Head Coach Joe Judge

Q: There was a report that Saquon's (Barkley) surgery is scheduled for next week. Is that true and do you have any other information on that?

A: At this point, I don't have any information on that. I have to check with Ronnie (Barnes) and see when everything is final. I know Saquon was with us this weekend on the trip. As far as when his surgery can officially take place, I don't have a date right now specifically myself. But I'll talk to Ronnie when we're done here about a lot of guys today.

Q: How did Devonta Freeman come out of last night? I know he had the ankle. Were there any other meaningful injuries coming out of the game?

A: Again, I have to check with a lot of guys in terms of where they're at today with Ronnie. But I would say with Devonta, he finished the game for us. He's been obviously playing through a bunch of nicks and bumps like a lot of guys in the league are at this point in time. But he's a tough dude. He never complains, so you'd never really know anything is wrong with him.

Q: You guys have seen seven games of Andrew Thomas now at left tackle. I'm just curious what has he done that makes you believe he deserves to be the starting left tackle still?

A: He's done a lot. Andrew's a good guy to build with. We have a lot of plans long-term with Andrew. He's the kind of guy we want to work with, both physically and his personality off the field. We have a lot of confidence in Andrew. We're going to keep working with him and developing him going forward. I fully expect Andrew to have a very productive, long career in this league. We enjoy him being a Giant.

Q: A follow up on Andrew, do you think his confidence has been hurt at all with the struggles he's gone through?

A: I see him coming to work every day with a good attitude, effort and energy. When you see guys with confidence issues, normally the urgency goes down. I see this guy work tirelessly every day, so no. He's a pleasure to be around right there. Look, he's a young player who's still learning to develop in this league. Nothing is going to be perfect all the time. We need to keep doing a good job of coaching him and bringing him along.

Q: What do you need to do to sort of clean up some of the mistakes that keep showing up time and again?

A: I think with any young player, it always comes down to just fundamentals, that you can execute your technique at the right time against the speed of the game.

Q: In the last three weeks and maybe throughout the season, the two-minute defense has struggled. Is there a common thread there?

A: They're all different opponents and they attack you in different ways. We've had different personnel on the field throughout all those games for the most part, some changing parts. Look, we just need to do a better job of coaching the situation and executing as players. Everyone has to raise their level of play. That's something that we have to work on as a team, and need to see marked improvement going forward.

Q: The other thing quickly was Graham Gano, it looked like he tweaked his kicking leg. Could he have kicked last night a long one?

A: Yeah, Graham finished the game for us. We had no plans of changing anything we would have done with him differently. We'll see where he's at physically today. But he kicked the ball really well for us last night. To answer that question for you, you can easily see a lot of times with kickers based on their kickoffs. In terms of the plan on kicking a long field goal, you look at Graham, the hang time and the distance he had on the kickoffs, I think that kind of shows you where his leg was at last night. We moved the ball around a little bit and placed the ball differently. But when we asked Graham to go ahead and bang the ball, he banged it pretty good and put it deep in the end zone with good hang time. That answers your question right there in terms of where we thought he was physically last night.

Q: When a player has a play like Daniel's (Jones) run last night that sort of ended ignominiously, it kind of takes on a life of its own. That's sort of the social media world we live in. Is that any part of your purview to help him get through that part of it? And what you saw on that play?

A: I thought he made a nice run. Look, we'd like him to stay up and finish it. He stumbled. That's something you don't want to happen. Look, internally, that'll be something eventually we'll be able to laugh about. Right now, we'll correct some techniques and things. I thought Jason (Garrett) made a good call at the right time. Daniel did a good job on the mesh as far as hiding that thing, disguising it and pulling it. He made a real nice run to get down there. It was a huge gain for the team, put us in a position to score and the team capitalized on it. In terms of the social media part of it right there, look, the internet is undefeated. There are funny things all over the place. You just need to have a sense of humor. When someone sends you something or shows you something, you have to be willing to laugh at yourself sometimes.

Q: Your next game is a day before the trade deadline. How does last night's game affect what you're going to do in the next 10 days leading up to that?

