EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The scenario unfolds like this: the Giants' offense is struggling. That offense is often more productive when Eli Manning is permitted to run it without a huddle. So, inquiring minds want to know, why don't the Giants mix in the hurry-up offense more often?
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"We've done a lot of that," Tom Coughlin today said of incorporating the hurry-up. "It's not just before the half. We came back out in the second half and did it as well. We weren't as successful with it (going three-and-out), but we always have it. We always utilize it at some point in the game, whether it's a true two-minute or whether it's just what we call 'rally,' when we're up on the ball and whatever the personnel is in, trying to decide what is the best play with run or pass. We have that capability. It is something that we talk about using a little bit more, a little bit less accordingly. It is a point that you make, which is before the half over the ball no-huddle offense was very productive."
Manning, of course, has a well-earned reputation for excelling in a two-minute mode.
"You enjoy it because we've been pretty good at it," Manning said. "The plays that you're running, a lot of them are your base plays and you run them all the time and you get great decisions. I think it slows down the pass rush. It confuses the defense a little bit. I get worried about doing it an entire game just because, if you do it a whole game, it will be a little slower. You have to be able to get into all of your plays. Do we have those capabilities of getting into every single play in a no-huddle situation? If you ran the same ones over and over again, eventually the defense would catch on."
Manning suggested the hurry-up should be one component of a well-balanced offense. Asked if he'd like to see it used more often, Manning said. "Maybe if we can get into our whole offense doing it and a lot of times when we do it, we're throwing the football a lot. I think you've still got to mix in the run. But if we can do something to get us an advantage, I'm up for whatever."
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Coughlin said Victor Cruz was frustrated after the game when he said the coach should have gone for a first down on fourth-and-one late in the third quarter. The Giants punted and Dexter McCluster returned the kick 89 yards for a touchdown. Coughlin was so unconcerned about the comment he joked with Cruz about it.
"I would think (it was due to frustration)," Coughlin said. "Sure. What else would you (attribute) it to? I gave him a chance to say something today and I won't tell you what we said. I asked him if he wanted to fight."
Asked how Cruz responded, Coughlin said, "Nothing. That's between he and I, but it was in good humor. I didn't ask him what his thinking was. I don't understand why you guys are making so much out of something like that. It's kind of comical."
- Brown has missed his last two field goal attempts, one last week in Carolina and one yesterday in Kansas City that would have tied the score at 10 just prior to halftime.
- "I'll talk to Josh," Coughlin said. "That was obviously a play that could have helped us in a lot of ways. Any time you have as few points as we have, you need points. A couple of weeks in a row now we haven't been able to contribute and we'll visit."
- Much of the pregame talk was about center Jim Cordle and right guard James Brewer, who made their first and second career starts, respectively.
"Those two guys that everybody speculated about, they did okay," Coughlin said. "They played against a very good front and, for the most part, they did a good job. We did have a holding penalty up there and there were some occasions where we could have obviously done a better job or finished a block better than we did. They scrapped and I was pleased with what they accomplished. I wish obviously, it would have been perfect, but they did okay."
- Coughlin does not know if David Baas (neck) and Chris Snee (hip) will return to action this week at home against Philadelphia.
"I'm waiting to hear on those kinds of things," Coughlin said. "The treatment is being conducted today as usual. We'll see."
- Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins was wearing a boot on his right foot to protect what he said were "Achilles and knee" injuries. Asked how he suffered the injuries, Jenkins said, "old age."
- Coughlin did not have an update on linebacker Mark Herzlich, who was also wearing a boot following the game.
"(They are) in a boot for ankle-type, toe-type reasons," Coughlin said, "and hopefully it's just something to restrict movement and they can come back and work this week."
- Safety Will Hill is eligible to return this week from his four-game suspension for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.
"He's lifted, he's conditioned, he's done all of that, so I really expect him to just be ready to practice," Coughlin said.
- Coughlin said rookie defensive end Damontre Moore is "close" to joining the defensive line rotation.
