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Coach Tom Coughlin**

RE: Today's loss
I thought that we were in a position today to be able to put our best foot forward, but we never gave ourselves a chance competitively to be in the game. Defensively I though we battled hard. The seventeeth point and the two touchdowns right away in the third quarter kind of turned the tide from that argument also, but offensively had we given them something to fight for, some balance even when we had the turnover and had the ball in the end zone that was called back by penalty. I don't know whether that would have given us a spark, but it certainly was better than where we were and also we missed a field goal that might have given us at least an opportunity to look at the game from a competitive standpoint and see it in a little bit better eyes. We just didn't play well offensively. We didn't give ourselves anything to build on. We did have a couple of runs, then late in the game in the second half David (Wilson) had a couple of runs and he showed that despite the score of the game or whatever, he was still battling and I was pleased to see that, but we never really gave ourselves a chance to because they did an outstanding job upfront. The majority of the time you're talking about a four man rush, not anything other than that. They had seven sacks. I'll bet the quarterback got hit twenty times today. We didn't do a good job of protecting and giving ourselves a chance to be in a position to take advantage of some of the weaknesses that they supposedly have. We stayed away from them for a good length of time. They got us once in the second half on a trap on Eli and then ate in the game we were just trying to push the ball down the field and make something happen and Curtis (Painter) threw the interception late. Both kickers did a good job of eliminating the kickoff return from the opponent. We did directionally punt better today although I don't think our distance was what I would have liked, but we did get one turnover off that which I thought gave us good field position. I was expecting to do more with the ball, but overall disappointing is not a strong  enough word. I expected more. We built towards more and it was just not the competitive game I thought it would be.
RE: Pressure from Panthers defense

It was one on one, one on one, one on one stuff. They were beating us up front. They were winning the one on one battles. They did a nice job of rushing the passer and playing the run on the way to the quarterback. They did a nice job with that. Even right away in the game we had a couple of opportunities. We got beat on a running play, then we had a chance to get the ball outside. We got tripped up, one of the players got tripped up that went from that kind of situation to worse in terms of getting beat one on one.

RE: How to keep team focused with 0-3 record
We'll reload and we're going to fight every step of the way. We're going to give it everything we've got. We're going battle and we're going to be competitive and try as hard as we can. It's difficult to see a lot of progress on a day like today, but we're going to certainly do everything in our power to put ourselves back into a competitive opportunity. We've said that the first couple of games we turned the ball over, although we didn't win the physical battle against Denver and today we certainly didn't. I'd have to look hard at that.We had the run in check for a quite a bit today. They hurt us on a couple of option plays and quarterback keepers and quarterback runs really hurt us. Then late in the game the running game opened up once the game was clearly onesided so I'll have to look hard at that one. Clearly offensively we lost the physical battle there.

RE: Changes to offensive line coming?
I don't know. I'll look at the tape and see what the tape tells us. We are what we are. We have people who have made this team and they've had an opportunity, except for the young guy at right tackle to play in that position for quite some time and we expect more.
RE: Trouble blocking (Star) Lotulelei

He was basically one on one. Depending on the situation he was combo a couple of times. (Greg) Hardy was tough to block. Johnson was tough to block off the edge. Those guys were what made the quarterback guys miserable because really even when he stepped up there wasn't a lot of room for him to step up.

RE: Team stopped fighting towards the end?
It's a different story when you're getting your butt kicked. I think the effort was there. The question is no result to show for it so I wouldn't accuse them of that. I know the effort was there on the other side of the ball. The defense gave good effort, special teams gave good effort. The offense was giving good effort we were just getting manhandled quite frankly.
RE: How do you keep them motivated?

You're trying to get me to say whatever it is I'll say and the only thing I can tell you is it's a competitive game. They are competitive people by nature. I am. We'll play the next opponent and do everything in our power to try to figure out a way to beat them. I expect everybody in that room to fight with the same passion that we have, that I have and I'll be looking hard for those who are not.

QB Eli Manning

Disappointed. We didn't play well today at all. Just got beat in a lot of ways. Could never get anything going. Have to give credit to Carolina. They outplayed us.

RE: His offensive line and their protection
We knew they had a good defensive line, and they had guys who could get to the quarterback and get some pressure, and obviously they did a good job. So we have to find ways to slow down the pass rush whether that is running the ball with screens or getting the ball out quicker. They won the physical battle today.

