Head Coach Tom Coughlin
Q: Corey Webster?
A: Didn't practice. I don't know. We're going to put him questionable. We'll see.
Q: Anybody definitely out?
A: The three – O'Hara, Tollefson, Nicks.
Q: As a defensive player, what have you seen from Coe?
A: He's done pretty well this week. He's practiced well and whenever called upon he's done a good job and he did a nice job on special teams, moved right in on practice pretty well.
Q: Some defensive guys have said the problem is a lack of intensity and a lack of focus. How do you fix that?
A: Well, first of all, I don't believe any of that stuff. I think there was intensity missing, there's no doubt about that, but I don't know how you have a lack of focus when so much is at stake. The intensity level – I said that from day one – wasn't as good as it should have been last week.
Q: How have the players responded this week?
A: They've practiced well. We've had good practices. That has not been the issue. Last week we practiced well, we had good enthusiasm. We had good enthusiasm in practice this week also. I think the key thing for us is the physical aspect of the game, get back to the physical battle, win the line of scrimmage.
Q: Do you address speculation about your job with the team?
A: No. It's not about me.
Q: What did you see in the run game the last time you played the Redskins that needs to be replicated again?
A: Well, not only did we rush the ball well when we blocked everybody, we broke some tackles. We had some nice plays that were above the x's and o's and I think we'll have to get back to some of that. I think every week you have to play above the x's and o's in this league and if you don't, you suffer, but we need to get back to doing that. The Redskins, as I've said, have had one game since we've played them where they ran the ball very well, so we'll start out with the idea that we have to rush the ball, but we also have to defend the run.
Q: What did you focus on this week with the line?
A: Well, every week we focus on the same thing. There's no more ingredient in nine on seven, inside drill, whatever you want to call it – we do it twice a week and we were back to that this week. It's just a challenge to retake the line of scrimmage. We didn't do that last weekend and we need to do it.
Q: Is Webster's injury with the bones in the ribs?
A: Ribs and a knee that's been bothering him. That's all.
Q: The defense pretty much dominated Washington last time. Does it change very much with Grossman at quarterback?
A: The two quarterbacks – no two quarterbacks are the same, so you do have to make adjustments that way, but the plan in itself, you tinker with it a little bit. You have to take into consideration what Grossman has been able to do and he's played very, very well these last three ballgames. He's said himself that last week wasn't as good as the previous two, but he still played well. We take almost the entire season of plays, even when Donovan was in there as well as right now when Rex is in there at quarterback and take all of those things into consideration.
Q: Eli has had 24 interceptions, but he also has a career-high in touchdowns. Which is a more accurate statement of who he is at this point in his career?
A: Well, we're very proud of the touchdowns certainly. We'd like to eliminate half, if you could, of the interceptions. Some of the interceptions are team, unfortunately, and they all show up under Eli's statistics, however, we've had I don't even know how many tipped balls, we've had a couple of times where we've not been on the same page with the receiver and we've paid dearly for that.
Q: You could finish with 10 wins and not get into the playoffs and a team with seven or eight will. Thoughts on that?
A: Someone asked me that the other day and my honest opinion on that is that my concern is with our team – our team playing well, our team eliminating the taste that we had last weekend after we played and play the way we're capable of playing, that's my concern. We had two weeks when we were in control of our own situation. We need help now. We pray that we get that help. The first thing we have to do is go to Washington and win and that's all I've been focused on, not the other part.
Q: Your players are totally behind you. How would you describe the dynamic between you and your guys this season?
A: This is my team and I love these guys one way or the other. I told them two weeks ago that I was proud of them. They were shocked that I said that after the Philadelphia game.
Q: Why do you think they were shocked?
A: I don't think they were shocked. They wouldn't think that I would open with that statement, but I did, so we all know that this game is about performing, it's about executing, it's about playing, it's about winning, so to that end we are a team, we are all together, all our goals are team oriented, we just have to go do it.
Q: Have these last five quarters of defense been an aberration or is there a deeper problem?
A: I don't think it was just the defense. It's not five quarters, it's less, but it's not just the defense. It was the way our team played last week. I can't say that completely, because I really did – our special teams played well last week, they played well enough for us to win, yet our offense and defense didn't.
Q: Is Canty okay? He's questionable?
A: Yeah. I hope he is. He still has a little bit of soreness.
Q: Is there anything you've seen in the last two games that makes you think that Mathias Kiwanuka really could have been helpful?
A: Well, you'd like to have all of your players and every coach in the league would say that. Unfortunately this is a league where you lose guys, guys are injured and they are forced to go on IR, so that statement – I'd love to have him, but we don't, so I deal with – I try to deal with reality.
Q: Now that Derek Hagan has a few more games under his belt, what are you expectations for him?
A: Obviously we need him very badly. We need him to play well. Michael Clayton, Devin Thomas – we need all of these guys to contribute and play well, not only on special teams, but on the offensive side of the ball as well.
Q: Do you have a different relationship with players in college vs. the NFL?
A: It's the bond that grows between a bunch of people when they're close and that's exactly what it is. Sometimes it's at a different age level, it may be more of because you have a bigger influence on them and their development, it could be more fatherly, depending on how you want to classify it, but it's just a bond that develops between people that work together and have common purposes and have the best interest of everybody at heart.
Q: You seem to have a better bond with the guys now than earlier in your time here. Why?
A: I think over time you adjust and you work with people and I think it's a natural thing when you're all striving to do the best you can. If all of your objectives are the same, if your goals are the same, if your purpose is the same, it naturally happens.
