the ball put away.

Q: With Owa, you thought he was going to practice yesterday. Did something happen?

A: He did practice yesterday. He did.

Q: The injury report said he was out.

A: Well, he tried to practice. He was out there.

Q: Was there a setback?

A: No, it was basically the same thing. He gets going a little bit, then he gets sore and he has to come out.

Q: Is a source of improvement on defense better communication?

A: Well, that always is there. You’re young at the middle backer spot and you’re young at one of the safety spots, so communication is always an issue. But we’ve worked hard to make that easier and better. For the most part, it happened okay. Information was forthcoming.

Q: Did you see evidence on the practice field yesterday that your team has moved on emotionally from the loss?

A: Yeah, I did. I did. It wasn’t easy, but I did see it come around.

Q: With energy and enthusiasm? Guys yelling?

A: Well, it was 87 [degrees], so I was doing a lot of the yelling.

Q: Do you feel like you’ve scratched the surface with what Shane Vereen can do in this offensive system? Or would you like to see more?

A: Well, there’s more involvement coming. It’s a long season.

Q: Did you learn something about Ereck Flowers this week with the way he handled himself and the way he has played through this ankle?

A: Thank you for that question. Well, basically, he said I’m playing and I’m practicing. It’s a breath of fresh air. Guy has an ankle, oh well. I started talking to him on Tuesday. “I’m practicing,” and he did.

Q: Is that rare for a rookie to come out and just make that statement?

A: I don’t know, but can we have a few more? Whether they’re rookies or veterans of whoever they are.

Q: Has Steve Spagnuolo evolved a lot since he was last here? Is he essentially the same coach and person?

A: He’s the same person, but he’s had a lot of experiences. He’s diversified himself in terms of other defenses. In coming back to Baltimore, he’s back to where a lot of what he was originally introduced to in the NFL—was home for him back in Baltimore. He’s had diversification, he’s been around, he’s worked with different people, he’s continued to study and learn, and been in all kinds of opportunities. He’s the same outstanding person and a better football coach.

Q: Do you have Daniel Fells today?

A: No. You know what, he’s out of the boot, so we’ll see.
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Big Blue '56 : 9/17/2015 1:37 pm : link
Q: With energy and enthusiasm? Guys yelling?

A: Well, it was 87 [degrees], so I was doing a lot of the yelling.
Reporters drinking the stupid juice  
CT Charlie : 9/17/2015 1:47 pm : link
again.
Seems like Tom thinks there needs to be some more toughness  
BlueHurricane : 9/17/2015 1:47 pm : link
Old school, rub some dirt on it toughness on his teams. Nice to see the rookie pushing through. Think we may have a gem with Flowers.

Quote:
Q: Is that rare for a rookie to come out and just make that statement?

A: I don’t know, but can we have a few more? Whether they’re rookies or veterans of whoever they are.
I'm sure Tom would think that way  
Ten Ton Hammer : 9/17/2015 1:50 pm : link
This is the same coach that withheld water from Jaguars practices.

No surprises here.
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