Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Tom Coughlin

Head Coach Tom Coughlin

Postgame vs. Washington, September 24, 2015

We won, so smile. It wasn’t easy. Nobody said it was going to be. They’re a good football team; they had all the numbers coming in here, as you well know. I haven’t seen any of our numbers. Looked like we did a pretty good job against the run, which we’ve been doing. Obvious down the stretch there that they just opened up and threw every down. We weren’t able to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback. We did on occasion, but it seemed like every time we were going to get ‘em out of there, we either had a penalty or some kind of a gain which gave them a first down. But I am disappointed in the kickoff coverage at the end of the game when there’s absolutely no relaxing at this level in any capacity and I thought we did on that play. But I was pleased that we had a lot of opportunities, again it wasn’t great in the green zone. We ended up kicking field goals and that would have been fine if that was the margin for winning, but touchdowns in a couple of occasions there would have made it a little bit of a different game. But listen, I’m happy to win and that’s the bottom line.

Q: Do you have that pressure Tom, considering your defense was without [Robert] Ayers [Jr.] and [D.Rogers] Cromartie and obviously JPP [Jason Pierre-Paul]? Did you get a pretty good performance from them…?

A: Yeah, I think we did. And I think on the other side of the ball, I have to give all kinds of credit to [Marshall] Newhouse, to [Justin] Pugh, and the offensive line for doing an outstanding job as well—keeping the outside backers off the quarterback. I mean they are outstanding players now.

Q: Talk about what you saw from Rueben Randle today.

A: Reuben, I felt like, you know, for a couple weeks he’s been coming on and appearing more and more like himself and I told him I thought he’d have a big game tonight and obviously he did, so I am happy for Reuben. Let’s hope he comes out of this thing and can give us more of the same.

Q: What is it that made you think he was getting better?

A: I think he was running very, very well. His patterns in practice seem to be good. I liked the way he was in pregame so I felt he was going to have a nice night.

Q: Was there something you saw that you put [Rashad] Jennings on that punt block team?

A: He’s been on it for a while. Yeah, he’s probably got ten blocks. Where’s your stats? He’s told everybody else. He probably hasn’t told you. He has about ten blocks in this league.

Q: You have a lot of starters you’ve been kind of using in that role. We’ve seen D.R.C. [D. Rodgers-Cromartie] out there at times, I believe, Prince [Amukamara] on the punt team. What’s the thinking behind that?

A: Everybody has to contribute. Everybody has to help. Everybody is normally, you know, starters can be on one, maybe two special teams, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Rashad has a unique talent with regard to blocking punts and so he’s anxious to be on that team.

Q: Tom, did you say anything—you had a double-digit lead going into the fourth quarter. Did you verbalize anything for the guys on the sideline given the way the first two games went?

A: We did last night, you know, and we tried to relate that to them that our whole deal was it’s the fourth quarter. We’re going to take it up another notch, take it to another level, and spend all the gas in the tank in the fourth quarter trying to get a win.

Q: Your thoughts on Eli [Manning]’s performance overall?

A: Very, very steady—did an outstanding job with the post call down the middle obviously to [Odell] Beckham [Jr.] when we needed a big play there between the two of them was outstanding; the play on third and long for the touchdown to Rueben [Randle] where he stayed with the ball. But I thought Eli was very much in control of the entire game tonight and did a nice job getting us in and out of runs, checking some of the protections, checking even some of the route combinations. So, he was very, very much under control tonight and did an outstanding job.

Q: Tom, some of the mistakes, uncharacteristic mistakes that Eli [Manning] had made the first two weeks, does it kind of speak to his mental toughness that stuff just doesn’t bother him?

A: Well, it does bother him. It bothers him deep down inside, but he doesn’t show it much, but it’s a testimony to him, his pride, how hard he works at the game and also his confidence in himself.

Q: Tom, when you look at the lack of stability and some injuries at that position around the league, in the division. Just the fact that Eli is there every week for however many years, how important is that characteristic?

A: Oh, it’s critical to us and our preparation and obviously over all these years that even when he’s been injured, he’s lined up and played. Even when the knee, you called him out, he lined up and played, so the stability of that and the ability to game plan knowing that he’s in that position, that’s a huge plus for our team and always has been.

Q: Your defense had another turnover that sets up another touchdown early on in the game. You’ve been very opportunistic so far this season. Is that just from playing hard, playing aggressive?

A: I think that’s the point. I do think that Prince [Amukamara], on his behalf, I think he studied well, I think he knew he had some kind of tip. He knew that was coming. He really drove hard on the ball as good as I’ve seen him this fall and he really made a nice play and, as you say, gave us outstanding field position. We did score on the drive.

Q: Up until that last play, you held them to 62 yards rushing. How important was it to get Jon [Beason] back in there at middle linebacker?

A: Well, Jon, being in the middle backer position really gave us outstanding leadership on the field. We still used [Unai] ‘Unga in a lot of situations and he’s played well. He’s a good, good young player and he’s going to do nothing but get better. But the team voted Jon the defensive captain and for good reason, so when he was out there, he provides the leadership.

Q: And [Nikita] Whitlock at defensive tackle a little bit?

A: Yeah, and he got some rushes too. He’s a multi-task, multi-talented guy who can rush the passer, plays fullback as you all know, is on all of the special teams. He’s got great energy, this kid.

Q: Tom, for your team to get the win tonight and not let this losing streak continue—you actually smiled, by the way, after the Odell [Beckham Jr.] touchdown…

A: I did?

Q: I believe so.

A: Oh boy, I better watch out.

Q: What do you think this means for the locker room?

A: Well, you know, I feel so badly for the players that they don’t have the reinforcement that they need. In other words, even when they, I’m not saying our games were anything to write home about, but, in truth, we could have won two games coming into this one tonight and players need the reinforcement, the confidence that comes from pushing a thing through to a win. I’m hoping that helps in the locker room.

Q: The red flag at the end…

A: I couldn’t believe it. Was the knee down or was it not down? What’s the big deal? They picked up three flags on us, three in a row they picked up and they didn’t give us that one.