Monday Media Transcript: Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo

Interim Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo

December 11, 2017

Opening Statement: Alright, let me try to help you out a little bit here. So, you guys are probably aware Darius Powe – he’s going to have surgery. Landon (Collins) – we got to find out a little bit more on Landon, but he’s going to tell you he’s going to play all the time, which is what he just told me. But, we’ll see as the week goes and how much work we can get out of him, but he’s a little gimpy right now and really I think you know about Justin Pugh. Other than that, just a bunch of bumps and bruises. We’ll see where we are.

Today, again, you all know it’s a little bit different this week. We just had them in. They just got through meetings. There’s nothing physical. Just rehabbing. A little bit of lifting and they’ll be off and they’ll have all tomorrow off and then we’ll be back to work on Wednesday.

Just a couple things on the game. Again, you know, extremely disappointed. Felt like we played 52 minutes of pretty good team football and there’s enough mistakes in there, but certainly well enough to win. We’re in a 10-10 game with a division opponent and it’s a dog fight and then all of the sudden, it turned real quickly on us and it was tough to rebound. I thought Eli (Manning) played really good football, real solid. Watched the film. Got us in and out of some things that probably only he can do because he’s pretty special that way. I’m sure he’ll tell you there’s a couple of throws he would like back and that’s probably true of any game. And, you know, every quarterback when you’re down one score probably feels like I want to bring the team back and get there and that didn’t happen, so I’m sure he’s disappointed in that.

I think you asked about the fourth and seven and the fourth and three and the decisions to punt. The fourth and seven, I’d do again just because of how long it was and the situation. And, the fourth and three was early. I think I talked about it felt like it was going to be a field position game. So, we played it that way. In talking, these are the things that just sharing with you, like I’m talking with coach (Tom) Quinn. That’s a tougher punt for a punter than you really think. It’s hard to get it in there, so we’ll be smart going forward.

The three red zone runs that were asked about yesterday. Really, when you look at it, we got the first and 20, no problem with the first two and then really we were trying to pop one there on the third down play when they were in a two-high safety defense and it didn’t work out. But, we came away with three points, which is what we’re always trying to do. We’re always trying to come away with points. Ok, I’m sure you got some questions for me, so I’ll just open it up with that.

Q: Has there been any resolution on whether Justin Pugh will be able to play again this season?

A: Don’t know that until he gets the second opinion that he’s having done.

Q: Is that today?

A: I want to say tomorrow, but don’t quote me on that. Wednesday.

Q: Any thoughts on shutting Landon Collins down for the rest of the season?

A: Not until I know 100 percent what he’s dealing with here. It sounds like from Ronnie (Barnes) that it’s a re-injury of what he’s been dealing with something all year long. The thing you have to be careful with Landon is sometimes you got to protect Landon from himself. That’s really what you’re saying. But, we’ll see.

Q: How much do you weigh next year for these guys in terms of things that can linger into OTAs?

A: Injury wise you mean?

Q: Yes. I mean, you have Landon Collins dealing with stuff and Damon Harrison…

A: I guess it would depend on what that injury is because, I mean, if it’s a finger and a shoulder. Some of those things are going to heal naturally throughout the offseason. Now, if you’re talking about surgery, then I think you got to be smart about it. Without looking at the whole thing, I don’t know if we have anybody in that situation.

Q: What’s the deal with Eli Apple?

A: I talked with Eli before the game when we deactivated him. He sat in my office and I said, ‘Look, we need to get you going. Everybody wants you here helping us out, but this wasn’t the week to do it.’ He didn’t get enough reps during the week. He did get some on Friday. I just didn’t think it was enough to have him ready to do the things we were going to do in the defensive game plan and he understood that and the goal there as we shook hands and hugged was, ‘let’s get you up and running next week.’

Q: What do you think about Eli Apple tweeting during the game?

A: Yeah, I heard about that. I had a conversation with Eli about that. I was disappointed. I told him I was disappointed. We’ll decide exactly what we’ll do with it, but it was disappointing. He apologized and we’ll move on.

Q: What does Eli Apple have to do because this isn’t the first time he’s had disciplinary action this season?

A: I guess that’s true. Some of it has been injuries. It’s been back and forth. He’s struggling. We all know that he went through a struggle personally. I mean, I think you’re all aware of that and sometimes it takes a little while to recover from that. I’m not saying that that’s an excuse, but he’s got to step up, show his teammates, his coaches that he’s ready. I believe he wants to and is going to do that. We just need to see him do it. Last week, it was a little bit of a groin I think early in the week and then felt a little bit better. Now, something about a back. I hope you all can understand that a lot is going on in this small brain of mine from last week, so I can’t piece it all together, but I’m hopeful and optimistic we can get him going. I’m disappointed in the tweeting thing, but hopefully we can get over these hurdles.

Q: Do you sense frustration with him?

A: I think there’s some of that. Yeah. Sure. With any player, if you go through injury and then you’re not out there playing with your teammates, I’m sure he’s frustrated.

