**

Head Coach Tom Coughlin**

Q: What can you tell us about Brandon Jacobs?
A: Brandon, I think, will make it for Thursday. Today was precautionary just to keep track of him and not do something that was unnecessary.

Q: What about David Wilson?
A: I know no more about that.

Q: Did Jacobs hurt his hamstring or his thigh?
A: It was a hamstring.

Q: You didn't have a lot of running backs at practice today.
A: What do you mean? We had one. We're all set. We had Jon Conner and we had Michael Cox. They had a pretty good practice, too.

Q: How did the weekend go? Did the players come back refreshed?
A: They came back and they jumped right into the meeting room. They jumped into the weight room. This has been a pretty good practice today, so I think it was a nice break for them, which is the advantage of a Thursday night game, as you know.

Q: Do you think David Baas will be ready for Monday?
A: We'll see. We've got to get him to the practice field first.

Q: He was out there today.
A: Yes, he was.

Q: Is Baas cleared yet?
A: Not quite, but close.

Q: How close is Michael Cox to being ready to contribute?
A: He obviously has a lot going, but there are some things that I think right now we feel good about. There are other things not so (good), and we're working on the not so.

Q: Are you not using Cox because he doesn't know enough of the playbook yet?
A: He's young. It's sophisticated and complex the things that are thrown at him, particularly in the protection area, so you've got to be careful.

Q: Are you wondering whether or not David Wilson might be cleared to play? If you get bad news, that may alter what you have to do.
A: We can't change that. We do the best we can and hope for the best.

Q: You said the other day that the dire possibility of a season-ending injury with David Wilson hadn't been presented to you…
A: No, but that was David. David is very optimistic, very upbeat. He's that kind of guy. And I also said and you all heard me and you all agreed that he did have a similar injury in college, which he overcame.

Q: What about Adrien Robinson?
A: He's just starting. He practiced a little bit today.

Q: Were you able to take a break over the weekend?
A: I took a long walk on Saturday. I thought the leaves were nice. Someone told me they change this time of year.

Q: You said you wanted the guys to go back and think about what they can do to help change this. Is there any way you can measure what their commitment to that was?
A: I can certainly talk to them individually about it and mentioned it again in the meeting, but we'll see. I thought they worked well this morning and let's see how the week goes.

WR Hakeem Nicks

Q: Do you think the break was good for the players?
A: I think it was good for us. It's good for everybody to get away for a little bit and come back with a mindset ready to work.

Q: Does it start to wear on you guys at all hearing the same questions? Does it get tough for you?
A: No. It's just the situation that's at hand. We've got to change the situation. The future lies in our hands. We got a 10-game stretch. We can make (do with it). We've just got to focus on what we need to focus on. Don't listen to the outside talk. No offense to anyone. Just focus on what we need to do.

Q: What are your thoughts on how you're playing this season?
A: I think I'm playing the game I always play. I'm making plays whenever I'm called on to contribute to the best way possible. That's what I've been doing. As long as I'm a Giant, I'm going to keep doing it.

Q: What about the play that led to an interception when you didn't finish your route?
A: In the Philly game?

Q: Yes.
A: I don't know. It just happened like that.

Q: Do you think the break was good for the players psychologically and mentally?
A: I think we definitely say it's beneficial. Our bodies are definitely feeling good. Our bodies needed it just to get a chance to renew your mind a little bit and I think that's what everybody tried to do is just renew their mind, not necessarily go anywhere or get out of town, but just putting your mind and coming back with a different mindset.

**

RB Michael Cox**

Q: What do you feel like you're lacking and that you really need to bring up to speed?
A: I feel like I'm ready to go, but obviously just working on everything, pass protection, just watching more film and the whole offense and everything.

Q: What's so difficult for a young running back to grasp with the pass protection here, in your opinion?
A: I think it's just a lot to learn. You have to be able to read the defensive fronts, the secondary, just everything kind of like a quarterback does. That's the biggest difference.

Q: What do you do to expedite that? Do you watch film, do you work with the other backs?
A: All of that. I watch film, meet with the coaches more, talk with the other running backs that have played before.

Q: How strange was that today being the only healthy back out there?
A: It was a little strange being the only one out there and being able to practice and everything. It went good, though.

Q: What do you feel like you can bring to the table if you get playing time on Monday or down the line?
A: I feel like I'm an all-around type of back. I can catch out of the backfield, run, pass protect, so hopefully I can help the team.

Q: Have they told you to be ready just in case?
A: Yeah, definitely. They said I was going to be playing, so I'm just getting ready like I do every week. Just getting ready to play.

Q: They told you that you're going to be playing on Monday?
A: That's what they said. We're going to see whether they do or not. I'm just getting ready to play.

Q: How much has the playing time on kickoffs helped your confidence in understanding that you can play in this league?
A: It's definitely helped a lot just being able to get on the field on special teams and run with the ball returning kicks. Doing whatever I do on special teams definitely gave me confidence.

Q: With the pass protection, did you think it was going to be this complicated coming from college to this level?
A: At first I didn't because where I came from we had kind of a pro kind of pass protection, but it definitely was harder here than it was in college. I feel like I understand it now.

Q: Is it a matter of focusing on the game plan and letting the holes from the playbook kind of fill themselves in? Because the playbook as we know is kind of thick. And just to sometimes expedite learning they tell you to focus on the game plan that's ahead. Is that was your approach is going to be?
A: Yeah, I'm just focused on the game plan for this week.