A: We haven't really had too many conversations as of yet as far as how that would affect anything right there. Our focus right now with this long weekend is just reviewing what we've done the first half of the season, coaching and playing, and making sure when the players come back that we've made some adjustments going forward. That can be something in terms of how we practice, how we prepare, techniques we're using with certain players, whatever that may be. We're kind of treating this a little bit right now like we would in a bye week. It's a good opportunity for the players to get physically refreshed, mentally refreshed, and when they come back on Monday, getting back into ball with those guys.

Q: When you looked at the Evan Engram play, the drop near the end of the game, did you think he should have caught the ball? If so, is there anything wrong with a head coach frankly saying, 'I think he should have caught the ball'?

A: I think everyone has their own style right there. To me, across the board, it's easy to play Monday morning quarterback for a lot of people. We expect our players to perform in critical situations. Evan put us in position to be in that part of the game yesterday with how he performed. I thought he did a good job showing up, he was very productive for us. I like the way he comes to work, prepares and battles. Look, we'll address that internally with how we can do things. I have no complaints on how Evan comes to work, what kind of teammate he is, and what he's helping us build going forward right there. With how some other head coach wants to handle that, that's on them.

Q: Coaches always say when you're trying to build a team and gain confidence as a team, when you get some positive reinforcement, it's easier. They win and you can point out mistakes and also point out things they did well. With so little winning this year, does it make your job harder to try to get positive reinforcement and build a team where there is so much losing that comes as a result of that?

A: I've always been very blunt and honest from day one. Regardless of if it's coming off the field after a hard practice, coming off the field after a win or a loss, they are getting the same personality and feedback regardless. When you do something good, I'm going to highlight it and point it out. When you do something wrong, I'm going to show that to the team as well and make sure we correct it. Everyone has to learn the lesson. In terms of trying to use wins or losses at times to motivate or address players, to me you just have to be consistent on a daily basis. You don't have to wait for the right time to correct someone, the right time to get motivation for somebody. The thing is to be consistent as a coach every day, so the players know what to expect coming in. They've been very consistent and very repetitive the entire way as well, all of them. I understand what you're saying, I've worked for a lot of coaches who have said in the past, 'hey, you can correct more after a win and after a loss you have to kind of pick them up.' I'm going to be honest with you, that's not really my personality. I think you just tell it like it is and people aware. They take the corrections as they come.

Q: I know you said you haven't had much time to discuss the trade deadline. Any of those decisions, do you expect to have input on those decisions? Kind of like free agency and the draft with personnel.

A: We've had great synergy in the building since I have been here with everybody involved. We've been very open with a lot of discussions and talking through the personnel. Whether that was free agency or the draft, training camp or final cuts. There's been great communication across the board. I expect that to continue. We've done a good job working together as a team.

Q: Any moves you do make, and I understand you haven't made any and you don't know if you will, any moves that you do make, do you have to consider what kind of message that sends to the locker room? How that affects some of the young guys' development? Say it was an offensive guy, do you have to consider the ripple effect from those moves?

A: I don't know that there needs to be an assumption that there is going to be a string of moves anyway. Right now, I think if I comment on a lot of this, all of the sudden you have players kind of anticipating what are we looking to do. I'm very clear with the players from day one that any decision we make is in the best interests of the team. That's something I told them from day one and I always reiterate that to them. However, just because there is a trade deadline coming up doesn't mean there is going to be a string of moves or something we're going to have to look to go ahead and do and flip a lot of things. We always have personnel conversations. We always discuss (inaudible). We always make sure we're on the same page. This week is no different just because there is a deadline approaching.

Q: How do you balance as a head coach trying to put the best team on the field for this year and looking at the big picture of wanting to continue to build around a young roster? Maybe not give up draft picks or assets at the deadline.

