Wide Receivers Coach Tyke Tolbert -- May 8, 2019
Q: What do you see for Corey Coleman this year because obviously, former first round pick, so obviously the talent is there, even when he came here last year only 5 catches, he did well in the return game, but only 5 catches. Kind of a big opportunity I’d think for him this year.
A: It is a big opportunity, especially him being in the offseason program with us. He’s getting the whole gambit if you will: from the very first install to the whole, you know, all the way through. Last year when he came in we were his fourth offense he’s been in, in maybe the span of 3 months. Now it’s just our offense the whole time so he can grasp what we’re doing and have a solid contribution. He’s doing well this year. He’s doing much better than he did last year.
Q: How do you expect defenses to play you guys differently without Odell?
A: It doesn’t matter. I don’t expect anything from anybody. Were going to go out there and run the offense.
Q: Did you talk to Odell after he got traded?
A: I’m going to say this about Odell, I don’t want this to be an Odell Q/A. Odell was a great player for us, with the Giants. We all love Odell, we respect him as a player and wish him nothing but the best with the Cleveland Browns. I know that Coach Shurmur and Mr. Gettleman have addressed all of the Odell Questions. So, I’m just going to look forward to coaching the guys we have in our room now and any other questions about Odell moving forward I'm going to respectfully refer them to coach Shurmur and Mr. Gettleman.
Q: What did you see from Darius Slayton at camp?
A: Slayton, I saw what we saw on tape. I saw a guy who has some pretty good size, who can run. His first practice, you know, he was trying to figure a lot of stuff out in the first half of the first practice, had a couple of drops, for the second half of that practice he made some good catches in traffic and had two good remaining days. So looking for explosive plays from Darius Slayton, he’s an explosive player who’s made a lot of plays, 21 or 22 yards a catch, something like that in college and I'm looking forward to him bringing that to the Giants.
Q: Did I see in that video you guys put out that you were actually like waiting for the pick? Seeing guys go off the board, were you kind of hoping he would slip a little bit to you guys?
A: Well I don’t know exactly what video you are referring to but we are always in the room when it’s time for us to pick so regardless of whoever we pick, we are in the room ready for that pick. So just fortunately, it was Darius Slayton.
Q: Obviously you believe in your group that you have now and the receivers but you lose one of the guys who is one of the best weapons in the entire league. How do you argue that this can be a better group or can you be a better group with Odell gone?
A: Well, I believe in the group that we have in the room right now. I'm very, very confident in my coaching ability and I coach guys from all different ends of the spectrum and whoever we put on the field is going to be a contributing player for our offense. So it doesn't matter who's in the room. We're going to coach him up to get him to play the best of your ability and will be successful with the guys we have in the room.
Q: Do you believe Sterling Shepard can be the kind of guy who steps up and shows that he is number 1 type receiver?
A: I believe Sterling Shepard is going to be the best Sterling Shepard that he can be. 1,2,5,6 doesn’t matter what number receiver you put on it, he’s going to be the best Sterling Shepard he can be and that’s how we are going to approach it.
Q: Do you need that number 1 receiver? One who can take on Odell’s workload?
A: Again, 1, 2, 5, it doesn’t matter because the receivers we put on the field are going to be the guys that we are confident in and who we want to go out there to make plays. Doesn’t matter what number you want to put on it, we are going to play the best players at all positions and I feel confident that whoever we put on the field. They are going to be able to go out there and make plays and help us win games.
Q: In the last month of the season when Odell was not playing, there seemed to be more of a spread the wealth kind of look to the offense. Do you see more of that this year without him, more like, you know, you don't know who the leading receivers might be on a game-to-game basis?
A: I see us getting the ball to the best players at whatever time it is. Whether it’s the backs, the tight ends, or receivers. It doesn't matter who is on the field because we call plays depending on who is on the field. It didn't matter who’s on the field. So, whoever is on the field, those guys are going to make plays for us.
Q: Does the dynamic change though when a player of Odell’s caliber leaves the room?
A: No.
So, four out of the next seven questions reference OBJ.
SMH
So, four out of the next seven questions reference OBJ.
When do media people ever listen to anyone/