RE: Most frustrating part about being 0-3
Just being 0-3. Obviously we've dug ourselves into a little bit of a hole. All we can worry about right now is looking at this film tomorrow, finding out where our mistakes are and where we need to make improvements and how we are going to change things and get back to winning some football games.

RE: How do you approach this week after this loss?
I think you approach meetings and practice the same way you do every week. Just trying to get better. Trying to improve. Trying to understand the game plan. Trying to understand what the defense is doing and how to execute your job to put your team in situations to win games.

RE: Were you unable to take advantage of the inexperience in Carolina's secondary because of their pass rush
Yes, and obviously they didn't put their secondary out there on an island much and were able to get great pressure with just bringing four guys, and that's tough. When you can drop seven guys and rush four and get pressure it's going to make it hard for any offense to have a successful passing game, and they were able to accomplish that.

RE: What is the sense of urgency?
Well, we have to have an urgency to get better. And again, we just have to focus on this week. Going to Kansas City, another road game. A team that is playing good football with a good defense. We just have to worry about getting better and making improvements and making sure that everybody is doing everything they can to prepare themselves for this game.

Re: A lot of positive things that were negated by penalties
Our defense gave us a big turnover – we hadn't done much offensively – and they gave us great field position and obviously, we got the holding call that backs us up 20 yards and the next playb they get the sack and all of a sudden, you are going backwards. And it killed all the momentum that we had going for us. And so, just too many… I don't think it was mistakes, but just too many times we were going backwards instead of moving the ball forward.

RE: As leader of team, are there additional steps to take to get out of this hole?
Words aren't going to fix anything. It's about us having great practices and coming out there and playing better on game day.

WR Victor Cruz

RE: Was it a matter of execution or effort?
I don't know. I can't tell you until we go back and watch the film. It has to be something we have to look at, so I'm not sure.

RE: On the sidelines guys were trying to rally guys.
Everybody had energy, everybody was moving in the right direction on the sidelines so I don't think that was the problem at all.

RE: Do you feel the season is getting away from you?
I don't know it's too early to tell. We have to go back and look at the film and see how we feel about this one and look forward to the next one.

RE: With this adversity is the effort still there
I think so, I think it feels like everyone is still in tune with the game, still trying to get things done, still trying to execute, we're just not getting it done right now which is unfortunate.

RE: How much more disappointing with what your coach has went through this week
This is disappointing under any circumstances it doesn't matter what happens in our personal lives or within our Giants family. But anytime you come and play like this it is definitely
disappointing, so we want to look at this, learn from it and keep moving forward.

DT Cullen Jenkins

RE: Starting 0-3
When you have opportunities you just have to use that to keep you motivated. It's still early in the season. We've dug a hole for ourselves, but we still have a lot left, a lot of season left, a lot of opportunities left. We just have to try to get out of this thing one week at a time.

RE: Are you surprised by what happened?
I was. I thought we could at least be competitive. This is rough, that we could play like that. You run out there trying to get your first win of the season, you expect better.

Safety Antrel Rolle

RE: Starting 0-3
I think we know how to play football. There is going to have to be a lot of reality checks. That's what it's going to bow down to. Who do we want to be as a football team? That's going to be the question we're going to have to ask ourselves, that's what we're going to have to go out there and prove, because right now, we're not doing it. To come out here and lose 38-0, I think that speaks for itself.

RE: Did you sense there was enough fight out there from your team today?
Whether there was fight or not, I guess we didn't fight enough. Coming up short, we're coming up  extremely short. Something is going to have to happen. Something is going to have to happen.

RE: What do you mean by that?
I don't know, something. Something is definitely going to have to happen because this is intolerable, under every means, this is intolerable.

RE: Is this something the coaches can work with you on or something the players need to do on their own?
It's 53 men out here battling against another opponent. Coaches coach, players play, that's the way I've always looked at the game. We have to find a way to go out there and make plays, we have to find a way to go out there and win as a team, as players. Right now we are lacking that, big time.

WR Hakeem Nicks

RE: How did Eli act in the huddle with all of the trouble he was having?
Eli always handles it well. He took it in stride. I'm sure he is going to watch the film and critique himself as well.

RE: Could you sense that he was taking a physical pounding?
Eli is a tough guy. He will never lay down no matter how many times he gets hit, he will always get back up. That's what we like about him. I'm sure he is going to back bounce back; we just have to come back strong.