Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Joe Judge

Head Coach Joe Judge

Opening Statement:Obviously, it was a different type of week for us in preparation. Thought the effort of the team was what we needed, but obviously the execution was not. Too many self-inflicted wounds today. Thought we had a chance for success. We had our shots, but we've got to make the most of them. You're not going to win a lot of games in this league with four turnovers. That's obviously something we preach and work on consistently. We've got to make sure that we eliminate the turnovers. Too many penalties today. Obviously, a lot of things we have to improve on as a team. The focus and the goal is the same as it always is, make adjustments now, come back in and be a better team than we were today to have success this week. With that being said, I'll open up to any questions you have.

Q: Can you talk about the decision to make the quarterback change? I know it's early, but do you think (Quarterback) Jake (Fromm) did enough to earn the starting job if (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones) is not ready next week?

A: We got to a point in the game where I wanted to see what Jake could do, point blank. We weren't doing enough moving the ball otherwise, so I wanted to make sure I had the chance to see Jake and that will obviously open up a conversation about what we're going to do this week. We'll talk about it as a staff and we'll make the best decision for the team.

Q: I know it happened late, but any idea on Shep (Wide Receiver Sterling Shepard)? Just looked bad initially.

A: I don't have a final diagnosis right now. He's in there right now being looked at by doctors.

Q: Why so late going to Fromm? It seemed like the offense might have benefitted from a spark earlier. Why wait until that point to make the switch?

A: I thought we had some opportunities with (Quarterback) Mike (Glennon) in there moving the ball. There were some shots we had. We thought it was time to go ahead and give Jake an opportunity to get in there and play. He got in there and moved the ball well, did some good things. Like I said, that will obviously open up the conversation in terms of what we're going to do next week against Philly.

Q: Did you think about putting Jake in right there before the third interception from Glennon when you guys had the ball after that turnover?

A: Yeah, we had discussions about it on the headset as a staff. I thought we would give Mike one more drive and see what he can do right there. After that, I said let's go ahead and get Jake in there.

Q: Receiver-wise, at the end of the third quarter, I think you only had one catch from (Wide Receiver Darius) Slayton, (Wide Receiver Kenny) Golladay and Shep. We know what a focus that has been for you. Why couldn't you get the ball to your receivers?

A: I'll have to go through the tape and kind of look at a lot of things. Obviously, there were a lot of plays that were called with the receivers in mind as main targets and focuses, so we'll look at the tape and see why we couldn't get it to them today.

Q: What do you attribute to all the mistakes offensively – the false starts, the self-inflicted wounds, as you called them, at this point of the season?

A: The turnovers, obviously we made mistakes in how we were going and pushing the ball down the field a little bit. In terms of the execution, we've got to make some plays and use good judgement and make good decisions. We've got to make sure we have better ball security at the end of the first half and not turn the ball over right there, put the defense in a position where they have to go back on the field and play defense. That being said, we've got to have better execution with it. The false starts, we've got to have better poise in there and better control. There's nothing that makes it acceptable. It's not something we accept at any point in time. Again, I don't think there's any one reason for it. We've got to make sure we clean that up right there and make sure the guys that are committing these issues that we put them through exactly what they need to do to correct them, and make sure that never repeats again.

Q: What do you see in the frustration level with that group? It looked like on the fourth down when you had the false start, you can see (Running Back) Saquon (Barkley) and some of the other guys really just kind of seemingly had had it in that regard.

A: We can't shoot ourselves in the foot, the entire team knows that. That's something that we talk about ad nauseam, we work ad nauseam in practice. When there's an opportunity to go out there and be aggressive and it's fourth-and-short, and we feel we have a play that's dialed up that's the right play, guys get a little frustrated when all of a sudden we do something that removes our opportunity to have that. In terms of as a team, I see these guys still sticking together and working very hard, pushing and rallying on through the finish of the game.

Q: Were you surprised at all by the loudness and the volume of the Cowboys fans in the building today?

A: No. There are a lot of Giants fans when we're playing in Dallas, too. This is what the National Football League is. There are going to be fans from both teams at every game. Especially when you're in the New York area, there are guys from all over the country, fan bases from all over the country that are here, so it is what it is.

Q: (Defensive Lineman) Leonard Williams, can you just talk about the game he had, just in his snap counts and the fact that he was able to go out there and play?

