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Tuesday Media Transcript: Head Coach Pat Shurmur

Eric from BBI : Admin : 10/9/2018 1:44 pm
Head Coach Pat Shurmur
October 9, 2018
 
Q: How is (Aldrick) Rosas feeling today?
A: Better. We’re hopeful he will be ready to go Thursday.  In the event that he isn’t, though, we made a practice squad move with Marshall Koehn, so brought back a kicker that we’re familiar with.
 
Q: When do you have to make that decision by? (A: 4 p.m., Thursday)
A: Game day, I guess. As late as we have to. I’ll have to wait and see, but got a little leg injury, we’ll just see how quickly he can come back. That’s the challenge when you play a Thursday Night game. As you might expect in our world right now, it’s Thursday. As we get ready for the game, which it’s really like Friday, but Thursday in terms of preparation, when their body clocks tell them it’s Tuesday. That’s the challenge with the Thursday Night games and we all have to embrace it because we all have one. Our guys have really done a good job of getting themselves back. That was a physical game and there’s wear and tear that goes with that, and they’ve done a good job to this point.  
 
Q: Do you as a coach put more emphasis on a short week of the mental aspect of the game? 
A: It’s important because a lot of what you’d like to do at full speed, you have to do in walk-thru settings. That’s just part of getting their bodies right, because it’s important that you have a confident, energized team on game day. You just don’t have the time, so you move forward. 
 
Q: I know it’s early to look at standings but you’ve got some help around you even with your loss. Is that something you talk to the team about?
A: Nope. It’s a good point. I was made aware that everybody in our division lost, that really has no effect on us right now. We have to go out and win a game. That is what it is, but it’s just another indication and I’ve been saying it all along, you just keep playing. You never know. I think the last two times that the Giants made the (playoffs), I think they were 9-7, so we’ve just got to keep playing. These guys love to play the game, it’s their livelihood, but they certainly play it with great emotion and great passion and they just keep playing. As we get better, I think we played better last week. We need to find 63 more yards somewhere to get the win, but we played better and we’ve got to continue on that path. Then eventually it will crack.
 
Q: What do you expect from Evan Engram today? Is this rushed? If (he doesn’t come back), he’s got 11 or 12 days until the next game.
A: Two things: Number one, I think you burn the ships on every game, so whoever can play, plays. Then you reassess when the game is over. Evan’s been out for a while, but he’s going to be out here full speed today, so we are hopeful he will be ready to go. I think you get yourself in trouble, and I don’t think it’s very genuine to tell your team we’re going to worry more about down the road. I don’t know if that answers your question. We’ve put all our focus on the game we’re going to play and all our urgency.
 
Q: Is Brian Mihalik going to be your swing tackle?    
A: Yeah, he will be our swing tackle. Brian’s a guy, we’ve liked him all along, he’s been with us now for a while so he knows what we’re doing. He’s played in games for Detroit, and we’ve liked what we’ve seen in practice, and he’s gotten his promotion.
 
Q: Particularly offensively in some of the bigger plays, what did you like Sunday that you can hope would carry over?
A: We completed them. Levity once in a while is good. I think the important thing is, we always try to get big plays and sometimes you don’t. There’s some times you have to march the ball, but it was good. We took some shots and we hit on them. We had one more where Odell had the ball in his hands in the end zone on the one, but we were seeing a coverage that allowed that to happen and our guys did a better job of executing, protecting, and doing all the things necessary.
 
Q: Can that success breed confidence?       
A: I think so. I think what we’re confident about is that we got the ball across the end zone. We scored, and that’s where you build confidence. There needs to be an urgency, you’re charged with scoring every time you take the field on offense, and that’s what you want. If you’re going to be greedy about things, you want to score points.   
 
Q: You’ve made a lot of changes, and this is a new offense. Eli (Manning), (Sterling Shepard) and Odell (Beckham) had a lot of success against the Eagles last year. Do you go back and look at those games?
A: We do. We look at recent history certainly against the scheme. They’re an outstanding team, they won the Super Bowl, so yeah, we look at things that were successful a year ago. We as coaches are all fond of plays that work, and dependent on who you play, you know there’s good ideas, there’s a lot of creative minds in the NFL, and so you’re always looking for something that -- we call it, ‘it doesn’t get a card.’ In other words, something that they don’t practice. In every game, you do that, and sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.
 
Q: When you’re getting a guy back off injury – say you got Engram or OV back – do you put them on a pitch count, or do you just let the game unfold and see how it goes?
A: Burn the ships. If they get a jersey, they’re going to play. Then we manage it and keep track of it, but not necessarily a pitch count. Games play out differently, and so if you’re up, we expect that you can take a full load. If during the game there’s places where we’ve got to give guys a break, we do so.
 
