Monday Transcript: Head Coach Tom Coughlin

Head Coach Tom Coughlin

September 28, 2015

Q: How did Victor Cruz look?

A: He worked on the side. Hopefully he’ll be able to practice (on Wednesday).

Q: Was he scheduled to be on the side today?

A: Yes.

Q: Do you have to watch the knee at all? Obviously I know it wasn’t the knee but he was sort of inactive and is that something you have to keep an eye on as well?

A: Well, let’s just get him—the knee was progressing very well. The incident is the calf, so let’s get through both of them. The calf is the issue right now.

Q: If he does make it back, what kind of boost will he be for your offense?

A: If he practices and practices well, he’ll be a good lift for us.

Q: Have there been things you haven’t been able to do in your offense because he wasn’t there?

A: I don’t know if that’s the way I’d put it. I think that he will certainly add something to what we are doing and he’ll open the door for some new thoughts. Yeah, sure.

Q: You had some of the other injured guys out there, Robert Ayers, Owa Odighizuwa?

A: Our guys have to go through a full week of practice to prove that they’re ready to go.

Q: So does that mean Wednesday in that regard will be a big day for you?

A: That’s a big day for a lot of these guys. To be able to come back, and remember Cruz was good once before and came back the second day and the second day is longer and more difficult session because of that. They’ll be well-tested by then.

Q: What was your Sunday like? Were you sitting in the front of the TV watching Buffalo?

A: Just like you. Saw quite a bit of that first game, as well, and the night game.

Q: What were your thoughts watching Buffalo?

A: They’re a good football team. Obviously, they are. Defensively, they’re very, very good; offensively, they’re explosive, powerful, they can throw the ball and have multiple talented guys. They had a heck of a game.

Q: When you see Atlanta knock off Dallas, do you say, we’re only a game out?

A: Yeah, yeah. It didn’t look like that was going to happen for a while and then all of a sudden, the second half was—but that’s what’s happening in the division.

Q: For someone who’s guided the team through the whole Victor Cruz phenomenon and you’ve had a whole new one since then with Odell, but when you think about Victor’s journey, your thoughts of a potential return or even what it means to him getting closer to getting back out on the field?

A: Well, he’s in a good place now. He feels good. He felt good when he ran over the weekend. He has no issues whatsoever, he’s telling me. He’s anxious to get back out on the field and play, and we’re anxious to have him do that. You receive a setback from where he came, he’s anxious to go.

Q: You obviously want him back because he’s one of your better players, but do you have any emotional feelings about him returning?

A: I will when he goes in the end zone.

Q: Maybe a salsa from you?

A: I’ve been working on that, yeah.

Q: Does the way he feels about where he is count beyond what the medical people say? He’s been very upbeat the last couple of days.

A: It does count.

Q: He doesn’t have the final say, but he’s going to play if he feels like he’s ready?

A: It feels like he’s coming and is excited and is anxious to get back in there. Other guys feel that energy and that passion and that’s a good thing.

Q: Of all the attributes on the field, I was just curious, his yards after catch have always been something we’ve taken note of. Does anybody do that as well as he does? Is that something you don’t game plan for but maybe he brings?

A: Well, it’s certainly something that he brings to the table, but it’s something you need because in today’s games, so much is quick, ball comes out, tempo-type things that if you break a tackle and go, it makes it look like a long play. It’s very obvious that’s a huge part of the game today and because he’s been able to do that—and we’ve had other guys do that, as well—we look forward to that part of it, too, because it gives you another dimension.

Q: Over the years, to what do you attribute that to in his case? He’s kind of had that all along or at least that is something that endeared him to you…

A: Got the running back legs. Strong, very strong.

Q: On Friday’s conference call, you used a phrase ‘still under construction’ to describe your team. What did you mean by that?

A: Well, we’re not there, but we’re trying like heck. I think our attitude and our effort is good. We still have our situational issues, but we’re grinding away, grinding away and hopefully we’re going to improve every time we play.

Q: But you’re not just saying that because it’s early in the season? This is a different kind of feeling in terms of the situation…

A: No, I’m just saying that because we are not where we want to be. We know we can be better than this and we’re trying like heck to get there.

Q: What do you think of your pass rush after the first three games? Have you gotten enough pressure?

A: Sometimes, it’s been there; sometimes, it hasn’t. Occasionally it does disrupt a moving quarterback off the spot. Probably not as much as we like, but I can say that about a lot of things.

Q: Is Ereck Flowers moving around?

A: He was moving around, we’ll see. He wants to go. He keeps telling me when I ask, ‘How you doing?’ ‘Great. Everything’s great.’ He’s pretty good at that.

Q: So he tells you as much as he tells us?

A: Yeah, just about.