A: I'll tell you what, Leo really pushed through a lot. Leo was hurting a lot this week and there were a lot of things he was limited in during practice. We went out and worked him out yesterday. In terms of seeing if he could go out there, our biggest question with him was can he go out there and protect himself, defend himself and play effectively. We knew it would be some pain, some limitations. He knew that himself. Leo had a big part in the decision of going out there and playing. Thought the guy gutted it out, made a lot of big plays for us today. Did a good job as far as holding the point, destroying the blocks, creating some vertical pressure, opening up some games in the pass rush stuff. There are a lot of things we'll have to see on tape in terms of going forward, but Leo's a tough dude. He puts the team first, he goes out there and he competes. We knew it wasn't going to be an easy game for him in terms of what he was playing with, but both him and (Defensive Lineman) Austin Johnson were guys that were limited this week on the defensive front. We put them through a workout yesterday and both guys made the decision to go out there and play for the team. Both guys went out there and gutted through a lot of stuff today.

Q: You went for it on fourth down several times in tough situations deep in your own territory. You got some, didn't get some. Was that just a case where you felt like you needed to generate something on offense, you felt the defense was doing okay and you just needed to figure out some way to get some points going?

A: We had favorable looks, so you're not locked into absolutely having to go for it in just because you take the line right there. We always build in multiples that allow us to get out of jail free, as we say. If you don't like the look, you can always go ahead and take a delay and punt the ball. We had the looks we wanted on both ones – we had the big play with Book (Running Back Devontae Booker) down the sideline, that crack. Then, we had the opportunity for the sneak. We've got to convert and execute that right there. That's a look we wanted. You look back on the tablet and say, 'Okay, that's why we're calling it.' That's what we had it for. We've just got to go out and make sure we take advantage of it.

Q: With the sneak, you like the look there and is it more that you didn't get push up front or does Mike – he's a big man – does he have to kind of just get a little more leg drive right there?

A: I'm going to look at the tape before I make any kind of final statement there, but obviously we've got to execute better.

Q: With right tackle, I think (Tackle) Nate (Solder) played the first six or seven series and (Tackle) Matt (Peart) played the last five. What was the reason for the change there?

A: We were just making sure both guys got playing time today. Just kind of rolling our guys and getting a chance to look at everyone as we go on through it. Matt has practiced better. Matt's been out there doing some good things. Obviously, some things we have to clean up, but keep taking steps forward. Both guys – I say all the time, we expect all of our guys to play and that was just part of the plan.

Q: The last drive in the first half with Saquon's fumble, what was the approach there? It seemed like you guys were being sort of conservative. Are you trying to move the ball? Just trying to figure out what the approach was there.

A: Dallas had timeouts, so you want to get the ball rolling at that point. You've got to get the clock moving and not turn around and put yourself in position where the other team can go ahead and just get the ball back and finish the drive, finish the half with the ball in their hands. Getting the ball moving, just starting a drive and getting into it. We had timeouts to use, as well. I thought getting the ball to Saquon, start pushing them on down gave us a good start of the drive, good field position. Mixing in sub runs and taking shots down the field – you can call end of the half deals, you can call your offense to a good degree and the plays you like right there. I thought the play selection and the call was good right there, gave us an opportunity. We were going to have plenty of time as far as pushing it and getting field position and ending the half with the ball in our hands and a chance to score. We've got to make sure that we go ahead and we capitalize better as a team.

Q: What is your overall comment on defense? Dallas had mostly field goals, the defense was able to get a couple of quarterback sacks.

A: I thought for the most part those guys went out there in some tough situations today where they took the field and were able to hold them to some field goals. At the end of the half off another turnover, I liked the strip-sack at the end of the game in a tough situation, setting our offense up with a chance to have it right there. There are things we have to fix in all three phases. No one played perfect. I liked the effort out there. There were a lot of moving pieces this week on defense with some of the injuries up front and obviously a lot of moving parts on the backend with DBs that were out of the game for different reasons. That unit going out there and preparing on very, very short notice – they really had about one walkthrough together as a team to get ready for the game, so I was proud of how those guys came together and played with good effort. There are things we've got to clean up. There are things we can't accept – execution or coaching decisions right there – so we've got to make sure that we all get on the same page, but I am proud of the overall effort that the guys played with.