Head Coach Tom Coughlin
December 17, 2015
Q: You get Owa Odighizuwa back today.
A: We get Owa back practicing today, which is a good thing. Have Barry Cofield in and he will get his first taste of practice. He’s had the rush course, obviously, on what’s going on. For a guy as smart as he is, he’ll pick this up.
Q: What do you think he brings for you guys?
A: He brings veteran presence, he brings a guy that’s very aware of the way in which we play here with the Giants. He’s a guy that’s in excellent condition, and I think he’s really going to help us down the stretch here.
Q: Did it take a little longer for him to sign with somebody coming off of the hip last year? I guess he had hip surgery in the offseason.
A: Yeah, he did and he’s been rehabbing and so on and so forth. He’s in that business himself now, I guess. So he’s taken this much time and he really looks good, he worked out very well for us. He said he feels good.
Q: It also probably helps that he’s familiar with the system.
A: Well, that’s what I meant, yeah, he knows. He’ll have to do some catching up, he’s been away a few years. But I think it will come fast for him.
Q: Your secondary has drawn more offensive pass interference calls than anyone. Is that something you coach and you practice or is that maybe more circumstance?
A: Well, I’d like to say that it’s strictly circumstance. I don’t know those numbers, so for me to comment on that is, we certainly don’t teach that. We teach an aggressive style of play, but you really don’t want those kinds of consequences because of the placement of the ball. As I look at tape, I see a lot of that around the league. I don’t know what our numbers are but we certainly aren’t encouraging that.
Q: With your secondary, are you more aggressive because of the short passing games? You see a lot of pick plays from other teams.
A: Not necessarily, I don’t think so. It’s not all in range of the short, three-step drop game that these things occur. They do occur down the field as well.
Q: When you’re preparing for Cam Newton, is there a specific spot in the defense he puts more pressure on than other areas?
A: Well, he naturally puts a lot of pressure on your perimeter to be able to keep him contained in the pass game. In the run game, I really think they do design runs according to if you’re overplaying the perimeter, he takes it up inside. He runs the counter play, he runs the quarterback draw, so there are a lot of things that are game specific, based on what they think you’re going to play. Then through the course of the game, as they watch, they go ahead and institute whatever the emphasis might be.
Q: No Jonathan Stewart for them. What do they lose in that regard?
A: I think he’s second in the league in carries. He’s had the ball a lot and he’s been very productive. He had the long run the other day right away in the game against Atlanta. He’s carried the ball a lot this year, they’ve been an outstanding running team. So he’s their number one runner, so they will miss him. Fortunately for them, they do have the veteran in (Mike) Tolbert; they do have (Fozzy) Whittaker, who’s been their kick returner, not as many runs. But they do have guys that are very familiar. Then they have a young man that was inactive that they’ll bring up.
Q: I know we’ve asked you about Ereck Flowers time and again. It seemed like he did more than maybe you expected yesterday.
A: Yeah, he’s a tough guy now. He wants to go and it’s tough not to let him go. So what you try to do is stay within some kind of limit, maybe 50 percent, but he’s going to get those snaps. You think that he wouldn’t be able to, but he goes right out and does it.
Q: Where’s George Selvie?
A: He’s still in the protocol.
Q: Is he progressing in the process?
A: Not to the extent that you would like.
Q: They talk about the Giants always being able to play well against teams that are unbeaten, highly favored and having big seasons. Do you take pride in that and what do you think that’s a result of?
A: Well, I don’t know who says it. I do take pride in it to the extent that it’s true. You’re playing against the best, you better bring your best—that’s the attitude we’ve always had. It’s a great motivational and inspirational type thing to be able to play against the teams that are—at least this team with a 13-0 record—and we work our tail off to try and be in position. As I mentioned yesterday, the important thing is to realize that we have a lot at stake as well. So that’s part of the motivation, obviously.
Q: In your estimation, what makes this offense a good fit for Eli and his skills?
A: Our offense?
Q: Yes, your offense.
A: Because Eli is, first of all, over the course of his career, he’s always had the button and been able to maneuver the offense the way that he sees it at the line of scrimmage. It’s an intellectual part of the game that he’s always done very well with. But if you notice, he’s up around fifth or sixth in the league at releasing the ball, the ball is coming out quickly, and so he’s been very productive with it. And we pick our spots to throw the ball down the field, and he’s always been a very good deep ball, particularly a deep ball post, that type of a quarterback.
Q: Will Tye caught his first touchdown the other night. How is he coming along?
A: He’s doing well. He’s progressed, there’s some things that I’d like him to do better, obviously. I really do believe he can be an outstanding blocker. But as far as the way that he’s performed and played in games, the touchdown notwithstanding, he’s made some big catches for us in the last four or five weeks—one or sometimes two in a game. And (Jerome) Cunningham did a better job blocking the other night, and that helped.
Q: Is it more technique with Will’s blocking?
A: It’s a lot of that. It’s understanding his technique, it’s quickness off the ball, all of those kinds of things, being able to understand leverage and keep it that way.
Q: Is there fear that Markus Kuhn may not be able to get back from the knee injury this year? Is that a serious concern or just a minor thing?
A: Well, what we hear is the expectation will be, we’ll be looking at it week-to-week. He’s made some improvement now and hopefully that will continue.
