Q: How disappointing is it to hear Osi Umenyiora has been granted permission to seek a trade?A: That's with administration right now. I am just coaching the guys on the field. He is in my meetings. He is paying attention and he is apart of our football team right now.
Q: How do you feel about Mathias Kiwanuka?A: We have some changing parts in our defense. Some personnel have left and we really won't know the makeup of our defense for several weeks now. I am very happy to have him back in the fold and we do plan to do some nice things with him, how we employ those things will be determined a lot later.
Q: How do you feel about only having a few weeks this offseason?A: What we are really working on are the base fundamentals of football. We haven't been able to see our players for six or seven months and we want to get the fundamentals of football down and there are a lot of fundamentals that you need to cover with these guys that they haven't worked on.
Q: Do you think Mathias Kiwanuka can be a starting defensive end in the NFL?A: He can definitely do that for sure.
Q: What do you like about Mathias Kiwanuka as a player?A: His makeup and mentality as far as how he attacks blockers. How he approaches the game. He has excellent push off the ball. He has excellent strength and his long arms. He can keep a defender at bay. Those are just some of the qualities that he possesses at the defensive end position.
Q: What are your expectations of Jason Pierre-Paul?A: I have been impressed with him in the two practices that we had with Jason's retention from a year ago. That was one of the things that I was concerned about during the time they weren't with us. I think he is ready to assume that responsibility and come on and be a player for us.
Q: How has Marvin Austin looked so far?A: Marvin had a really good day yesterday. He really looked powerful. He looked strong. He looked quick. He retained the information and didn't have a lot of mental errors. It is a process with him also because we approach our installation as building blocks. We set a foundation and then we try to build upon that foundation. Then we build upon that foundation each and every practice. I was pleased the first two days but it will get tougher as we go along.
Q: What do you plan to do the secondary?A: It changes because the personnel is different. Again, we really won't know the makeup of our team for several weeks. There are a lot of things that will happen. Some of the players cannot practice until August 4th. You make plans but you can't employ those plans until you have your entire team together and then once you have your entire team together, you game plan.
Q: Do you look forward to playing the four defensive ends at one time?A: That's an excitement for me. I look forward to that challenge in a sense that it is a challenge and an excitement. I look forward to it because I can put them in different roles. I have to become creative and it allows us to become creative. It allows us to be more flexible in our defense. It is exciting and it's a challenge.
Q: Is your defense more difficult or more basic?A: I will let you find that out yourself.
Q: How are you a different coach after this offseason of interviews for head coaching positions?A: I like to think that I learned things in the interview process that I can take with me next time that I interview. I appreciate the New York Giants having me back because you are out there and interviewing for jobs and you found out how good you have it at the place that you are. I certainly appreciate the Giants allowing me to interview and come home and have a chance to coach this defense for the 2011 season.
Q: Without Prince Amukamara here in practice, how difficult is it to depend on him on the field?A: It is very tough because every day that he misses, he is missing good knowledge and good information. It is a word that he can use with his skill set so that will be very difficult. We would like to get him in as soon as possible but again that's above me right now.
Q: How do you feel about the linebackers?A: In the two days, Jon (Goff) is very comfortable making the calls and commanding the huddle and doing things we would like for him to do. Obviously, we have only had less than a hundred snaps probably so I can't come out and say boy he has made a jump because in the OTA's, if we would have had OTA's, you would know the personality and you would kind of know the make up of your team. With only two practices right now, we are only working on some moving skills and some moving sets and that type of things.
Q: What did Jonathan Goff show you last season?A: Jon (Goff) throughout the whole season showed me that he can play the run, he is valuable in the pass. Jon really played 35-40 plays for us last year and played them effectively. We hope he can increase those plays this year. Instead of being 35-40, be at 45 to 50 or 60 plays. That's the improvement that I'm looking for as the season goes on. Will he play more plays for us like in a sub package and different roles we can put him in?
Q: How critical of a season is it for Clint Sintim?A: I think every year is a critical year for any player. Clint (Sintim) is coming off an injury. He has come in with a great attitude. He has practiced well for two days. We had to limit him some because he is coming off an injury but I like his retention. He is able to retain the defense and apply the knowledge that he has learned and I think that is the problem he had a year ago.
Q: What makes you think he can be a starting linebacker?A: He will have to prove that to us. We are going to give him the opportunity but that is the great thing about competition. He will get the opportunity and he will have to prove that to us.
Q: What have you seen out of Linval Joseph so far?A: He shows power, he shows speed. He shows quickness. We have to work on him with some little things and I won't use the coaching point or phrases that we will work with him on but there are some little things that we would like him to improve on from a blocking scheme standpoint. I do like his mental makeup right now. Again we are only into two days of practice. All these guys are excited to be here just like as coaches, we are excited to be here and excited to be practicing football again. They have come in with great attitudes but can we have a consistent level of performance from them day in and day out? That is what we are looking for in our training camp this year.
Q: What do expect out of Kenny Phillips this season?A: I'm looking for him to take a quantum leap. After coming off his injury and playing in the 2010 season, as a coach, I will admit that I protected him a little bit. I wanted Kenny to be on the field, I wanted him to play for us. Football is a violent game and I tried to minimize the collisions that he encountered last year. He showed his football intelligence in the two days of camp. He is ready for that bigger role as we have talked. I am looking for big things.
