Wednesday Transcript: Head Coach Pat Shurmur

Head Coach Pat Shurmur
September 5, 2018
 
Opening Remarks: Jacksonville week. As we go through the rhythm of this, we’ll do walk-thrus in the morning and then practice this afternoon at 1 o’clock and get ready to go. Certainly, we’re playing an outstanding football team, a team that fell one game short of going to the Super Bowl. I experienced that last year in Minnesota, so they’ve assembled a very fine football team. They’ve got a quarterback that plays winning football, they were the number one rushing team in the league last year, and they’re outstanding on defense. Not to mention, they have a terrific kicking game. We’ve got a big challenge this Sunday and look forward to battling them out here in the stadium. With that, I’ll take your questions. 
 
Q: You’re one of seven new coaches. How much of an advantage is it -- new coaching staff, changing the roster -- how much can you take a team by surprise in these first few weeks?
A: I don’t know if you take teams by surprise. I think it’s fair to say we’ll do some things that the team hasn’t seen during preseason, that’s number one; but we all have backgrounds, we all have years that we’ve coached, and some of the words that we’ve used during training camp, something that meant run might mean pass. So, there’s some tactics involved when you start the season but, for the most part, we are who we are and we want to be a tough, gritty team that runs the football and makes the effort to score points, especially the points you need to win the game and then play good, gritty defense. That’s what we’re looking to do.
 
Q: There’s been a lot of build up about the (Odell Beckham) vs. (Jalen Ramsey) matchup from the outside, and Ramsey made some comments a few weeks ago. Do you worry at all about Odell getting sucked into that, similarly with what happened with Josh Norman a few years ago? 
A: I don’t worry about Odell, and certainly I will not comment on another player’s comments. That’s not for me to discuss. You see me enough and know me enough to know that I don’t worry about that kind of stuff. They’re both outstanding players and there’s going to be times in the game where they’re up against one another and that will be a fun thing for people to keep track of, but they’re a team that plays zone, too, so it’s going to be about the combinations more than the matchups sometimes. We’ll just let that play out, but I don’t really worry about that. 
 
Q:  To go back to the roster changes, you turned over the roster by about 15% since Sunday. I know a lot of it is at the bottom, but how do you approach getting that together and making it cohesive given that you only have a few days before your first game?  
A: Part of the process is I’ve spoken to all the new guys and said this is what we are as a team culturally, these are the things we’ve been emphasizing for all these months, and you’ve got to get up to speed fast. That’s part of being a pro. This isn’t unique to the Giants this season. Guys come to teams and have to compete quickly, and typically they’re in shape because they’ve been in training camps and they’ve been on a lot of teams that have talked about the same types of things. You just put a blue bow around it and there you go. 
 
Q: How did you go about it this week? Did they meet with their position coaches in addition to regular meetings?  
A: Extra. Then we teach them what we can to get ready for the game plan. 
 
Q: You mentioned jokingly about changing the terminology. Kalif Raymond worked out down in Jacksonville and a couple other players. Does that go on your radar and are you aware of guys possibly being debriefed in that situation? Are you concerned about that?
A: That happens frequently. We had a player from Jacksonville here. I think what’s important is, this time of year when you have one final cut, there’s a lot of players who are going for job interviews with other teams, and so it really falls on the integrity of the player. If the player wants to let them get debriefed about his former team, then that’s his business. You can’t worry about that because I do think this: Things change. All you’ve got to do is change a couple things and it doesn’t really matter, but the guys we’re talking about and the team they went to -- high character. I’m not worried about that.
 
Q:  What do you see with Jacksonville’s third down defense? I think it was one of the top five last year. What makes them so tough?
A:  First, they get pressure on the quarterback and they are somewhat exotic in the way they pressure, and then they’ve got good coverage behind it. That’s what makes you a good third down defense.
 
Q: With Saquon Barkley, he hasn’t played (a game) since he had a hamstring injury. He said he’s ready for a heavy workload. How do you go into a game looking at that and do you have to be cognizant of that hamstring and how much you use him?
A: You’ve heard me say this in the past, it takes a village with the running backs. The running backs that are up are all going to get their touches, and regardless of (Saquon Barkley), (Wayne Gallman), (Jonathan Stewart), whoever is up is going to get their touches. We’ll be smart about it.
 