S Antrel Rolle

Q: With a mini bye weekend so to speak, how good do you think that break is for this locker room and the mentality of the team?
A: I think it served us well just to go home and get away from the game. We were able to do that. Get away from the game, we were able to do that. And also focus on ways that we can get better. Everyone has an insider's input as to ways that we can get better and I think it served us well.

Q: Does it start wearing on you guys? We're asking you the same questions, it seems to be the same type of thing every week with all this outside pressure. How are you guys dealing with that?
A: Is it repetitive? Yeah. The losing has also been repetitive. We're not happy with ourselves at all when it comes to that sense, but right now we have 10 games left to go. It's up to us to determine how this season's going to turn out for us. Are we still playoff bound? Who knows? That's not the most important thing right now. The most important thing right now is coming together as a team, going out there and playing together as a team and focusing on getting a win. Everything else at this point is just going to take care of itself.

Q: I know it's an extra day away because it's Monday but when you're in the secondary and you're looking at Adrian Peterson coming through that front seven, how do you break him down and prevent that 50-yard, 60-yard run that he's so good at making?
A: Adrian Peterson is, in my eyes, definitely the best back in this league. He does it all, just a hard worker. When you see him running, he's a fierce runner. He can run over you, he can run past you. But going up against him in the past, you just have to go and attack him. You have to attack him. You're going to win some and you're going to lose some. You live to play another down.

Q: Did you watch football this weekend?
A: Yeah.

Q: Do you miss something that's going on in those games that's not going on around here?
A: Yeah. There are a lot of things that you're going to miss that look very differently from the outside looking in. It's just a part of being here, it's a part of being a professional and we have to make our own way around here. No one is going to do it for us, and we understand that.

**

RB Brandon Jacobs**

It's not about proving (anything to) everybody. I don't really care to prove anybody. All I need to do is show the guys in this locker room, the coaching staff, what I have to do. It's not really trying to prove anything to anybody, anywhere. I just know what we need to do and what we have to do to get better and to get wins. If you struggle running the ball, it's going to be hard to win.

Q: You looked a lot like your rookie year, the way you ran with so much fire.
A: Basically, I've been off for a while and I felt great, no question about it. I feel really good now, to be honest with you. Just doing what I have to do to take care of it. Hamstrings can be tricky, especially when you feel like they are healed and ready to go. I'm just taking it very precautionary. I don't think it's going to be an issue.

Q: Brandon, how do you think those two days away from everything maybe helped with the mindset for this team? How are guys feeling?
A: Guys are feeling good in the locker room. We have two days to get some rest and we know we're a little bit closer to where we need to be and know we're still in the hunt, with no wins. I feel like me, individually, I feel that we're making strides in the right direction as a team. I know a bunch of other guys feel that way as well. We just need to keep working and pay attention to what the coaches are telling us and knowing what they're going to do on defense, and be ready for it.

Q: Does it start wearing on you, that you do feel like you're making strides, but it's not showing up in the score?
A: It's definitely frustrating to know we can play as good as we played on Thursday night and still not get the win. Even being in the position to win at the end, with the things that happened during the game, that makes us feel a little bit better, that we could have played a little bit better early on and without the mistakes that we made, things could have been a little different. There were a couple of reads on myself that I missed. I'm still scratching my head about why I decided to go where I went and not where the play was actually supposed to go. I'm still scratching my head on a couple of those. You can never be perfect. You just have to keep working and keep striving for perfection.

**

DT Cullen Jenkins**

Q: Was it good to get away?
A: Yeah, it was nice to relax and get to spend a little time with the family there.

Q: Does that sort of thing, a couple days off, help with this team's mindset, coming back in and maybe refresh everybody?
A: Hopefully. Personally, I always feel like it does. You get away for a little bit, get another little break here. It's almost like a little bye week, you're a little more anxious to get back to it.

Q: Coach said they might try a few different things to help the pass rush. Do you think that that's what needs to be done or is it an individual thing that you guys have to push yourselves?
A: The individual thing always helps in any situation. Anytime something's not going the way you want it to, I'm looking at myself and trying to figure out how I can improve. One of the biggest things is that we have to control the game a little more. For teams to have to get in those type of situations where it's not third and short and they're just hurrying up and throwing the check down because they could pick up a first down easier…you have to force them into the third and long where the quarterback has to sit back and wait for routes to develop a little bit more.

Q: Have you thought about how many times you guys have had the lead this year where teams have to pass on you?
A: I think about it a little bit, but you're careful about what you talk about because you don't want it to look like you're trying to single out anything. You kind of try to focus on what you can control the most and for us, we can do a better job of getting them into third and longer situations and then getting off the field.

Q: Adrian Peterson, what makes him so special, so effective running the ball?
A: His size, he's strong, fast, quick, the determination he runs with. Everything. I think since he came into the league, he's had a chip on his shoulder and being out there in Green Bay, I had a chance to play against him a lot and you really see every year, every game, every time he's out on the field, he's determined. He's trying to be the best player on the field, period.

Q: Can he be stopped, in your opinion?
A: You can control him, you definitely can. But it's going to take all 11 players on the field. I've played against him and had some success against him before and I've also seen what happens if you don't. We've got to go in there, especially up front, we've got to do a good job in trying to keep him from getting back to the second level.