Head Coach Tom Coughlin
Opening Statement:
We are moving right forward into this week to prepare for the Seattle Seahawks, last year's World Champions. It is one of those things where we have done some preparing while we could in the bye week. [We] tried to put some things together in advance for that for this week, knowing it would be very quick, and it is.
Seattle is coming off their win against Oakland, a very good win for them, a very physical football game. They have won two in a row. They, of course as you know, lost to Dallas and St. Louis just prior to that and have a 5-3 record. They are a good football team, a physical football team. They make things happen. They run the ball. They stop the run. They are aggressive in the secondary. They have an outstanding quarterback who can run the ball and does run it very effectively. He is their number two rusher. The return game is outstanding. [Doug] Baldwin went back last week and did an outstanding job back there in the punt return area.
We have a full menu of information to digest here in a short amount of time. We are anxious to get to it.
Q: Eli has tended to struggle with throws over 20 yards… He was 0 for 7 Monday night, 3 for 24 on the season. What do you attribute that to?
A: I thought we were moving forward. Are we done talking about the other night or not? The other night, a couple of those balls, I think he had some people at his feet. I didn't think on one occasion the receiver was open, so he threw it over his head out-of-bounds. The ball was high at times during the game the other night. Fundamentally, he obviously just has to get the ball down. He knows that. We talked about it and hopefully we will get better at that.
Q: Odell Beckham has obviously done some very good things since he has come back from injury… Facing a guy like Richard Sherman and the Seahawks defense, what will the challenges be for a rookie, even one as talented as Odell?
A: He is going to have to learn, he will learn, whatever side he lines up on, that they are going to be in press alignment a majority of the game. In Richard Sherman, you have an outstanding defensive corner with long arms and a lot of speed. A very physical guy. For Odell, he is coming off a game in which he played against two outstanding corners and he is going to do the same thing this weekend.
Q: Given the number of new people in the lineup, have you been generally pleased with your quarterback's play for much of this season?
A: Yes, I have. An awful lot was done to ensure that Eli be given a chance to come back and play very well this year. I think that the quarterback attests to that. It wasn't quite as high the other night as it had been. His play has given us a chance.
Q: You play noise at practice every week… Will there be any extra because of the unique situation you face because of the noise that Seattle brings?
A: No, we will do the same. The Thursday-Friday edition of noise is just a reminder that you really do have to focus. We obviously will employ the different types of silent count and so on and so forth. Everybody has to be on the same page. We have been there before. We have played there before. We have played in very loud places before. This is a different group, I understand that. We have handled the road noise pretty well and we are going to have to again be able to demonstrate that this weekend.
Q: How much do you look at the tape of last year's game against Seattle now, given that you have a new offense?
A: We will look at it. We do our four to five game breakdown and that is based on this season. We will look at the tape just in terms of how they align to the different formations and see if there is anything different. It will be a little bit different for us in trying to interpret it. They have changed some, too. There are some different style adjustments as well with regard to Seattle.
Q: Will Rashad Jennings practice today?
A: No.
Q: [Will] Cullen Jenkins?
A: Cullen is going to start in individual and do very little in terms of team reps, but he is going to get started.
Q: Where is Rashad in his progress right now? Is he running at all or cutting?
A: He has done running. Straight ahead. I think he started to do some cutting, but I don't know if there is a full menu or diet of that coming. He is running though.
Q: Antrel Rolle yesterday on the radio called out this team and said it had a lack of passion… Is this concerning at all that he has said it two years in a row?
A: I think we played hard the other night. I think we played consistently hard throughout the game. What is Antrel's interpretation of that, I am not sure. I know he is an emotional guy and he does wear his emotions on his sleeve. He is a passionate young man. Not all people are the same. I think our preparation last week was certainly good. I thought that the idea of playing hard, not looking at the scoreboard, staying with it and working as hard as we could, I think, for the most part, we did that. It wasn't a 'rah-rah' situation most of the time on the sideline, but people were into the game and they were playing hard.
Q: Do you think this upcoming game against the defending champions is the kind of game that can turn around a season and start infusing some positive energy?
A: Anytime you have an opportunity to play – this is the second game of our nine-game schedule. We are excited about that part of it. A win can do a lot of things for you and put you back on track. Certainly the challenge is there for us this week, but nevertheless we look forward to it.
Q: Do you have an update on Weston Richburg?
A: 'Westy' is, I think, progressing. [SVP, Medical Services] Ronnie [Barnes] said that he was pleased with the way he was and it is going to end up being day-to-day.
Q: Was that just a sprain?
A: They called it a sprain.
