QB Eli Manning
September 12, 2018
Q: What’s the mindset heading into this week?
A: I think the mindset is keep working, keep grinding. The way you look at it, it’s the first game of the season with a new coach, new players, new schemes. Not everything is going to be perfect. There’s some good things. Obviously, a lot we’re cleaning up as well. We just got to play better ball. We got to make some plays here and there, clean some things up, get on the same page with how we’re doing things. So, I think each week we’re going to learn a lot. We’re going to learn how to clean up this offense, how to clean up the mistakes that were made, and we’ll get better. There’s enough good things to build off, and know we can go out there and play better football.
Q: What’s the one thing you all need to clean up?
A: I don’t think there’s one thing. I think it’s just everybody understanding their assignments just a little bit crisper – just execution. Just make sure everybody knows exactly what’s going on. You just never know when that one mistake or little route here or assignment here can make a difference in a game. Just doing every little thing right. That’s on everybody, starting with me and the things I can do better.
Q: What did you think about (RB) Saquon Barkley’s touchdown run against Jacksonville?
A: I thought Saquon did some good things. He had a great run, which we needed. There’s some things we’ll work on, improve on, and find different ways to get him the ball, and see if he’ll continue to make some big plays.
Q: When you have a pass rusher like (Cowboys DE) Demarcus Lawrence, is there such a thing as over-preparing or overcompensating for a guy of his caliber?
A: He’s a good player. He’s high energy. He brings it every play. He brings it the whole game, all game long. We just got to know where he is and have a great plan for him. We got to mix up protections, mix up drops, mix up the point of where we’re throwing from, so we’re not always sitting there in the same spot every time, and try to get different ways just to slow him down.
Q: (Cowboys LB) Sean Lee has had some big stat games against this team. What is it in particular that gives you all the most trouble about him?
A: Sean is just a good player. He’s in the right spot. He’s kind of the leader of that defense. He’s does a good job of getting them all lined up. He just kind of smells out some things. He’s around the ball. He gets a lot of tackles. We just got to learn to know where he is. He’s going to be in the linebacker positon. We’ll just get our blocks on him, just be aware of him, and see if we can get him to miss some tackles.
Q: How important is that game for you guys in terms of not falling into an 0-2 hole?
A: Every game is important. It’s not one more important than the other. Every game is important and makes a difference. Our mindset is just having a great week of preparation, everybody being on the same page, understanding their schemes, know our assignments, go out there and play smart football, make plays, and put ourselves in a positon to win the game.
Q: What is different in these division games and rivalry games?
A: You just know the personnel well. You know a lot of the players. You play them twice a year for a number of years. You know they’re always a good team. They’re in the division. They’re going to have you all scouted, just because you’re used to playing them for so many years. It comes down to you have to execute and going out there and making plays in critical moments.
Q: Is it important for this team to get back the feeling of winning?
A: Yeah, I think it’s important to get that win and feel good about the work and the preparation. I don’t think it’s because of last year. You got a lot of new players, different guys. You put last year behind us. It’s about us as this group. Knowing that we can find ways to win football games.
Q: Inaudible
A: You just avoid the penalties, and penalties are going to happen sometimes. We had some sacks on first down also, and you get third-and-long. It’s not just one thing, it’s a number of things. We also had some runs that just didn’t get some yards. Those things are going to happen some in games. We just had too many of those series. I think we had maybe five third-and-13s or 14s. Those are too many. It’s hard to have those. You need to have one or two of those a game instead of five or six.
Q: The one throw to (WR) Odell (Beckham Jr.) in the end zone, did you just throw it a little too strong there?
A: A little more to it than that. He kind of got bumped off the safety a little bit. So, it’s harder just to get the exact angle. He did a good job and kind of adjusted based off his route. That wasn’t his exact route. We were just improvising there a little bit, and we just missed it a little bit.
Q: Does the Cowboys building ever get old?
A: It’s a divisional game. I’ve played in a lot of those buildings in Dallas, Philly, Washington. It’s about being in the division, and you got to win those divisional games.
A: A little more to it than that. He kind of got bumped off the safety a little bit. So, it’s harder just to get the exact angle. He did a good job and kind of adjusted based off his route. That wasn’t his exact route. We were just improvising there a little bit, and we just missed it a little bit
Speaks to what a lot of people saw, yet a ton of others are saying he missed a throw on. It was not a missed throw, but a lucky bump that caused it. Unfortunately, that is the margin of error playing against that Jags defense that couldn't be overcome (along with some other missed opportunities).