Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey
Q: What did you see from (wide receiver) Gunner Olszewski in the workout?
A: He did a good job. He's typical Gunner. The same thing you see on tape, he does a good job of tracking the ball and excellent punt catcher. Early in his career, he had a really, really, really good start. He does a great job of getting the ball vertical, so good player.
Q: He fumbled a couple with the Steelers this year, how much of that is a concern given that's something you guys are trying to fix?
A: That's just something ongoing, like that's something you are always trying to get better at. Ball security is something that we work every day. I talked to him, had a good talk with him about it and I think he's in a good space, so we just got to keep working at it. That's all it is.
Q: Take us through Sunday, where (running back Eric) Gray gets hurt, you got to put (wide receiver Sterling) Shep(ard) back there, then you take him out, just kind of what it's like managing that?
A: It's always tough. That was a tough day Sunday. I mean you look at, not just for the guys catching punts, you look at the kickers, like it was a tough day. You look at their guy, (Commanders kicker) Joey (Slye) struggled on the same end (kicker) Graham (Gano) struggled on. Their guy put a ball on the ground because it was just a tough day. It was gusty winds and then you got two power punters that are left footed, which is not easy to catch. So, it was a whole process and it's never a good thing when you have to go through those things, but that's just ball. That happens. Especially here in the Meadowlands. I mean, that's what you are going to deal with at times. I was here before when it was ten times worse than this, so I mean it's just something you've got to deal with.
Q: What's the conversation like with Shep after you replaced him?
A: Keep your head up, let's go, next play. That's all it is. You can't dwell on what just happened, the most important play is the next one, so we've just got to wipe that one out, one snap and clear it and go to the next one.
Q: What have you seen from Eric's confidence with a couple of muffs?
A: Like I said, we catch balls out here every day. I don't see him losing any confidence, but again, it's just one of those days. It's a windy day and it doesn't help you, obviously. I mean you don't feel good about it. That's just something that you have to deal with knowing that you play in our stadium during this time of year. You are going to get wind gusts, especially when they knocked the race track down, the wind patterns changed in the stadium, so it's just different.
Q: With the wind pattern change, what went into that?
A: Oh, it's totally different. When they knocked down the race track over there, it changed the whole wind pattern to one end of the stadium. It used to be a definite wind pattern in the stadium and once they knocked the race track down, that far end to the left of our bench is just totally different.
Q: How is it different?
A: It's just the wind swirls down on that end and it pushes back, so it's just different and that's something we've just got to get used to.
Q: What do you do to get Gunner ready for that and how do you prepare for that?
A: We'll get them all ready. We catch balls in the stadium, we'll catch them out here. Obviously, we know it's windy out here, so that's just something that we'll do moving forward, just making sure we get acclimated better to it and just to be able to use it to our advantage. Just being able to go over there and catch balls in the stadium.
Q: (Defensive lineman) Leo(nard Williams) gave you a little bit of credit on the field goal block, said you moved him from backside to the front. What did you see, I mean was that intentional or circumstantial?
A: Leo is a great player. Anytime you can put a great player in a position to make a play, all it is put him over there and he did everything else. I didn't make him 7'1 or whatever it is, 8'5 reach or whatever it is, but he's long and Joey does a really good job of getting the ball up quick and he made a play, and he was ready to make the play.
Q: The bar for Graham is obviously ridiculously high, he's made like 90 percent of his field goals for the Giants. Is he going through anything that he's missed four already this year?
A: I think it's a couple things with him, but it's just mainly, obviously we had one blocked and then he was kind of banged up on the next one that he had to kick because he had to make a tackle, so it's nothing crazy. I told him yesterday, I was like, we are not going to make a bigger deal of this than what it is, and we've seen Graham get on a hot streak, we've seen him make 30 kicks, 34 kicks, 33 kicks in a row, right? Again, the bar is set high, but we know what he's capable of, so we are just working through the process. He will be alright; he'll be fine.
Q: How valuable has (cornerback) Nick McCloud been? He's recovered both the muffs, just kind of always in the right spot for you.
A: Nick has done great job. He's long, he has really good speed and he's a super, super competitive guy, like he's very, very competitive. He's done a great job since he's been here, he works his tail off, hardly says two words, but when that ball's up in the air, he's going to go get it and he does a really good job.
Q: When (inside linebacker) Cam Brown makes a tackle like he did, is that kind of a once in a year thing, you just hit him perfect?
A: Hopefully it's not (laughs). Hopefully we get about 10 or 12 more out of Cam with that, but he squared him up pretty good. It was the old school 'woo' hit, make the crowd say 'woo'. He did a nice job of just stepping up and stepping to contact and finishing.
Q: Does that pick up the whole team?
A: Absolutely. You see the juice from the sideline and the whole building, and we need more plays like that from our guys.
Q: As a resident, been here a long-time guy, what do you make of the Jets-Giants rivalry, what does it mean in this building?
A: The Jets-Giants rivalry, obviously, is big for the city. I've been on both sides of it, so you know what it's like. It'll be a great atmosphere on Sunday, it'll be fun driving through the parking lot and seeing all the Jets and Giants fans and it's something that the city talks about all year around for bragging rights. So, it'll be fun, it'll be fun to watch.
Q: Their returner (Jets wide receiver) Xavier Gipson has been pretty dangerous this year, I guess just how dangerous is he?
A: He's scary. I mean, ask Buffalo, you know what I mean? This guy, he does a really good job of sticking his foot in the ground and making people miss out in space and he accelerates quickly and those are things that you want in a returner, to be able to have really good short area quickness and accelerate in a hurry, so he has some really good traits about him and he's dangerous, that's for sure.
Q: I know it's rare in today's game for the returner to have that big of an impact where you are looking to kick away from guyss. You don't see that much. Is Gipson the kind of guy who, because of what he has put on tape, you might think about keeping the ball away from?
A: I don't care who's back there, if we can limit him to no yards, that's what we are going to do and he is dangerous, but our deal is to do what we do best. Obviously, we will account for the opponent, but to me as a coach I got to make sure we put our guys in a position to where we can execute at a high-level and be at our absolute best. Obviously, if we have somebody back there that we want to keep the ball away from, we'll play some keep away, but that's the game within the game.
Q: What did (running back Jashaun) Corbin show you on special teams in the summer?
A: Jashaun did a great job when he was here. It was tough, but he did a great job and I love the kid. He works his tail off, he plays hard, he's physical and he's a good man. He's a great teammate, all the guys I know they were super happy to get him back because he is such a good guy and a great teammate, but no, he did a really good job in the spring and last year as a young player. He'll be fine.
