S Landon Collins
October 18, 2018
Q: On playing Monday night against the Falcons.
A: Honestly, the guys, we all come in here and we got a good opportunity to play a game again and its Monday night so it’s a good opportunity to play another Monday night game and just showcase that we’re still here. The guys are very positive about what we’re doing and excited.
Q: So how do you go out there and finish and get the W?
A: Exactly what you said, finish. Honestly, finishing every play using our eyes, playing our technique, playing our gap assignments correctly and making every play like it’s our last.
Q: When you look at their offense and how capable they are of putting up big points, how do you go into this game as a defensive unit?
A: Playing sound, honestly. We play with our eyes, play with sound technique, watching what we’re supposed to be watching and keeping our eyes off the quarterback because they’re a big play action team. We keep our eyes on what we’re supposed to be doing and where they’re supposed to be at, we’ll be alright.
Q: Bottom line do you still believe?
A: Yes of course I do.
Q: In what respect?
A: That we still can be one of those contenders.
Q: We keep hearing about finish, finish, finish. Why isn’t it being finished? Is it lack of execution? Why is that?
A: Lack of execution I would say. Not finishing the plays that we know should be able to finish or making plays we know we can make.
Q: Coach Shurmur was talking about his confidence level in guys not giving up, you’re 1-5. The outside world thinks your season is over at 1-5. He was talking about the resolve that he feels his players in this locker room have that you are continuing to fight and there’s no – I’m asking you what are the things you see in this room from most of your guys that you feel confident about that?
A: You still see smiles in people’s faces when they come up in here. Positive outlooks, nobody is saying the season’s over, nobody said that since we’ve been 1-5, no one has said that, and everybody’s just staying positive. We got the team, we got the guys, know what we can do and what we’re capable of so once we put one in the bucket I think we’re going to keep it going from there.
Q: How difficult is it when you go through stretches like this and lose some tough games to keep that attitude? What’s the challenge with that?
A: The challenge is that it’s hard. Definitely hard, but when you know you got guys that you play for, your brothers that you play for, guy on my left, guy on my right, you play for those guys each and every play. As long as we’re having a fun time, having a good time I’ll come in here with positive thoughts.
Q: How does it affect you guys to have 11 days between games? Does that help you or hurt you?
A: It helps. Body needs the rest. It helps a lot I’ll tell you that much. A lot of the guys needed that rest, a little break, but I would say it helps.
Q: Is there being an edge being that– last game you guys played was the Thursday night game and now it’s another primetime game. Just not wanting to have that sort of a result again losing by three touchdowns on primetime, having another opportunity to come out on national TV and show yourselves.
A: What’s the question?
Q: Is there sort of an edge that it’s back-to-back primetime games?
A: Is it an edge? No, I mean it’s a good opportunity to play football. Honestly, we got the time to go out there and play ball so we can show that we’re not that team that got beat by three touchdowns and we’re not that team so that’s what we got to do.
Q: How close do you think you guys are on defense because it seems like each game there’s one or two of those breakdowns that kind of get you?
A: What do you mean how close?
Q: How close do you think you are to kind of putting that game together defensively?
A: We’re right there. Like you said, it’s like one play, two plays. We’re right there, honestly. We just got to make those plays now.
Q: I’m sure you hear chatter and talk from fans who say Giants are better off losing and getting a higher draft pick. I know that doesn’t sit well with NFL players, but how do you react when you hear that?
A: I ignore it. I don’t even – that’s my first time hearing that comment, but it is what it is. That’s how fans want to be. Fans are going to say what they – fans got a right to their opinion so that’s how they feel and that’s what they want to say, that’s what they want to say.
Q: How difficult is Atlanta’s offense? What do you see when you see (Matt) Ryan and all those weapons?
A: It’s a big play action team, honestly. They’ll hit you with the misdirections, fake runs and stuff like that. You got to play with great technique, great eyes. You do that, you’re better off.
Q: When you say your eyes, what do you mean by that?
A: Watching what you’re supposed to be watching, keys, your techniques, the receiver or the line of scrimmage or the pulls, the gap schemes, stuff like that.
Q: So stay on what you’re supposed to be doing.
A: Correct.
Q: Looking at the stats, you have Odell (Beckham Jr.) and Julio (Jones) and they have, it’s like 89, 90 combined receptions and only one touchdown among them. When you get a certain reputation, do teams just say we’re not letting you beat us?
A: Yeah pretty much. When you got a reputation like that, when you got one of the best receivers in the game, yeah you got that reputation we are not letting this guy beat us and that’s how it’s going to be. That’s how people attack Odell, that’s how people attack Julio, that’s how people try to attack Antonio (Brown), Keenan (Allen), (Allen) Robinson, all the type of receiver’s people try to take them out the game so we can have a better chance of winning.
Q: What’s the missing ingredient right now for your defense to go from sometimes making the play to being dominant the way you were two years ago?
A: Make the play. That’s the only difference.
Q: When you guys are correcting mistakes, are you guys making the same mistakes over and over again? Like you go to the next game –
A: No. Besides the RPO stuff, we corrected that and then from that point on it’s been good.
Q: Don’t have to worry about that too much with Julio – with Matt Ryan.
A: No not with Matt Ryan pulling anything like that. Not at all. They use 12 back there, but you could play – we know they ain’t throwing the ball so you could just kind of play honest.
