Offensive Coordinator Ben McAdoo
Re: Rashad Jennings
A: He has had a good couple weeks of practice, had a nice day today. It will give us a boost energy-wise, getting a productive veteran player with some versatility and some leadership will help.
Q: Do you expect other teams to make adjustments to Odell Beckham Jr.?
A: We anticipate moving forward that teams are going to make an effort to minimize his production, whether it is personnel-driven or scheme-driven.
Q: What is the key to adjusting to that? Is it focusing on other guys stepping up and doing more or is it on focusing on putting him in position to produce despite that?
A: You don't ever want to let someone talk you out of going to one of your players. You want to be able to use all of your personnel. At the same point in time, you like to spread the ball around and get everyone to get there touches.
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Q: Do you think Andre Williams will be more productive with fewer reps in his role as a backup? **
A: I think it is a challenge to be more productive with less reps. We will see, this is the first game Rashad Jennings is going to be back, so we will see how he does. Andre Williams has been reliable for us and we are going to continue to use him.
Q: Is the consistency with the offensive line there?
A: The offensive line is performing like the rest of the offense at this point. There are signs of good execution, there are signs of good productivity, there are signs of being physical, and there are signs of not producing what they are capable of producing. We need to be consistent the whole way across the board and that is a big part of the challenge right now.
Q: With that toe injury that Geoff Schwartz has and Jon Beason had a toe and ended up missing the year after he came back, do you hesitate to bring him back?
A: He has been getting some work in practice and he has been doing a little more each day. That has been encouraging, but I will leave that up to the doctors.
Q: Preston Parker played like a guy who is angry about the way the previous games went. What did you make of his performance?
A: Preston Parker, we noticed when we got here in the spring, he is a competitor. He plays with a little bit of nastiness to him, with a chip on his shoulder, so to speak. I think when that shows up, he is at his best. It is nice to see that come out on Sunday.
Q: Did you sense that during the week last week? That that was really bothering him and that was on his shoulders what happened the week before.
A: I am not sure why. He had a nice game, he was competitive, he was fighting out there, he was physical. It may have been going into a tough environment versus a very good defense, and a good secondary. For whatever reason it was that he produced the way he produced, then he needs to continue to show up because he played well.
Q: Did you loosen the reigns a little bit on Eli Manning at all last week in Seattle with regards to his decision making?
A: No, we don't change the way we read things. We may highlight certain things, but at the end of the day, we have our reads, we stick to them. We may alert things a different way but not necessarily.
Q: How do you look at that interception? Was it a timing thing?
A: He was getting ready to throw the ball to the number two receiver and when things didn't work out with the number one receiver the way he anticipated, it they made him double-clutch.
Q: Is that the guy that fell?
A: No, one lost their feet, but he felt a corner kind of pulling inside a little bit. When that happened, he doubled-clutched and he just needs to move on to his check down there, and got hung up. It is a decision he would like to have back and other than that, he played pretty well.
Q: Is that a decision that you wouldn't mind him making if it were third down, but because it was first down in that spot, it is an unnecessary risk to take?
A: He needs to listen to his feet and move through the progression and never make that decision that late.
Q: Odell Beckham Jr. has been pretty vocal taking the blame on that play, saying he feels as though if the quarterback is going to put the ball up there, he has to get it. Did you see it that way from a wide receiver perspective?
A: No, I think it takes two. Eli Manning needs to make a better decision there. When the ball is in the air, the receiver's creed is 'ours or no one's.' So when the ball is in the air, we need to come up with the football or knock it down.
Q: That does say something looking at it that Eli Manning felt confident enough in Odell Beckham Jr. against an all-pro corner to give him a shot.
A: Yeah, there is a lot of confidence there, I am sure there is. We need to move on to number three or throw it away.
Q: Your confidence with Beckham growing as well?
A: Absolutely, he has done nothing to shake any confidence there. A couple more inches, he may come up with that ball. Again, 'ours or no one's', that is how it needs to shake out. If he can't come up with the ball, we need to make sure we knock it down and the defense doesn't have a chance to come up with it. They have a pretty good player that was tracking it, a lot of safeties are not going to make that play, but we knew that going in.
Q: In all of this, how do you prepare for a guy like Aldon Smith, who hasn't played this year?
A: We have to prepare for him like he is going to play every play. He is a talented player, he is going to come in with fresh legs, he hasn't practiced a whole heck of a lot, but I am sure he is going to get off the ball well on a fast surface; we need to be ready for it.
Q: With the first year with that Microsoft Tablet on the sideline, is that any good?
A: It helped out on Sunday, it was a little rainy, a little misty, paper sometimes is a little tough to handle. We just wiped the screen and kept working, the (tablet) was nice, it was effective.
Q: Do you see the pictures more quickly as a coach?