A: Part of the question you guys ask me every week, who do we expect to play at certain positions. I've been telling you every week, anyone at the game is going to play. We're into developing all of our players. Whether that's rotating linemen at different positions, getting a couple new DB's in, make sure they are getting exposure. Make sure guys are getting reps in the kicking game. We saw TJ Brunson got into the game yesterday for the first time. He made a real nice play on kickoff. Went down there and showed what we have been seeing at practice for the time right now. We're looking to develop our players all the time. To me, we're going out there to be competitive and win every game every week. We're not racing for some kind of a draft pick, that's not our priority right now. We're trying to go out there, we're trying to win, that's our goal as an organization. In terms of bringing players along, we're using every player we have to develop to the future. We're always thinking about the future in what we do. The future includes the Sunday game coming up that week as well as the long-term picture. The balance is always how it works off each other all the time anyway.

Q: I was curious with the Madre Harper late hit last night and then the hit on Desean Jackson, just your thoughts on seeing that on film and how you addressed it internally with Madre?

A: We haven't had team meetings yet, so I haven't had a chance to look at the tape before addressing Madre. I talked to him in the locker room. I'll keep that conversation between me and him right now. When we have team meetings on Monday when the players come back, anything we have to correct, we will. 

Q: After the game last night, Evan Engram was understandably down, given his performance. He's had a rough start to his year. I'm just wondering what's your approach in keeping his confidence up. Not letting his struggles manifest in his performance moving forward.

A: I'm not going to try and be a psychologist with him. I'm going to let him know right now, he's an important player for us. He makes a lot of big plays. He put us in a position last night be competitive down the stretch. We all have to coach better, we all have to make plays and execute on the field. To me, there is not a player on our team that needs to worry about confidence or these questions about confidence issues. Confidence comes from practice, execution, and then in-game success. In terms of Evan as a player, we have all the confidence in him possible. We're going to keep giving him the ball, keep making him the focal point of our offense. We expect him to keep showing up. He did a lot of good things for us last night.

Running Back Wayne Gallman

Q: How beneficial was it to you to get some rhythm going? It seems like every time you got opportunities, when it's not like one here one there, that's when you seem to produce best.

A: Rhythm comes with plays of course. For me and my situation, I just come in and try to do my best when my number is called. I just have to stay ready. That's really the big thing with me, staying ready staying locked into the game. Not trying to make it too big, but just sometimes, take the base hit and see what happens. Just playing smart.

Q: How difficult do you find it when you're coming in for one or two plays here and there and there is no consistent opportunity?

A: You and I both know it can be a little frustrating, but at the same time it's for the sake of the team. I can care less, just come in and do my job when my number is called. It is what it is, I have to control what I can control and just take it from there.

Q: It's been frustrating for you with the opportunities and what not. You talk about staying ready, but how do you not let the opportunities that aren't there manifest itself to where you're saying am I every going to get this opportunity? Why am I even bothering going through this?

A: Honestly, I use to think that way but there is no reason to think that way. The main focus is to come in and do my job. I really can't worry about all that because all that is not controllable. I just have to focus on doing my job and being Wayne.

Q: Did you have that change of heart maybe when you got the fresh start with this coaching staff?

A: Just general living, just life. Learning life, getting mature.

Q: I know you and Evan are very close. What did you say to him or do you not say anything to him after that kind of game. He was obviously very upset and accountable with us. I'm wondering on the bus ride home in the locker room, what you say or what you don't say to Evan Engram in that spot?

A: I just told him I got his back. That's my brother. We came in together, we've been here together for a real long time. I love Evan. I told him I love him, and I got his back. That's really all that needs to be said. He knows what he needs to do. He's got to flip the switch. Go on to the next play, put that behind you and get prepared for the next week.

Q: I don't know if you realize this, you're one of the longest tenured guys in this locker room. The locker room has seen a lot of losing the last couple of years. Does this feel any different? Does this feel like here we go again, we've been here before? We're not in the locker room obviously this year. What is the temperature here in the locker room?

A: All I can naturally feel is that we're so close to getting over that edge. I think we're over the edge, I just think we have to fix a couple things. I love this team, I love the position we're in. It's the best team we've had in the past couple of years. 

Q: You feel closer than you did when you were 2-6 last year or 1-5 the year before.

