Loading ...The New York Giants have done a lot of apologizing to their fans lately. It started on Sunday when punter Steve Weatherford asked for forgiveness from fans after posting the video of Jason Pierre-Paul dumping his teammate Prince Amukamara into a cold-tub, and it continued on Monday as JPP himself apologized for the incident as well.
"For us guys, it was funny, but to the media and all the fans, they didn’t find it funny. I apologize to my fans. It was just a joke that [went] bad," JPP said.
In an offseason that has seen a plethora of good news, this is perhaps the only black mark on a team that has otherwise conducted itself with professionalism on and off the gridiron. The Giants have always prided themselves on keeping their players out of trouble off the field, and the team has done a relatively impressive job in doing so.
However, head coach Tom Coughlin isn't so much worried that the incident itself will have a negative effect on the locker room, but that the publication of it could violate trust issues between players.
“First of all, it was wrong of Steve to do that because there’s trust in the locker room,” Coughlin said. “People have to be able to rely on each other. You don’t think for one minute that would’ve happened if they said this was going to be public.”
For many the issue with this incident was that it portrayed a team of veterans terrorizing a former first-round pick, who already has the weight of the world on his shoulders heading into this season. After coming off a lackluster, injury-plagued rookie year, Prince Amukamara is being relied upon to start at cornerback in 2012 in the (potential) absence of Terrell Thomas. Surely, being thrown in the cold-tub did nothing for his confidence.
However, Justin Tuck disagrees. The team's defensive captain says that players have been promoting a culture of hazing rookies in the NFL for years. But that, at least for Prince, it has not shaken his confidence. In fact, Tuck says the second-year player out of Nebraska has practiced well over the last two weeks.
“You got to have a certain confidence about yourself,” Tuck, the defensive captain, said. “And I think that’s an area Prince is definitely growing up in, and it just seems like he’s had the best string of practices over the last two weeks I’ve seen him have and a lot of that has to do with his confidence level.”
It's debatable on whether this incident is overblown, or if it really represents a problem within NFL locker rooms. However, for Big Blue, the experienced, professional leadership on the roster should be able to resolve any conflicts that may arise as a result. As the team prepares for it's third preseason game against the Chicago Bears, it may be a breath of fresh air to get back to focusing on football again.
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BTW, as per FF55′s last comment on the previous thread, I have been saying that Beatty is a big fan floppy p*ssy since he was drafted. Never saw him as being the potential stud that others did. I know he’s “athletic,” but he has always been undersized and lacked any resembling an aggressive streak. No thanks.
They have to forgive Weatherford. First of all, he’s a punter, and almost all of them are strange. Second, he’s a California surfer dude who somehow grew up in the Midwest. The guy is great, but a little “off”. Maybe he’ll find a horse’s head in his locker (or a dead eagle, a drunk cowboy and a native american rolling dice where the helmet is stored) and that will be the end of it.
Weatherford is definitely out there. He just seems way too carefree and loves to have his voice heard. That’s fine, but posting videos/allowing the public into the behind the scenes stuff is never a good thing. Hopefully they’ll have some kind of kangaroo court and fix some of the stuff going on. I think Weatherford’s punishment should be a temporary ban on social media as well as being thrown into a tub of ice water by JPP.
Love the revisionist history on Beatty.
Dude was the Giants best offensive linemen in 2011 (I know, I know – that’s not saying much) before he got hurt.
Yeah, he was no great shakes as a run blocker. But I’m not sure how someone who effectively neutralized the likes of Trent Cole, Brain Orakpo, and Justin Smith can be characterized as soft.
When healthy (again, I know, I know…) he’s a premiere pass protecting LT. If he can get himself on the field for the majority of games this year, he’s gonna get paid. Big time.
I agree. He’s like Bynum was before this season last NBA season. Someone you know that can play even with some weaknesses but can’t stay on the field. Hopefully, Beatty will be able to stay on the field like Bynum was able to.
In breaking down our possible 53 I come up with:
QB 2
RB/FB 5
WR 6
TE 3
OL 9
Offense 25
DL 9
LB 7
DB 9
Defense 25
LS 1
P 1
PK 1
ST 3
Total 53
But questions are which players. The big question is DL where I think we only keep 4 DEs but due to our injuries to begin the year we need to keep 5 DTs. In breaking it down I’m moving further to the F55 view point that Austin could be IR’d. Like I said earlier we have 7 roster quality DTs. With Kuhn playing well and us signing Thomas I see Hendricks spot as the most shaky. So that leaves us at 6 DTs. If Austin is fine then Kuhn, Benard and Thomas spot’s are each in question. If you IR Austin you can just keep the other 5 DTs and make a decision later when Canty is healthy or when Sash returns. The last option is to keep Canty on PUP. This allows Canty to get 100% and more time to decide which DT or two will eventually be cut. But it’s risky if Canty could play by week 4 because that’s 3 games without our best DT.
