QB Eli Manning
October 11, 2016
Q: I know that you have talked a lot about the defenses that you are facing, the two high. That is about as basic a defense as you are going to face, right? I don’t mean it as in easy, but is common, fair to say?
A: No, I wouldn’t say it is common. I guess you can look at any defense and say that it is common. It is just a matter of – they are mixing up some stuff, it is not Tampa 2, they aren’t lined up, it is not zone. It is man techniques, sometimes they zone it off, sometimes they man it off. There is definitely stuff that beats it. We had stuff that should have beaten it, but we didn’t execute well enough. So it is not that it stopped us, it is just a matter of holding the ball a little longer because it takes away a lot of your slants and it takes away some of your quick game. You should be able to run the ball against it and we had some stuff to get open, we just didn’t execute well enough on those plays and convert on them, so we just have to understand that teams are going to play us certain ways and again, we had answers for it, that is not the problem, it is just still a matter of execution.
Q: Have you been surprised that it has been so effective against you?
A: Well, I thought the other day that that wasn’t the only thing that stopped us. We had some decent drives, we got down into the green zone, red zone area, but we just didn’t score touchdowns when we were down there, so it wasn’t really those coverages that slowed us down. We had penalties, had sacks and those things that put us back, so you just have to understand that it is just a matter of playing better. That is all that it is going to come down to. Teams are going to be able to throw different schemes and do whatever they want and we will have answers for what they have, it is just a matter of still executing and playing at a high level and we didn’t do that the other night.
Q: How do you feel like you have played this year?
A: It doesn’t matter. I didn’t play as well as I needed to last week. I missed some throws. So I need to play better, I have to make some more throws, better decisions, can’t turn the ball over, but we will improve. We will keep working hard and we will figure it out. We have some guys having to play receiver who haven’t played in a while and are going through a learning curve and they are doing a lot of good things, it is just about getting on the same page. Last week, on a short week running some new concepts, we weren’t as sharp as we had to be.
Q: How do you feel physically?
A: I feel good. I feel good physically.
Q: There have been talks about that Washington hit. That after that, everything changed?
A: No, I feel great.
Q: Going up against a Baltimore defense that has two impact pass rushers with Suggs and Dumervil, how much of neutralizing that is schematics and how much of that is just being able to block them up long enough?
A: Yeah, it is a combination. Obviously, you can have people chip them and try to get the ball out quick. You have to run the ball, but there is going to be some one on one where your tackles are going to have to block those two guys and hold up and so we have to win those one on one matchups.
Q: Is age getting to be a factor for you?
A: No, I don’t think so. I feel good.
Q: How big is this game at this juncture in the season?
A: Yeah, it is good to be back home and we need a win. Obviously we had a tough couple weeks, two tough games on the road and we have to play at a higher level, so we understand that and we have to have a great week of practice. Getting back to a normal week should be good for us and just keep grinding away. I think we have guys that are hungry, that want to improve, took a hard look at themselves and know that we need to make some changes, we have to fix some things and figure out why we aren’t playing as well as we are.
Q: Is there a sense of urgency to get a win?
A: Well, yeah there has to be a sense of urgency. You just have to understand that we need to get back on track and we need to get a win and play at a high level. We have to make improvements, so you have to see that and going against a good team, they play a lot of close games and they could have won every game that they played so far this year and a good defense, offense makes plays, so we need to make sure that we are prepared for all of their looks and play at a high level.
Q: What do you say to the idea that this offensive line just doesn’t give you enough time to be effective and that this problem can’t be solved?
A: Well, I think the offensive line has played well this year. This past week, hey, they went against a good front, they had a game plan that tried to get after us a bit, they brought a couple good looks and hey, that happens. I didn’t play my best, maybe the offensive line didn’t play their best, but they have played well the first four games and have given us plenty of time to be successful.
Q: In terms of the deep zone, is the power running game the best way to get them out of it?
A: Yeah. Running the ball will get teams out of playing two safeties deep and high and if they are playing man and underneath, you should have good angles to get to the linebackers and the block and so that is always the best way to get safeties back down and get a little more man and one high zone coverages is to run the ball successfully. But, we are going to get a mix and different coverages, different looks and we are going to be prepared for them all.
Q: When you watch the film, do you feel that there are times where you are getting rid of the ball before there is actually any pressure?
A: There may be some, so you have to look at them all. It all depends on the play or what is going on and I don’t think I have rushed things -- I thought that I was feeling the pressure, trying to move around and trying to make plays.
Q: Were you surprised that the offense hasn’t exploded yet and we are five games in?
A: I don’t think it is taking long, we just hit a little bump. I thought that in the first couple games that we did some good things, had some explosive plays, could have scored more points and done better in the red zone areas – had some turnovers that hurt us, but we were moving the ball, had a lot of yards, were running the ball well, had a lot of explosive passing plays, so the last two weeks hasn’t been as good as we want it to, but we are still doing some good things. We hit a couple big plays in the passing game, had a couple more opportunities that we just missed, so we just have to get on the same page, keep working and hit some of the plays that are out there.
Q: How do you guard against a sort of ‘Here we go again’ feeling?
A: That is not an option. That is not in our thoughts. We are working and we are going to keep grinding and figure out a way to get a win and get back on track.
Q: How has the communication with Ben McAdoo been different this year now that he is head coach as opposed to last year?
A: I think the communication has been the same. I think that we have done a good job during the week getting prepared and thoughts on what we like, how we want to treat certain things and then on game day kind of working and having more conversations with Coach Sullivan on game day, but getting my thoughts across or getting Coach McAdoo’s thoughts across to me and my thoughts to him have been good.
Q: You obviously know what happened with Ereck Flowers. As a leader of this team, have you talked to him?
A: I haven’t talked to him. I didn’t see it happen, don’t know the whole story, but obviously if it comes up.