A: Yeah, I believe in this team.

Q: You were also on this team when they have gone to the trade deadline and shipped off some pretty important players. Do you think about that for the next week and a half or so before the trade deadline and look around the locker room and who is going to stay in who might go?

A: Honestly, I really don't think about that because I can't control who's going to leave and who's going to stay. I just have to wait and see who's going to be there the next day. I love my teammates, I'm pretty sure whoever is going I will hit them up. You can't really control those things. You just have to worry about coming to work each day and doing your job.

Defensive Lineman Dalvin Tomlinson

Q: The NFL trade deadline is in like nine days. You obviously are in the last year of your contract, you're a really good player that I assume other people would want. Do you think about having played your last game for the Giants?

A: No, I don't think that's something that players, we focus on. I think we just come in each week and just worry about the game plan so we can execute the game plan each week. That's what we just focus on, what we can control.  

Q: I've heard you say in the past that you want to be here, you love being here with the Giants. Not though really your fault, but obviously, you've really experienced nothing but losing here with the Giants, as most guys here. I just asked Wayne (Gallman) the same thing. Most guys for the last four years, there's nothing but losing. Why do you want to stay with the Giants rather than go with a competitor?

A: I feel like the Giants are a competitor. The franchise, the organization is built on that. It's just the tradition. The tough-nose, toughness, the d-line is built on physicality. I just feel like that's something I always want to be a part of. 

Q: All losses are tough. Are some tougher than others? Last night, in the moment after that loss, is that a tougher one to accept?

A: I feel like all close games are a tough loss. My biggest thing is you just have to go out there and compete and control what you can control. Like I said, every loss is a tough loss. 

Q: You often hear coaches say 'When you win, it's easier to correct, it's easier to move forward when you have some success.' With this team not having that success, is it harder to move forward, harder for the coaches to coach you, harder for the players to try to get better with all this losing?

A: I don't think it's harder for any of the players or coaches simply because I know the players and coaches we have in the building. Everybody, no matter what the result is, we're going to come in each day and work our hardest.  

Q: In your career, you're 0 for the Eagles and 0 for the Cowboys. How hard is it to digest that?

A: That's a tough one. Division opponents, you want to go in and get the win. Like I said before, all we can do is go back in the meeting rooms, watch the film, break stuff down and get ready for the next time we play them. 

Q: You do play both of them again this year. However your contract plays out, it might be your last chance to beat one of those division rivals. Do you think about that going into those games? I know they're down the road a little bit.

A: Not at all. Like I said before, I'm not focused on the contract and all that stuff. I want to just go out there and execute the best as I can to help the team out, my teammates, and improve week in and week out. 

Q: In the last three games, in the final two minutes of each half, every team has either had a chance to score or scored. What is going on with the defense in the sense that you're giving up chunks in those positions? Why has the two minute defense allowed so many points lately?

A: I just feel like we have to execute the small little details, the smallest hair. Like I said before, we need to execute everything perfectly. Things are bound to fall apart, so we just have to go out there and execute slightly more than we have been, just like we do throughout the game.  

Q: You guys let up one touchdown in like the first 55 minutes or so, and then two in the last five minutes. It's kind of an extension of what's been going on here for several weeks now. What do you see in the huddle, and do you think maybe that the moment is getting the best of guys? We saw a bunch of penalties late on that drive. How do you explain it?

A: I wouldn't say… Like before, we have to execute when it counts the most. Like you said, we have to play 60 full minutes, not just 55 like you said. Throughout the whole process, you have to continue to execute the game plan and just recognize more formations and things of that nature. Across the board, we all have to improve on that as a defense.   

Q: Do you see anything different in the huddle late in these games? Is there supposed to be something different? Are guys supposed to be even more heightened awareness late in games? What do you think with that?

A: I wouldn't say anything is different in the huddle because everybody is so locked into the game already. I'm upfront, so it's like I can't look in the very, very back of the huddle and everything. We all just have to execute to the best of our abilities when the game is in the critical parts of the game.