Many of the other roster battles are less complicated. Scott or Brown; Barden, Stanback or Douglas; Paysinger or Jones; 2 out of Coe, Tryon, Bing, Molden, Hughes, Johnson or Scott. The OL is a little more complicated because of the lack of unproven depth. If Beatty weren’t a health concern maybe we keep only 8 but with his concern I think we have to carry 9 OL. With Petrus, Brewer and Lockear being pretty much locks the last spot is Mosley, White, Cordle, Capers or even McCants.
Sash is suspended so doesn’t count towards this roster.
It’s my understanding that Austin’s injury is not of the season ending variety and that he’s nearing his return. I don’t see the Giants placing him on IR. Maybe regular season PUP. Maybe. Plus if they tried to stash him on IR not only would that further stunt his development but if his injury is not of the season ending variety I can see Austin’s agent advising him to file a grievance through the NFLPA.
IR is one step away from us giving up on Austin so it’s an extreme move. I think that would occur if his injury was going to put him out several weeks into the season. PUP is not an option, you have to start training camp there and stay there to be eligible. Only Canty and Beckum are PUP eligible right now.
Comments regarding Beatty cannot be qualified with “if” or “when” he is healthy. Divorcing health and ability is one of the biggest mistakes made when evaluating players. They are inseparable attributes.
Take the following two statements:
1-”He is healthy all the time, but he has no ability”
2- “He has tons of ability, but he never plays.”
Most people would consider the first statement to be absurd, but would actually use the second statement as a defense of a player. In their pure form, both statements are equally absurd.
In Beatty’s case “never plays” is not true, so there is some validity to the second statement. But the closer he, or any other player is to “never” the less validity the second statement has and the closer it is to being as absurd as the first statement. Being enamored with ability leads to the false logic that enables chronically injured guys to stay on rosters longer than they should. Perhaps Beatty has had some bad luck, and you could make the case with the eye problem. However, the longer he isn’t on the field, the more irrelevant the reasons become. He simply needs to play to be of any value. Longevity and durability coupled with ability are what make guys like Anthony Munoz all-time greats.
Beatty largely did not play in his first two seasons (2009 & 2010) because he was still a raw project, not ready for prime time.
In 2011, his first season as a starter, he played very well (and yes, giving up only one or two sacks, I believe, qualifies as playing very well even if his run blocking was tepid) Then his season was ended by a fluke injury.
Now – 17 practices and *gasp* two games into the 2012 preseason – he has been unable to play. But there are still two preseason games – as well as sixteen regular season games – yet to be played. We still have no idea how many of those games Beatty will actually play in.
Calling him out for his chronic inability to stay on the field may be a tad premature, no?
It could be premature, I absolutely grant you that. My point is basically the longer this trend continues, the less legitimacy we can give to the argument that he is very athletic, but cannot stay healthy. We need more than a hypothetical LT,
didn’t Beatty start the first 6 games of ’10 on the PUP because of a foot?
According to NFL.com Wilson is taking snaps with the first team. What do you guys think of that?
I think that Wilson needs to be prepared to play with the first team. It’s not like Bradshaw is an iron man. He’s tough and plays through things, but dude has screws in his feet.
According to Coughlin this was the plan all along and has no bearing on the depth chart.
It probably was, I don’t see him edging out Danny Ware as the third down back with his blocking skills (or lack thereof)
Ware did himself no good with that matador block on the punt that was partially blocked. If you can’t protect the edge when you KNOW where the rush is coming from can you be relied upon to protect the Crown Jewels when pass-rushers can come from multiple angles?
I think Ware may start as the third down specialist but Wilson will pass him standing on the depth chart very quickly. Then Bradshaw had better stay healthy or he’ll start hearing footsteps too. David Wilson is going to be very, very, good.
Far as I’m concerned, the ONLY relevant thing I need to know about William Beatty is this:
Right now, he’s the best left tackle on the Giants roster. No one else is even close.
Meaning: he is going to continue to have value to this team right up until the point they have to place him on injured reserve.
