COACH TOM COUGHLIN
I thought we had some outstanding objectives today that we asked our team to do. One was three penalities, and we did have four. I think all four of those were in the first half. We didn't want to turn it over; we did turn it over once. We thought, I don't know what the field position situation would be, but we did have some punt returns today that I think helped us negate the booming distance of (Shane) Lechler's punts, which I thought was something we really wanted to try to accomplish against a very difficult punter. Eli (Manning) played, and he played well. He was able to put some points on the board and then we got him out of the game. So I felt good about that. I'm hoping he is going to feel good next week and be able to practice and those kinds of things. Our team definitely needs that.
Q. Can you talk about the team's focus and the ability to score right away?
A. Each drive of the year, we have scored. We have two field goals and we have three touchdowns. The opening drive and our defense has forced the other guy three and out (four of) five times, too. We are aware of that and we've tried to build on that. That was a very good drive, that opening drive today.
Q. How much did Eli try to convince you beforehand that he was good to go?
A. We had talked all week long and there was not going to be any early decision made on this thing. He has felt better every day and I really trust him, and he would tell me the truth. He went out on Friday and did about half, then took most of the snaps on Saturday morning. Today he went out in his normal routine and felt good. He said he felt very good. I watched him warm up and he seemed to be quite … and he didn't think he was indicating any hesitation. I think he would tell me if he did. He wanted to play, he wanted to play all week. He has done a great job with the power of the will over these things a couple of times. I told him exactly what my thoughts were and that will remain between he and I. He did warm up well with no hesitation, so I felt he should play. Then we started to get him out of there.
Q. Is he reporting any soreness or any pain after the game?
A. Nothing, nothing.
Q. At what point did you decide the game was under control and to take Eli out?
A. Right when we took him out.
Q. The fact that he didn't practice and he was pretty much spot on. How impressed are you with that?
A. That was good, that was a very good performance. We were just happy to get him in, have him play well, and get him out.
Q. If the game had not gone that way would he have played more?
A. He would have played more, for sure. It didn't happen that way and yes he would have played more.
Q. What about (Ahmad) Bradshaw's performance today?
A. He played very, very well. He has had the same routine. Practice Friday. But, he has run the ball very well, very tough, very physical. He makes a lot of people miss. He had a very, very good game.
Q. They have a couple good defensive ends, but it didn't seem that off the edge was there?
A. They were very good. Kelly is a good player too. They have got some good players. But, we were able to…and of course one of them, I think the 19-yard touchdown run was just an excellent run. Where I think he made some people miss. They blocked very effectively.
Q. I know you said you met most of your goals, but three strip-sacks, you couldn't have seen that coming?
A. Yeah, I didn't have the ball coming out on those but we had a number that we were thinking maybe we could accomplish. After we study a week and look at the opponent then we challenge any number of things with our team. They responded real well.
JUSTIN TUCK ON OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF DEFENSE:
This defense is really coming together. I like our progress. Every week we seem to get a little better. We try to work on things that maybe last week we didn't do as well and we come out the next week and try to correct it. That's the mark of a special unit. If we keep doing that week in and week out, we will put ourselves in a really good position.
CHRIS SNEE ON OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION:
We want to start early and we want to get up early. When you have a lead like that you are kind of hoping that the other team will fold. But to their credit they were battling to the end, which made us kind of stay sharp. It was nice to get Eli in there and get him work. If Eli is in there or if David is in there, it doesn't matter, we are going to approach the game the same way. We want to be successful, protect our quarterback and make plays. I think we did that today. And when David came in he did a great job of executing the offense. We have a lot of confidence in David because he is a great player. Everyone in this locker room knows who we play next and the significance of the game and how tough that opponent is. I expect we will have a good week of practice.
KAREEM McKENZIE ON OVERALL PRODUCTION OF OFFENSE:
We knew we had to have a sense of urgency with Eli back there today. We wanted to give him a lot of time to make plays. And he did a great job doing that. We took advantage of some of the things we saw and scoring early on each possession is a real credit to this team. If we have the ability to go up early on a team, that is what we want to do. Eli didn't miss a beat with the receivers or with our running game. Ahmad and Brandon were tough today.
DANNY CLARK ON TODAY'S GAME:
We were excited to beat that team today. We played real well as a unit. I was real excited we played as well as we did today, because I played for that team. You always want to come back and make a good showing. We have 16 one-game seasons. This is number six coming up. Five was here today and it was a huge win for us. We are starting to pick up some steam, especially with some teams coming after us, definitely. It is a 4-0 club coming up next week. They had a bye week this week so they have had time to prepare for us and I'm sure they watched today. They will be very critical of our tape analysis. We have to come back, and come back stronger than ever for this upcoming game.
AHMAD BRADSHAW ON TODAY'S PERFORMANCE:
That is what we come to do every game – is make a statement. And everything just opened up for the running backs today. For me, every gain I had, I give it to the line. They opened it up perfect. They used the flow of the linebackers and pushed them on by. I was able to cut back on the toss and they just pushed them back on that goal line stand for that touchdown. Every run I had, they just opened it up and I came right off the block and tried to hit it.
DAVID CARR ON TODAY'S PERFORMANCE:
They know what kind of receivers we have and they doubled up on them, which leaves no one on the quarterback. So it is kind of a perfect scenario for us. If they don't win on their initial route, then we can find a lane to get out of there. There was no one on me. So I just took what was there. When I go in as far as the game plan goes, it is status quo; same call, same stuff. We ran a naked early on. Obviously I don't think they wanted Eli to do that because of his foot. The guys did a great job today; they don't let their game down no matter who is in there. That means a lot to me. The receivers and the offensive line are saying they are going to make plays for you. It makes you feel good knowing that the guys are going to go all the way for you. Even guys like Chris Snee, who is all-pro and we have almost 50 points on the board and he's still going full tilt trying to protect me. And I really appreciate that.
COREY WEBSTER ON TODAY'S GAME:
We wanted to come out here today and be physically sound and do exactly what we are supposed to do. We didn't want any letdowns this week. Coach preached that we have to take one game at a time. I think we did a good job of focusing on this game and not looking past anything. We have been really starting to come together and this is only our fifth game. We are expecting to get even better. We have had some great practices and we expect to have even more. Next week we will be going against a different kind of quarterback who is surrounded with a load of talent. Our front seven really creates a lot of havoc. It gives us a chance to run with our guys knowing that the quarterback is not going to be able to just sit there. I give a lot of credit to our front seven. They are playing real good and it gives us a lot of confidence knowing the type of job they're going to do.