A: We are pretty technologically savvy here. Yeah, we like the tablets. They have been good for us.
Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell
Q: Can you talk about looking back at last week… Antrel [Rolle] and a few of the guys said they felt there was a little bit of confusion in that game and the [Seahawks] came out and did some things that you guys weren't expecting to happen. Can you talk a little about that?
A: I don't think [the Seahawks] did anything we didn't expect them to do. We didn't play some things that we had practiced particularly well. I don't think they did anything that we didn't expect them to do.
Q: Did you feel like there was some confusion out there on some stuff?
A: You can look at the tape and see that we weren't executing.
Q: How hard is it to adjust on the fly when you as a coach are seeing that happen and obviously you want to stop that immediately? How difficult is that?
A: We are coaching it every play because when we get on the sideline, we look at the pictures. We are trying to make the adjustments and the corrections at that point in time. You can't make it with the entire group, so individual coaches, individual positions are all talking and we are all trying to make those corrections as we go along.
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Q: How frustrating was that when you saw it continue on and on and on? **
A: It is very frustrating because we should know how to play that better. It was very frustrating.
Q: What was it that you attribute the lack of success you guys had defending the zone-read with [Russell] Wilson pulling it?
A: I think, one, our objective going into the game was to try to contain 24 [Marshawn Lynch]. Then we knew that 3 [Russell Wilson] would pull it. We had a hard time tackling 24 because he was having a good day. I think the focus went more to 24 than it did to 3.
Q: When you come out in the second half…The first play they run the same thing and [Wilson] gets another big play on that… Is that disappointing to you? You obviously made some adjustments at halftime to try and limit that…
A: They did it out of a different formation, and really we had a person that was there, but again that person went to 24 and didn't really pay attention to 3, so it looked like, 'Oh, here we go again.'
Q: How do you get that straightened out… You face another read-option guy [Kaepernick] who can do sort of the same things?
A: We tried to change our approach this week in how we taught it. Then we also we worked hard and put a lot of energy and effort into making sure that we explained exactly what the assignments were and we also walked through the different assignments and we've just continuously, mentally and physically and verbally, gone through option-football assignments.
Q: Do you think there were assumptions either on the coaching staff that the players understood what they needed to do or the players that thought they knew what they had to do?
A: I think when we prepared to play the football game, I think we prepared knowing what to do.
Q: Did you spend more time [on the read-option] this week?
A: This is a very diverse offense. They have a great power running game. You guys know Frank Gore is a strong down-hill runner. They have many personalities. They can also run the read-option. They have an outside-toss sweep game. We divided our time up. Like I said, we took a different approach in how we prepare for each segment of their run game this week.
Q: What dynamic of Colin Kaepernick concerns you the most?
A: His ability to get outside the pocket and throw accurately. He really throws accurately outside the pocket.
Q: We talked to a lot of the players this week and the one thing we asked them was, 'What is it like to be ranked last in the league?' They just shook their heads and said they are better than this… You are the defensive coordinator. How do you feel about it and how do you tell them to react to it?
A: I tell them we have to go to work. We have seven games – we are not going to stay there. We are going to get out of that situation.
Q: Is it simply guys just not listening?
A: No, I think our guys are listening. I think our guys are trying hard. There is a lack of execution at times. When you have a lack of execution, then it doesn't look good that other teams make big plays on you.
Q: Do you hear the criticism and do you feel the heat? You are the 32nd-ranked defense in the league. Is that something that inevitably crawls into guys' heads and yours?
A: Really, the thing I'm more concerned with is the New York Giants and our players, so the outside criticism and what have you, I kind of block that out because my concern is with improving the New York Giants. We all want the same thing. We want to win, we want to be the best we can possibly be and we're going to put energy and effort into doing that. So we have seven games. We're at the 32nd spot right now. We have seven games to crawl out of that spot. We'll crawl out.
Q: Obviously the four-game losing streak and obviously you've had some issues in the secondary with injuries, the numbers, the yardage each game has obviously peaked, you hope, by the Seattle game. How much do you take that on yourself and do you look at yourself like, 'What am I doing here? Am I doing the right things here? Do I need to change things up?'
A: Yeah, I'm personally responsible for everything, for all facets of the defense. I take it personally, sure, but all I know to do is go back to work, how to evaluate as best I can what our players can do and what they do well, try to put them in the positions to have success and offer them success every day and every game.
Q: Is it difficult to resist change coming off of a game like that, the idea of, 'Well, now we have to change everything because nothing worked and we've got to move guys around and we've got to do this and that differently?'
A: When you say change, we've got a lot of guys moved around in a lot of different positions. Some are new and some are injured. We have some pieces that are moved around. I don't think you change. I think we have a basic fundamental, we have a basic core, we have a basic belief, we have a basic philosophy in what we're trying to do, we just have to do that better.