Obviously, no one is going to be happy if he misses the first, 1,2, 6, or 9 games of the season. And if there were a half decent alternative all fueled up and ready to go in the garage, I’d say IR the bum and be done with it already. But since there is not, the Giants are going to have to exercise patience, keep their fingers crossed, and hope that whatever is ailing him goes away sooner rather than later.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that this is a contract year for Beatty. He has a huge financial stake in being able to get back on the field and play at a high level. A injury plagued season will almost certainly doom any chance he has of receiving a lucrative second contract. And while some may have questioned his motivation and passion for the game, I think it’s safe to say that in 2012 his eagerness to return to action will be no less than that held by the coaches or the fans.
I agree with everything you’ve said. I’ve contended all along that the offensive line’s season rises or falls with him.
And yet I still think he is in contention for the Miss America crown (hmm, he’s married….make that Mrs. America).
Chad is correct. If he cannot get on the field what good does his “potential” (of which we’ve actually only seen a little…yeah, he’s a good pass protector, but so far he’s a detriment in the running game) serve? The guy is pissing me off, which doesn’t mean anything. He’s pissing off Coughlin, which means a LOT. And meanwhile Locklear is getting a chance to show that he can get the job done and be relied on to be healthy. We ought to be watching him closely. If he can succeed at the above he may become one of Reese’s best moves.
I’d be SHOCKED if Locklear started the season at LT.
He’s played on the right side for most of his eight year career.
If the Seahawks (and Skins) were not comfortable with the idea of Locklear protecting Matt Hasselback’s (and Rex Grossman’s!) blind side…. why should anyone believe that Tom Coughlin will now entrust him with Eli Manning’s well being at this late stage of his career?
I know he’s gotten the lion’s share of preseason reps at LT. My hunch is that the coahes are readying him for a backup’s role to Diehl. But god save us if Locklear actually has to take any snaps at LT once the game start counting for real.
Martellus Bennett says he’s down from 291 lbs. to 269 lbs. #nyg
It’s funny since the infamous 290 lbs anouncement Bennett has had an outstanding run. I think he deserves to be our starter opening day with his all around game. It seems that he has grasp the offense. Pascoe will still be used but he doesn’t bring the talents Bennett does.
I cannot see them deciding he WON’T be the starter. He’s a real talent and he has outplayed bear pretty clearly.
If you play at 270 … then 291 isn’t really all that fat anyway. This was only an issue if it was ’291 and out of shape’ … which appears not to have been the case.
Bennett seems to carry his weight well. He didn’t look flabby by any means. He looked like a big guy, but if he’s in great shape then I could care less if he played at 300 lbs. He ran routes well, showed good hands, and he has that nasty demeanor while blocking. I love it. I think he’s got a huge chip on his shoulder and is out to prove to everyone that he really does belong as a starter in the NFL after having to play in Jason Witten’s shadow. I’m loving the black unicorn so far.
As far as Beatty goes, I know we’re all anxious and this could very well turn out to be the beginning of the end, however I don’t think missing time from sciatica is any indication of vaginitis. If you’ve ever had a truly bad case of it, you’ll know there’s no such thing as “toughing it out”. You can tough it out when it’s just “bothering you” but when it flares up, there’s nothing else going on in the world except that pain and no pain killers (even direct injections to the site) will touch it.
The real problem with the diagnosis is I’ve never heard of anybody have it just go away in any short amount of time. It’s generally something that can be tweaked for years and years after the initial problem, with those incidents becoming less and less frequent over time. We can’t afford that kind of schedule with Beatty. If he winds up missing more than a game or two this year because of it, I’ll be very skeptical that he’ll ever be over it enough to rely on him.
The thing about Beatty is his arc. His playing arc. He was drafted as an athletic OT who needed a year of work. Up until now he’s progressed right on schedule. Last year he was solid … unspectacular, but solid. The eye injury was a fluke … and seems completely healed.
However this year the arc is confounded. He’s not playing … and he’s developed a nagging back issue that has the potential to haunt him.
He was supposed to be a decent LT … working towards being a very good LT. Instead there’s talk of PUP … and backups … and Diehl … and drafting OLmen.
That’s what’s driving everyone crazy.
Beatty fuels talk of drafting on O-linemen, but it’s a bigger issue than that. If Beatty establishes himself and there is some progress among the developmental players, then that talk goes away. However, the strategy has yet to pay any real dividends. The line is still being held together by remnants of the Accorsi era (Snee and Diehl) and some free agents (Baas and Boothe). While Boothe has been around a while, he was actually an Al Davis pick by the Raiders. At the end of the day I don’t think I’d be heartbroken to see an early pick (1st or 2nd round) be spent on a highly graded o-lineman. Aside from Baas there haven’t been resources devoted to the position whether it be in the form of money or draft picks, in some time. Let’s hope this isn’t the year that it catches up to us. There is so much talent on this team it would be a shame.