Loading ...After a weekend dominated by the morbid “will he?” or “won’t he?” regarding Chad Jones keeping his leg, I thought it best to turn our focus back to football nice and early this week. Where better to turn for a “State of the Giants” roundup than head coach and resident funny-man Tom Coughlin.
On the defense:
Q: Through the OTA’s and now minicamp, how do you see the defense? Do you think they are starting to gel?
A: They seem to be a group that had some fun working together. There are some personalities back there – (Antrel) Rolle and (Deon) Grant are gregarious kind of guys and that has been a real plus. And I think, hopefully, there is some confidence growing at the linebacker spot. And certainly you can see that there is some depth emerging in the front. So I think they are anxious to prove what they can do.
Q: You think Perry Fewell was a good hire then?
A: I think so, no doubt. I’m convinced of that.
G101′s take: every allusion to personality and leadership on defense may not be a subtle poke at Bill Sheridan and his mess of a unit, but it sure is sweet music to the ears of Giants fans…
Speaking of safeties:
Q: What is the one thing that you are most unsure about your team as you head into the summer?
A: I don’t know – so much has been made of getting Kenny Phillips back, I think, at full speed. And I’m very confident – he is, also, that he will be back. We look forward to that part of it. It is always a challenge integrating these young guys into the program and solving some of the issues that we had last year. Obviously always staying healthy and that type of thing.
G101′s take: On one hand, it’s good to hear Coughlin talk about Phillips as if he expects him back. On the other hand, I don’t like that a vague question about uncertainty immediately brought Kenny Phillips’ rehab to mind. “Confident…that he will be back” doesn’t necessarily mean opening day…
On replacing Hixon as a returner:
Q: Aaron Ross hasn’t done a lot – any – punt returns since he has been here. I know he has had injury problems in the past, but he seems like he has embraced taking an early shot at that. Do you see him in that role?
A: I would hope; I would hope. He did that in college. I would certainly hope that he would be one of the guys that would really be a consideration.
Q: Mario Manningham is a guy that Jerry Reese mentioned as well.
A: He has been back there consistently, yeah. The number one thing, of course, is the ball security issue. And that would be where someone has to really prove, first and foremost, that they have mastered that part of it. So it will be interesting in camp to see who comes to the front.
G101′s take: Let me translate that for you: “As of this moment, I would trust Aaron Ross to do it. Manningham? Not so much.” However, this is a moot point if recent waiver claim addition Chris Davis sticks to the roster.
Guys, if you missed Rich’s piece on Will Beatty the other day, check it out.
Now, let’s get Coughlin’s take on Beatty:
Q: What have you seen out of Will Beatty so far?
A: I like what I have seen. He has had a good offseason. He is bigger, he is stronger. He is playing both sides. We know that he is extremely athletic. Assignment-wise he has gotten pretty good. I see improvement.
Q: more on Beatty’s progress
A: Well, he just keeps going. He has just got to keep getting better. It is not about unseating or anything like that. It is the idea of having enough people here – of a high quality so that we can effectively use all of our people, whether it is extra linemen in short yardage and goal line – the little nicks that happen during the course of the year. So you just need a lot of good quality football players for a 16-game NFL schedule. So all of these young guys who have had one year of experience – in order for us to get where we want to go, we need them to be the best that they can be.
G101′s take: Beatty’s progress is one of the more interesting aspects of the offseason, and Coughlin seems to go out of his way to downplay the notion that Beatty is auditioning for a starting job, instead insisting that it’s just about getting better. Okay, Tom, whatever you say. Coughlin’s comments on Beatty, although guarded, were entirely positive.
On Andre Brown:
Q: Andre Brown seems to be doing fine.
A: He is doing a little better, yeah.
Q: Is he all the way back?
A: He has been cleared to go. Now you have to work your way back through something like that. He has had a couple of times during OTA’s that he has had a couple of issues. But he looked very good today and he has practiced both practices yesterday.
Q: He catches the ball.
A: Yeah he does. He does catch the ball well.
G101′s take: It really sounds like all of the medical limitations are off of Brown. From here, the next stop is just seeing him on the field: does he still have the explosion? If so, that’s good news for a Giants backfield that has lacked a bona fide receiving threat since Tiki Barber left football to…well, you get my point.
On Danny “DJ” Ware:
Q: Is there anything wrong the Danny Ware?
A: No.
Q: His reps?
A: He has had plenty of reps, take a look at yesterday. Are you counting them? Count them. There are five of them – four of them, excuse me. He gets lots of work. He catches the ball well, too.
G101′s take: Whoa! Touchy touchy there, Coughlin. Sounds to me like someone tried to ask, without asking, if DJ Ware was being buried for a reason. We’re not there to see whether Coughlin or the questioner was right about Ware’s reps, but there’s long been rumblings that the Giants staff aren’t huge fans of Ware. Trying to spoon-feed Brown and Gartrell Johnson reps in the hope that one of them can leapfrog Ware wouldn’t surprise me…
{Huge hat tip to Giants.com…}
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Short URL: http://www.giants101.com/3rdand1/je
To comment on something that caught my eye from the last thread:
Kujo, great call…but I think you’d have to mix The Most Interesting Man In The World with something a little more Grandfatherly to get FF55.