Q: Tom Coughlin obviously has a deep connection to this franchise. Have you had a relationship with him in football and in your early days here, did you see his fingerprints around this building quite a bit?
A: I have certainly heard a lot about Tom and his years here -- 12 years. He helped the organization win two Super Bowls. Prior to coming here, I have a professional friendship with Tom and we’ve been able to communicate. One of the guys I talked to when I was talking to former players and coaches was Tom in the offseason, and I’ve communicated with him a few times in the offseason. I’m going to go to his fundraiser (the Jay Fund Champions for Children gala) on (September) 21st. I have great respect for Tom and what he accomplished, and certainly he left a very, very strong mark on this organization. All good stuff. That’s where that’s at.
 
Q:  Did you talk to him before taking the job about the job?
A: After I took the job. 
 
Q: Do you expect Olivier Vernon to practice today? If he can’t, and obviously he can’t be at 100% with a high ankle sprain, how much of a loss is that for the defense and how do you feel about the gap? 
A: He’s making great progress. From what I’ve seen, he seems to be a fast healer, but he’s working his way back. I don’t think he will be out there today. He’s doing a good job of trying to get back. Certainly when we don’t have OV in there, we’ve got to compensate and maybe two or three guys have to do what he does.  
 
Q: With the amount of roster turnover you’ve had since Sunday, some other guys towards the back end are still here. Do you worry about that creating a sense of them being on edge or uncomfortable? How do you balance?
A: We are all on edge and we are all uncomfortable. When we had the 53 guys that made the team in here, we congratulated them for making the initial 53, but we’re all trying to earn the right to stay here every day. It really doesn’t matter your view of who you are and where you are on the roster, we’re all fighting to stay here every day. 
 
Q:  What’s your mindset going to be as you get closer to your first game as head coach of the Giants?
A: Stay in the moment. Today is Wednesday. What’s important is, I think we’re on the right path. This is our first game and we’re going to do everything we can to put all our efforts into beating Jacksonville. We’re going to do Wednesday things today. 
 
Q: Is there a different build up than when you were a player?
A: I don’t know. I don’t think so, for me. I don’t think game day ever gets old. I love the whole process of everything. I love the process of as we get closer, the mock game, I like the meetings that are before a game, the team meals, and the buildup in the morning to the game. I have my own little process that I go through. I encourage the players if they don’t have one to start to establish one. It’s that game day routine that never gets old. For those of us that do it and we’re in the middle of it, it never gets old, and I think that’s the thing that players miss when they can no longer do this. Fortunately, I’m able to do it in my 50s. 
 
Q: You talked about changing the culture here. Now that you have a full offseason behind you, do you feel like you’ve accomplished that?
A: It’s a journey. This first game is the first game in that journey. We’ve done a lot of work, there’s a lot of water under the bridge. We feel good about our roster, we feel good about the coaches, the interaction with player personnel and administration, the communication and the way we communicate behind the scenes. We want to put a product on the field that our fans are proud to root for.
 
Q: With the way the roster has turned over recently and the people who didn’t play in games, what’s the unknown that you’ll know after Sunday’s game that you just can’t know yet?
A: Nobody played a full preseason game. You bring up a good point. Nobody in the NFL, all 32 teams, nobody really plays first snap to last, so everybody has played partial amounts of games. We all are waiting to see as coaches how a guy that we’re going to lean on can handle a full load. That’s where you see teams kind of improve as they go, especially through the first quarter of the year. I think I mentioned it before, in some ways, every game is very important, (but) in some ways, it’s a little bit of an extension of what we’ve been doing here in training camp, getting going. That’s why you have to practice and that’s why teams tend to improve if they can stay healthy and they work together. Some of that.
 
Q: Besides (Olivier Vernon), is there anybody on the injury report who might be questionable?
A: Evan (Engram) took the red jersey off. He’s officially out of the protocol. That’s probably the one of note.
 
Q: You said at some point you would reveal your number two quarterback. Are you ready to reveal that?
A: I’m very fond of a veteran presence backing up Eli (Manning). I’m glad you brought that up. Forget about the future, the future is now. Every NFL team is going to go into this year with a guy who’s a starter and a guy who’s his backup. The future is now, so that’s where we’re at.
 
On naming six captains:
A: I’m glad you brought that up, that’s worth talking about. We have two on offense, two on defense, two on special teams. The players and the coaches all voted. I think they chose well. That’s the group of players that I will meet with, and those will be our game captains throughout the season. They chose well. We’re talking about guys that can be an extension of this team. I told them this morning, it’s going to be fun for me to watch your team work. They’ve got to take ownership of it and be an extension of me and our organization, and represent our players. I think they’ll do that well.