Q: Eli Apple liked a tweet about a big play made against you. Does that concern you?

A: I wasn’t aware of the exact tweet, to be honest with you. I got as far as the tweeting and knew that I had to have a conversation, so I can’t really comment.

Q: How are you handling Davis Webb this week?

A: Probably no differently this particular week. I’ll talk with the coaches tomorrow. Tuesday is our big game planning day now with the way the schedule is. But, I will tell you this about Davis Webb and I have actually been able to have my eyes on it all during the year because I happened to walk by. He is one of the most hardworking young men in this building. He’s here all the time. He’s a gym rat and Frank Cignetti has done a great job with him and the whole year now in preparation of becoming an NFL quarterback. There are things that they’re doing together throughout the course of the week that, I mean, you wouldn’t normally do for a – certainly not a practice squad player. You’re always trying to get your guys ready, but Frank has got him thinking like he could be the next quarterback in the game. I mean, he’s prepped him and gets him out there before games and they go through an extensive, I think, 40-minute throwing progression workout. There’s tapes that Davis puts together for the offense, I believe, for the quarterbacks during the week that’s keeping him in the mold. So, there’s a lot of that ongoing preparation as we speak.

Q: Is Davis Webb ready to move up this week?

A: I don’t know that. I’ll have to talk with the offensive coaches.

Q: How comfortable would you be if you had to put him into a game at this point?

A: I can’t answer that. I don’t know that I have enough of a feel for the offense. I would have to ask the offensive coaches. I hope you guys can understand that. It’s only been however many days that I thought about offense.

Q: Are you planning to stick with Eli Manning at this point?

A: Absolutely. Yeah. That’s a pretty safe assessment.

Q: Has the mindset changed about seeing what Davis Webb can do? The former head coach and general manager did say that?

A: Anything prior to, I was not privy to at all. I don’t hear it. It keeps coming back to me like that, but I can tell you this, the way that I’m going to function, the way that I think we should function is to take this one week at a time with the goal being beating the next opponent and whatever is best to do that, in my opinion.

Q: What about having Davis Webb as the No. 2 quarterback?

A: I’m not sure what would be gained other than if something happened to the starting quarterback he goes in. In an answer to your question, there is tremendous preparation for this young man to be a quarterback in the NFL. I don’t know that it, you know, I’m not sure - this is what I’ll talk to Mike (Sullivan) and Frank (Cignetti) about. Is it that much more of an advantage to have him standing on the sideline as the second than there is having him standing on the sideline as a deactivated player.

Q: What about reps during the week even in terms of Davis Webb?

A: That’s a pretty good example. So, there you go. A defensive coach trying to figure out how to get the second quarterback ready, but I’ll talk with Mike and Frank about that.

Q: Would you consider having three quarterbacks active on gameday?

A: It’s a thought. You have to think about why you would be doing that because, look, it’s hard sometimes to find enough guys in the 46 for the positions to have all the backups. So, that would be a tough one.

Q: When you said it was a pretty safe assessment that you’re sticking with Eli Manning, does that mean for this week or the last three games?

A: Well, right now I’m talking about I’m on the week by week and let’s win the next game. To beat the Philadelphia Eagles right now, Eli Manning is the starting quarterback and I don’t feel that changing, but I don’t know what next week is going to bring.

Q: Do you feel like you already have enough information on Davis Webb and that he can’t play?

A: No. No. I can’t say that right now. Again, you’re asking questions I have not had the discussions with the offensive coaches about that. But, that’s a fair question. In other words, are we not moving him up because we don’t think he’s ready or…

Q: Well, are you not taking a look at him now with an eye on the NFL Draft because you already don’t think he’s the guy of the future?

A: I don’t think that’s the case, but you got to give me some time to put my arms around it. I can’t promise that that’s going to be a public thing. I mean, we’re going to function as an NFL football team. We’re certainly not going to – we’re going to try to make sure the opponent doesn’t have any extra info, so I hope you can appreciate that.

Q: Would you respect it being run by you if people in the organization want to see certain players play?

A: I would certainly respect that, obviously. I think we all would do that. Authority is authority. But, that hasn’t happened yet. But, I would certainly respect that. That’s our job as people that work for the organization.

Q: During the fourth quarter, there was a third down play and the pass was incomplete and it looked like a head shot and they called the penalty and they took the penalty away…

A: I know which one you’re talking about, so I can’t give my opinion of what I thought it should have been.

Q: Are you going to ask the league for clarification on that play?

A: I can tell you what it was because I asked (referee) Walt (Anderson) to come over after that because I was looking for an explanation. Because I was like you all. I was like, ‘Why was it?’ because they threw the flag then they picked it up and what Walt expressed to me was he had three officials that he consulted. Two of them felt that the contact was legal and one of them, who originally had thrown the flag, thought that he had gotten him in the chin, which would have been a foul. So, based on that information, he decided to pick the flag up.