*Giants players answer five questions heading into the 2017 offseason: *
The 2016 season featured many positives for the New York Giants, who finished 11-5 and made their first postseason appearance since winning Super Bowl XLVI.
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One of those positives was the continued emergence of punter Brad Wing. In his second season with the Giants, the third-year pro finished with a 40.9-yard net punting average, which ranked 10th among punters across the league. Wing got better as the season went on. The Australian won back-to-back NFC Special Teams Player of the Week awards following wins against the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. He became the first Giants player to win back-to-back Special Teams Player of the Week awards since they were instituted in 1984.
Giants.com caught up with Wing at season's end to get his take on the 2016 season and his offseason goals.
Q: What was the team highlight of the season?
Wing: The biggest highlight was our record and making the playoffs. That's what you set out to do. It's kind of bittersweet the way the season ended. It makes it hard to get the full appreciation it deserves, but it does deserve a lot of appreciation. Coach McAdoo deserves a lot of credit for that to come in and not just have that record on paper, but get all the guys to buy in like they did. I think he has a tremendous amount of respect for the guys in the locker room, and that says a lot about him in his first year.
Q: What did you learn this season?
Wing: I feel like it's a legitimate asset to our team – the punt team. I'm really starting to feel like it's appreciated by both the players and the coaches. It's not just me. Anytime you talk about the punting unit, it's not just me, it's the other ten guys as well and all of us working together as a unit. I think we legitimately showed we can be an X-factor for this team when the games are close and we have the ability to change the game. That's motivating moving forward; you want to do that as many times as you can.
Q: What improvement was made in 2016?
Wing: [Special teams coordinator Tom Quinn] and I made the commitment at the start of the season for me being a directional punter. I think I improved upon that. I'm really excited for the offseason to really focus in on that. Every offseason up until now had been working on a bunch of things, and now I can hone in on one thing. I know what he's asking of me and I know what's required of me. It's going to be exciting to go and work on those things.
Q: What are your offseason goals?
Wing: Just direction. As a punter, a kicker and specialist you can never be as consistent as you want to be. It's always becoming more consistent, getting in better shape and becoming stronger. Pretty much the same for every offseason – get in better shape and hone in on the little technical things.
Q: What are your offseason plans outside of football?
Wing: I want to take Bentley (his son) to Disney World. He's at the age now where you say something, and he expects you to come through on it. I told him we were going to Disney World, so he's all in and we're going to do that. I'm also going to Australia pretty soon and visit my family over there and catch up with all of them – it's been a long time since I've seen all the guys. I've got like 30 cousins, 10 aunts and uncles, a little brother and then mom and dad and the grandparents I need to go see. Bentley has never been over there. I'm going to try and take him next year. He'll be almost 5 years old, so I think that's a good age for him to sit on a plane for 15 hours. He'll be four in April.