Q: What do you remember about Doug Pederson as a quarterback and a player?
A: Yeah, I know a lot about Doug. I was a young assistant in Philly when we brought him in as a player, and he really was the bridge to (Donovan) McNabb playing, they drafted McNabb and Doug played the first half of the season and did a really good job. He was with (Andy Reid) in Green Bay, so he was able to add kind of the background to the stuff we were trying to do. He did an excellent job of working with Donovan at that time, and then we’ve just maintained a professional friendship through the years. He’s had success, and to his credit, he helped his team win a Super Bowl.
 
Q: As a QB guy, what impresses you about Carson Wentz and are the Eagles much different in what they do with Carson what they do with Nick Foles?
A: No, it’s the same offense. Very similar in nature, and I see a hybrid of things that we did the three years I was there with Chip (Kelly) in terms of the run game. They have Jeff Soutland there, who’s their line coach, and there’s some other coaches there, there’s some carry over, so I see some of those same concepts, but then you also see the things that Doug did at the Chiefs. They try to utilize their players’ strengths, they throw the ball to the tight ends a lot with Zach Ertz and (Dallas Goedert). In terms of the quarterback, I think we were all a big fan of Carson when he came out. He’s very intelligent, he’s very competitive, I admire the fact that he’s very genuine in his approach. I don’t know him per se, but it seems to me that there’s a humility there and a competitive spirit that I’m sure is contagious for their team. He can make plays off schedule because he’s a big, physical guy. I call them 60-yard check downs, it just turns into flat chaos, he’s running around, and he can locate a guy down the field and make a big play. I think that’s what he is as a player, at least from my perspective.
 
Q: You have a lot of different styles of leadership in your locker room and guys that seem to be attempting to lead in different ways. When you have a young player like (Saquon Barkley) who wants to be a leader and is developing in that, do you guide him in that process?
A: Absolutely. To your point, I spent a few minutes sitting with him on the plane after the game. I really think some of your younger players can be your best leaders. In the case of Saquon, he’s doing everything that you would want to see as a coach. He displays – he’s a lot like Carson Wentz, who I just talked about – he displays humility, he says the right thing but when he says it, and you all write about it and report on it, don’t you sense a genuine nature to what he says? You’ve got a genuine, competitive guy that can do really great things on the football field, and so those guys can lead naturally by just being themselves. If Saquon comes in everyday and everyday becomes the best version of Saquon he can become, and he sticks to those principles and that integrity, then of course, he’ll be a terrific leader, and he already has established himself that way.
 
Q: Is there an update on (Olivier Vernon)?
A: Yeah, he will be out there practicing today. We’re hopeful. I’m more hopeful.
 
Q: What do you need to see from him that’s different from last week or the week before that?
A: I don’t know, something that will make me even more hopeful than I was last week. I don’t know what to tell you there. He’ll be out there, and he’s fighting his way back. Make no mistake, OV is trying to get back. We all understand what a high ankle sprain can mean, and he’s doing everything in his power to get back on the field. When he’s back, we’re going to welcome him. 
 
Q: Is he limited today?
A: Yes, he will be. But he will be out there. We’re all limited.
 
No one questioned  
LawrenceTaylor56 : 10/9/2018 1:56 pm : link
about Flowers?
Yesterday  
bronxct1 : 10/9/2018 2:01 pm : link
I believe he took a few questions yesterday about Flowers. Not really much more to say on the topic.
RE: No one questioned  
Diver_Down : 10/9/2018 2:29 pm : link
In comment 14115933 LawrenceTaylor56 said:
Quote:
about Flowers?


I'm glad that there wasn't any questions on Ereck. The Giants have given him every opportunity to succeed. He failed. No need to devote any more time/resources discussing a player that is not on the team.
RE: Yesterday  
LawrenceTaylor56 : 10/9/2018 2:30 pm : link
In comment 14115948 bronxct1 said:
Quote:
I believe he took a few questions yesterday about Flowers. Not really much more to say on the topic.


Ah, you're right. I missed that. Thanks.
The new mantra,  
Big Blue '56 : 10/9/2018 2:38 pm : link
“burn the ships?”
RE: The new mantra,  
BlackLight : 10/9/2018 2:49 pm : link
In comment 14116019 Big Blue '56 said:
Quote:
“burn the ships?”


I like it.
RE: The new mantra,  
Diver_Down : 10/9/2018 3:23 pm : link
In comment 14116019 Big Blue '56 said:
Quote:
“burn the ships?”


I like it. It is a euphemism to live looking forward and not in the past - to proceed beyond the point of no return. Cortes when he landed in Veracruz to conquer the Aztec ordered his troops to burn the ships - forcing them to succeed in their conquest or die.
No Flowers qwuestions because the media screwed up  
nicky43 : 10/10/2018 10:28 am : link
They gave it away in the last conference that if they can't trade him they will release him so other teams knew right then to just wait until they release him and they don't need to give up a trade.

The media sucks in every way possible!
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