Head Coach Ben McAdoo
Postgame vs. Detroit, September 18, 2017
Opening Remarks:
I’ll tell you the same thing I told the players – put this game on me. We talk about playing complete, complementary football. By no stretch of the imagination did we get that done tonight. We’ve got to do better. We dug ourselves into a hole. No one feels sorry for us. We’ve got to find a way to get better and get better in a hurry.
Q: Why on you?
A: Because we’re not playing complete, complementary football. We had a turnover in the first half, then we come back and turn the ball right back over. We get a stop and a chance to get the ball back, we give up a punt return for a touchdown. Just too many issues. We’ve got to play and feed off of each other and we’re not doing that right now, and I’ve got to find a way to make that work.
Q: Did you think you needed to give T Erik Flowers some help as the game went on?
A: Yeah, we tried to give him some help as the game went on. Initially, we were focusing on the other side. We had our left guard playing right tackle. He ended up holding up and doing a nice job. Then we decided to get the ball out quick. When they’re playing cover two and you give help to both sides, you have three guys running routes and you have seven in coverage, that makes it a challenge.
Q: How debilitating was the sequence where WR Brandon Marshall drops the ball?
A: Well, it doesn’t help. That’s what we talk about playing complementary team football – the offense has to handle their business, take care of the ball well. Whether it’s holding onto it, whether it’s catching it, whether it’s throwing it, we can’t turn it over and special teams has to do their job.
Q: What did you see on the 4th & 3 that you didn’t make?
A: (Eli) had a couple different options there and he chose to go with Shane Vereen. I saw the nickel fall off on the flat route on Shane to make a nice play.
Q: T Erik Flowers allowed three sacks, did you contemplate taking him out of the game?
A: We talked about giving him more help.
Q: At what point do you have to start thinking about making a change at that spot?
A: It’s more than one player.
Q: What happened on the delay of game penalty near the end zone?
A: Sloppy quarterback play. Quarterback and the center need to be on the same page there. We’ve got to get the ball snapped.
Q: Why didn’t you call a timeout?
A: Because we have a veteran quarterback who has played a lot of football; I expect us to get the ball snapped. Usually the clock goes from three, two, one, zero. Once it hits zero, they look at the ball, then look at the clock. Usually we have a tick once it hits zero to get the ball snapped without being a delay of game. I thought we had a chance to get it off.
Q: How would you assess QB Eli Manning’s play overall?
A: He had some good moments, and some moments that weren’t what we were looking for. I didn’t like the interception when we got the turnover. The defense took the ball away. You know, it happened fast for him. I thought he should’ve went to number two or checked the ball down. He was under duress all night. I thought he did some good things in the pocket, making some plays under duress, but the whole offense needs work. We’re not in rhythm right now.
Q: How’d you want to play WR Odell Beckham Jr. tonight?
A: We just wanted to pick our spots, get him back in the mix, get him back in the fold. We wanted to be smart with him in his first game back. He hasn’t played football in a while.
Q: Talk about the touchdown drive.
A: We took care of the ball. We were blocking them pretty well, completing the ball, and just moving the chains and staying ahead of the chains.
Q: Why was it so hard to go back to that again?
A: That’s a great question.
Q: Was WR Odell Beckham Jr. playing at 100 percent?
A: Odell was fit enough to play in a limited role.
Q: What went into the decision to play him?
A: We deemed him fit enough to play in a limited role.
Q: How disappointed were you that veteran WR Brandon Marshall drops a pass where he was pretty wide open?
A: It’s a long season. We expect Brandon to make that play, and expect him to make it the next time he gets the opportunity.
Q: To have scored 13 points in two games, how do you fix it in six days?
A: We go back to work. We have to analyze everything we’re doing. I mean, we can’t pull points out of a hat. We’ve got to get to work. We have to block better, we have to handle the ball better, we can’t turn the ball over, we have to play complete, complementary football and we’re not doing it.
Q: Will you consider personnel changes?
A: We’ll consider everything.
Q: Does that include play calling?
A: We’ll consider everything.
Q: Are there reads not being made in this offense right now?
A: When the quarterback is under duress, things change.
Q: On that 4th & 3, was QB Eli Manning ideally to throw that ball not short of the sticks?
A: The nickel fell off, took a chance, and made a nice play on the play. Eli had a couple different options, he felt that was his best option.