Q: Did you contemplate this week making any major personnel changes and where do you stand at safety? The two guys seemed to go in and out a little bit in that last game?
A: No personnel changes. From that standpoint, we played [Stevie] Brown 50 percent and we played [Quintin] Demps 50 percent. We're trying to get both guys integrated, we'll try to use a little bit of the three-safety package a little bit. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Q: Do you intend to do much of the same with that free safety spot moving forward? Is that sort of the plan for you guys with Demps and Brown?
A: Sure, yes.
Q: How do you compensate for Jacquian [Williams]?
A: Mark Herzlich will play. Spencer Paysinger will play. We'll use, in the sub-package, that's how we'll use that and then Devon Kennard. We'll use him also in the sub-package.
Q: In the nickel, where you would like to use Jacquian, you'll use any number of those three?
A: We'll use a number of those three players, sure.
Q: Obviously it's in retrospect. Did you notice anything with Jacquian during the game? Was his play possibly be affected by what was ultimately determined to be a concussion?
A: I would attribute it to that. When we looked at the film, I think it was when Antrel Rolle recovered the fumble at about the 49-yard line. That's when we assume that he got hit. There was nothing different talking to him or communicating with him on the sideline, so no, we couldn't tell anything during the ball game.
Q: Given the rushing yardage you gave up last week, do you expect your guys to play with greater urgency and energy?
A: We're competitors, man. You play the game to win. You play the game because you love the game. You play the game to compete. We're going to come and we're going to compete and we're going to get us a victory on Sunday.
Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn
RE: Loss of Michael Cox.
A: Yeah, I feel really bad about that. He was really making strides as a total special teams player, and covering kickoffs. Tough blow. He is a good kid and works hard, keeps his mouth shut, it's tough.
Q: What do you do now on kickoff return? Do you go back to Quintin Demps?
A: Well, you have Quintin Demps, you've got Preston Parker, you have Kevin Ogletree. So there is the next three that are up.
Q: What do you like about the new guys?
A: You like Preston's elusiveness in his run skills, but ball security is the number one thing with him, he had one ripped out. Kevin Ogletree has done it in the past. When he was in Dallas, he was back, good straight line speed.
Q: Is it an emergency situation with the other two and Quintin is the guy starting off?
A: Yeah, he was brought here doing that, gets the opportunity. They are only one or two different guys that will have to handle that duty this week.
Q: Orleans Darkwa, I assume he will be active. Is he a coverage guy?
A: Yeah, he played a couple games. That is the nice luxury, when you sign a guy off the practice squad that has played in some NFL games. He had a couple of stints with the Miami Dolphins and did a decent job. We have got him plugged in, ready to go.
Q: Is Steve Wetherford healthy now because I noticed he wasn't on the injury report.
A: He is helathier than he has been probably since Week 1, which is a good thing. He needs to practice. Hopefully he can produce better, but hopefully he is beyond the injuries and he is getting back to work. He has worked two days so far this week, which has been good for him.
Q: Are you comfortable enough now with Odell Beckham Jr. as the punt returner?
A: We still use Rueben Randle in the plus-area because he is really good at decision making and catch skills. To have two of them and then with Preston Parker in reserve, I think it is always good. You always want to have more than just one option.
Q: Average-wise on punt return, you are still pretty low. What do you attribute to that?
A: We just have to take more swings at it, we've got to get some more opportunities to get some returns, haven't had as many. Two weeks ago, it was a lot of punts in between, we caught the grey area, the 40's- 45. With the guys that punt the ball inside the 10, it is hard to get returns going. If we've got some situations, take advantage of them and get some more swings.
Q: When you say take more swings, is that maybe take a little more risk?
A: No, just a lot of times, it's just how it happens. If you cover the kickoff better, you give the defense a better start at field position and then now you can have a good return opportunity. Kind of what you are looking at is you know...they will come, that is way it goes…You just have to stay at it, stay at it, stay at it, and there is nothing to show for it right now. We feel good about where we are going and hopefully you bust through and you can create some field position for the offense.
Q: Do you see Odell Beckham Jr. getting close?
A: In practice, you like what you see, but you have to see it in the game. It has to be all of the guys blocking, and make sure the corners and safeties do a good job getting him started and then that will open the run. We've seen one against Dallas and the other ones we didn't block as well.
Q: This is the first year there are the Microsoft tablets on the sideline, do they do any good for you on special teams.
A: Sometimes, you just like having a picture to look at and to draw on and stuff. You can draw on this and stuff and blow it up. It's a good, clear picture, it is just a little different having to get used to it. I guess I am starting to show my age.
Q: You used to have picture the old way, but it used to take longer to get there?
A: It took a little bit longer, but the (tablets) are good, as long as it is not sunny out. When it is sunny out, there is a little glare issue.