Perhaps Santa Claus or Wilford Brimmley or something like that…
****..ho..**** Happy Training Camp! LMAO that’s funny!
if you haven’t done it yet, you should pop over to http://www.bigblueinteractive.com
they have a link to a NY Post article on Chad Jones
pretty optimistic as these things go
nice to have what looks like a happy ending once in awhile
as always, the Giants’ greatest emissary, Charles Way, was there in person assuring Chad that the Giants organization will not abandon him
Good wake up call Simon with the Coughlin interview AKA the Grinch.
Interesting article. It really chaps my **** that Coughlin is such a ****. Would it hurt him to not answer every question as though he were being imposed upon? The media/P.R. portion of being a coach is important and creating an atmosphere of hostility and tension with the sports media that follows the Giants does nothin for this team.
2) I think his caution about KP is just that–caution. They don’t want to build him up as a sure thing in case of a set back, and they don’t want to write him off either. The proof is in the pudding and we’ll be getting a big batch of it in August.
3) The same can be said about Beatty. You gotta think Coughlin would prefer to go another year with Diehl at left tackle and Richie at left guard and isn’t overly-excited about the notion of a vet being beat out by a 2nd year player. Still, it seems like he’s saying that Beatty is really improving and that it will all work out.
4) DJ Ware might get cut if Brown and Gatrell prove to be adequate depth.
5) Mario Manningham will not be the PR for a Coughlin-coached team. I and others (including Simon) said it a few weeks back–he just doesn’t seem reliable, athleticism aside. Ross or this new guy will be handling it.
The key to Beatty is did he jack his strength and knowledge of the offense during the off season. If the Grinch I mean Coughlin says he did that, then the team just got very strong and flexable (deep) along the offensive line.
I am not sure they trust Beatty enough to move Deihl inside. However, if they want this kid to develop into a good left tackle, they need to start exposing him sooner rather than later.
If DD has incentives based on his play at LT, just make it right. And dont kill him for having moved from his natural position. Because he just might be a All Pro guard waiting to happen.
With Wimper and maybe Petrus being options, the unit could come back to being a strength. That will include Suebert backing up at either guard, and center. Whimper at guard, or RT. And Petrus in the wings.
Another note on Beatty.
At this point it wouldn’t be baptism by fire, like it was last year. If they name him a starter sooner than later, he will have an opportunity to get comfortable in that spot. I think that Carolina game would be a perfect place to start, they don’t have Peppers any more, and the sooner he gets in there, the more comfortable he will be, the backs will be running behind him, Eli will be with his protection.
I would prefer to see him start game 1 than come in when they think he is “ready” only because i just feel like when he is “coughlin ready” it will be the first game within the NFC east and I would prefer he gets some real life experience against some good competition (indy, the bears) along that o-line before we hit the meat of our schedule (i.e. the NFC EAST).
I think you are dead on GG.
However taking into account the Coughlin effect, we are going to be lucky to see the kid play LT in training camp. Let alone during the Carolina game.
They need to let him play. He he has real problmes, if its too big for him, the shove DD back in there.
I don’t trust Manningham either. Cause he had that ONE fumble in 2009.
Eli Manning had NINE. That butter-fingered dufus needs to be out of the lineup ASAP.
I guess no one ever told TC that nothing beats a failure except another try.
And I bet TC never made a mistake either. Which means he’s never done a damn thing.
And Hakeem “Fumble Boy” Nicks had 2… twice as many as Mario. Take a seat next to Eli till you learn how to hang on to the rock.
hey, yall-
damn, i went to a wedding and stay off the internet for a few days and Chad Jones almost dies…insane.
my only thought and opinion about this is that maybe we should be just a LITTLE (a little) more concerned with the fact that he is a human being and not just our 4th safety?
im not trying to say that we have to send his folks flowers and cards but i looked back and some of the first comments were about what we would do with the safety position, not “gee, i hope the kid is aight”
KD went so far as to call the kid a **** when hes up in the hospital in serious condition. Thats all kinds of messed up, man. I know your persona on here is that of the callous know-it-all and you have a reputation to keep, but damn dude. You wouldnt be any less cool and worldly in our eyes had you offered a note of concern before telling us, like always, what the all-knowing KD would do in said situation.
Who knows if some of Jones’ family found this site after he got drafted and happen to come here and read that ish? All im saying is, it doesnt take any effort to show a modicum of respect. I realize that this will probably inspire a chorus of people saying that i am once again taking ish to seriously but oh well….
Obviously you didn’t get the standard addendum I suggested that we attach to all Chad Jones posts.