Tom Coughlin: It was a heck of a football game being down at the half and coming out with the result that our players did and it didn't start out well. We talked about covering the kick and putting our defense in good position and what do we do? They run the kickoff back to the 47 yard line and end up with a field goal and then our opportunity right away stifled a little bit with the end zone being denied to us and kicking a couple of field goals there, but finally we just kept pounding away. When you look at it, we almost… I think we had 277 yards in the first half and that's frustrating without points, but we just kept pounding away and the big plays came and they certainly made their share of big plays as well, which is naturally a concern for us. The 80 yarder by Victor and Eli, that brought the score even and I think it definitely put the gas right back in our tanks and if it wasn't for the three interceptions with the point blank range or two of the interception returns, one with a penalty, 27-13 and the TD, I think we would've certainly felt even a little bit better at halftime, but we didn't get down. I think you'd like not to put your defense in that position, but the defensive players did a nice job of… Sudden change is a term that you throw around. They certainly were put in a bad spot there in the first half, but they continued to battle and fight and everybody believed what could happen and fortunately we were able to overcome.
Q: Could you talk about Diehl's situation?
Coughlin: I don't know much yet. It's early in the day. The players didn't come in till late. I don't know a heck of a lot. I know he had some swelling and they were going to do the MRIs and all the testing. I can't tell you anything right now.
Q: Do you know about the report from TV saying his injury was a MCL injury?
Coughlin: That's the part I do know, but I don't know the extent and hopefully that's it.
Q: It's definitely not an ACL?
Coughlin: I can't tell you anything more than what you're asking me. There's an MCL. Don't know anything more and I'm not going to be able to comment on anything else about the knee. The training room was 10:30 this morning.
Q: Is it the same for Bradshaw and Hixon or do you have any information on them?
Coughlin: No. I have no information other than basically what I had last night and nothing has been said yet this morning.
Q: The NFL said there were no infractions on the last play of the game. Do you expect to take or request any more action?
Coughlin: It's up to the NFL. I said what I said and I believe it to be accurate with regards to the number of years that I've been in this league and I've said my piece about it.
Q: Did anybody get injured on that play?
Coughlin: I don't have anything. Sometimes the next morning, you do get some people who come in that didn't have issues the day before and so we'll wait and see on that as well.
Q: If Bradshaw can't go against the Panthers, will you have Brown as the starter?
Coughlin: I don't know that yet. We'll just have to see where we are on that.
Q: What did Brown show you yesterday?
Coughlin: He did well. He did well for a guy that thought his role was basically going to be special teams. He played and played well and he was involved in some pass protection opportunities and did pretty well with that. There may have been one that wasn't quite as well done, but he ran hard, he ran fast, he really had a chance to break a couple. I thought maybe he was coming out there with one of them and he caught the ball out of the backfield well and knew to get north and south and took care of the ball and I think for the first time he's had that kind of exposure and play time, I thought he came through it well.
Q: How did Hosley look to you in his first start?
Coughlin: He battled. He's a competitive, scrappy guy and flew around pretty good. I think he got a bunch of that stuff from the field in his eye and had to come out for a little bit, but he competes.
Q: How do you feel Will Beatty did after he came in at left tackle?
Coughlin: Our pass protection held up very well most of the day. Eli bailed us out a few times on his ability to maneuver a little bit, get the ball out quick, so when Will came in, I thought that was continuous. Sean moved over to the right side and we were able to continue to play at a high level with our pass protection. Our runs occasionally were spotty, but I thought we got some things done with that as well. I'm sure there's some rust there for Beatty, but I think it was a good experience to get him back in there. He played probably more than we anticipated, but seemed to respond well.
Q: Why was Tryon in the game over Michael Coe down the stretch?
Coughlin: Coe has been in and out with his hamstring issues and we tried to keep him going and he did a pretty good job, but I think that would be the answer to that question.
Q: Can you talk about the importance of getting out of yesterday with a 1-1 record?
Coughlin: Each game is so critically important to you. If you look at our division, which is where we always go, three teams are now 1-1 and the Eagles are 2-0 and that's the primary thing, is to be able to stay right with the pack and keep yourself in the ball game in terms of that. If you win, that's a great thing. If you lose, you're scrambling, and I wouldn't go into detail on the 0-2 because we're 1-1.
Q: How close was Prince to playing and do you expect him to play on Thursday?
Coughlin: Well, we'll see. He did work last week as everybody knows and he did have one really good day I thought, a couple of days where we had some issues, so we'll see how he is having been able to rest here and hopefully he'll be a little bit stronger. Maybe perhaps play with a minimal amount of pain. We'll just have to see.
Q: Do you believe there is an unwavering confidence in the idea that Eli will come back and lead the team to victory?
Coughlin: I was really impressed by our people. We called our team together right as we came in the door at halftime. I didn't wait for the end of the halftime because I wanted to make sure that everybody understood that we were two scores down and we had overcome this before and the chanting and the little chirping from the players all indicated that they felt that way. It's not like we hadn't been here before and that type of thing and I liked the way they responded even though the turnovers put us in really bad shape. We had talked long and hard and really have been working hard on all three phases complementing each other and playing for each other and forget about offense, defense, special teams, it's about team and it's about finding a way to win and I thought that the players responded well to that.
Q: Does most of that belief come from Eli and his calmness in these situations?
Coughlin: Well it's the ability to come from behind and do something about it, which I would like to think that that capacity is very much implanted based on last year and then let's get the lead with that kind of thinking going forward.
Q: How did you evaluate the front four and their pass rush?
Coughlin: I think that we did get some pressure. We did play hard. A lot of what they did was very quick, which… Whether it was five-step or three-step, they did a nice job chipping and keeping people in and then they did a pretty good job when we only rushed four, but I thought at the end of the game we were still coming hard and the play at the end on Jason (Pierre-Paul's) continuous attack on the quarterback is what created the opportunity for us to have that interception late in the game, forcing the quarterback to release the ball without being totally set or before he really wanted to. I take from that guys are humming and trying and so on and so forth and sometimes you're getting home more than others, but the playing hard and the trying to get there was all a part of it.
Q: What can you say about Boley's impact on the team so far?
Coughlin: He was the right guy in the right spot yesterday, for sure, and he made a heck of a play the week before. Should have gotten in the end zone. If we would've helped him, he would've scored. He's a smart player. He gets a good feel for the game. When he's out there, he runs very well and he's made two good plays on the ball, so let's hope that continues.
Q: What's your level of concern with the play of the secondary?
Coughlin: Anytime you're giving up long touchdowns, you… The Williams catch, that was a heck of a play by him. I thought Justin was in pretty good shape. Actually, he did have a better idea that the ball was there than maybe some of the previous balls, to be honest with you, but I'm not going to take anything away from Williams or where the ball was thrown. It was thrown very well, but it's not what we're looking for. I'm sure they're thinking the same thing this morning as well, but we'd like to be in better position for those balls and hopefully we'll continue to improve with regards to that, but you have to again realize that there's some quality people on the field against you as well.
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