GIANTS HEAD COACH PAT SHURMUR
On tonight's performance by his team: "Well, we had a better result than we did last week. You know, it'sinteresting even though everybody says that the wins don't matter, there's a much different feeling in the locker room when you win a football game. Last week we were disappointed, today I was happy for our guys. I told them before the game if we take care of the ball on offense, we disrupt the ball on defense and then if something bad happens, don't make it worse. It's man whipping man and let's do it together. I said then we'll be happy with the results. And so, everybody who played in the game played hard. We made a boat load of mistakes that we'll clean up and that's what preseason is all about. But they played hard, they played together and we found a way to score some points. And we found a way on defense to keep them off the board. And in all of the situational work we got was great. You know, I went for it on fourth down there, the good news about that was our defense went out. It didn't make it on fourth down, but they went out and stopped Detroit because that's certainly like a turnover. But then they stopped, so there's a lot of things we can talk about as the week goes on, but I was happy about the way our guys fought, I was happy about the way Davis Webb responded as a starter, and it was good to see really all of the quarterbacks have some success."
On what Giants QB Davis Webb's performance tonight said about him: "Well, I think he made improvements between last week and this week. I think he was 14 for 20, he engineered a scoring drive, which is important. So, yeah, he had a much better night."
On how starting the game affected Webb's performance: "Maybe, but I think he was calmer tonight. I tell the guys he'd stay calm, but I wish I could do that all the time. I got wound up a couple times. So, it happens, it's football. You compete and then we help each other stay calm, but he did fine. He did a good job tonight."
On Webb being hit tonight and a potential fumble being overturned: "Well, that's what everybody would say, but he got hit on the play. And so, he's in the act of throwing, and he gets hit, and it gets written like he started out poorly, but that's the way it goes."
On Webb's presence on the field being any different than usual: "No. I thought he played, it was the Davis Webb I was used seeing. But he had more success on his throws, and again, he helped get us in the end zone, which was good."
On his defense's performance: "Yeah, I thought they did a good job. You know when you start by stopping the run, I don't really think Detroit made much of an effort to run the ball they started throwing it, so old school. And again, I'm fond of defensive coaches. You stop the run, get them to pass, and then sack the quarterback. Well, if they let you get to that second phase quicker than they want, then it puts pressure on them. So, again there was plenty of things we need to work on. We got exposed in a couple of areas that we'll try to clean up. But for the most part, the effort was good and we found a way to win."
On QB Kyle Lauletta's touchdown: "Yeah, that was good. That was pretty nifty the way he did that. Just like we drew it up. We drew it up for like five guys to be standing there waiting for him, and then have him try to make them miss. That's an attempt at humor by the way."
On the team's running game tonight: "I thought we found a way at the end of the game. You know, we were picking and early on we didn't do a good job running the ball. By the end, we kind of found—we kind of worked our way into the runs that were working best against them and then we just went back to it. And we had a couple of drives there late, you know, where we had much more success running the ball."
On if RB Wayne Gallman's touchdowns were naturally building up through his development in the past weeks: "I think so, you know the whole camp, and actually starting in the spring I saw improvement from him. We saw improvement from him and when you see a young man who's fighting to be good, and have success in the game—it doesn't matter whether it's a preseason game when you cross the goal line, there's that feeling you get and he got to do it twice."
On how important it was to get RB Wayne Gallman Jr. and $LB Tae Davis action in this game: "I think it's very important. We're going to need everybody. Unfortunately, I've got 90 guys in there that I'm really fond of and in a couple of weeks I'm going to have to whittle it down to 53 and at some point everyone that's on our team is going to have to contribute and help us win games. So when they can do it as back-up players so to speak, doing it on the front burner with the ones, it's good for our team."
On his overall evaluation of $Lb Tae Davis: "I don't want to overthink it. I think when we put guys out there we want them to have success and so you know, I think it's pretty obvious. If they don't have success, we're not happy. If they have success, we're happy. And that's sort of where we're at."
On the type of role he envisions for DL Kerry Wynn: "Well, he's pretty multiple. He pass rushes on the interior of the defense. He can play the edge. I've been very pleased with what he's done to this point and I'm looking forward to him having a really good year."
On how important it is to have second-tier players contributing: "Yeah, I wouldn't consider him second-tier. I think, you know, he's front-liner. He's a good football player and he's a big man, he's long, and he can run. There's a place in the world for guys like that."
On if there was an intention all week to not play QB Eli Manning or WR Odell Beckham Jr.: "I was not, you know, I kind of made the decision early in the week I wasn't going to play Eli. I just felt like, and here's the thing with Eli and Odell, I felt like we were going to get better-than-practice work against Detroit for two days, so they got a lot of good work and, you know, just the unintended consequence of that it allowed us to give Davis Webb more work. And then because Odell got his work, we didn't want to put him out there."
On if he went for it on fourth down to send a message to his team or whether he likes to do that at that place on the field: "I went for it because I wanted to get it quite frankly. You know, we had a good play call. I felt like Mike (Shula) had a good fourth down play designed and I should have flipped the formation. Any time you're working against (Lions CB Darius) Slay—I've done that a few times, we should throw it to the left. He's a good player and he made a good play on the ball. Our receiver was open momentarily and we just didn't make the play. The good news about that is that if the time is right, I trust our defense and I trust our offense. If the time is right, I'm going to go for it. The idea is to get in the end zone and it's not illegal to go for it on fourth down."
GIANTS QB KYLE LAULETTA
On his thoughts of today's game: "It was good. A good team win. I thought we moved the ball well all four quarters and (the) defense did a great job. They were out there a lot, playing a lot of defense. But all in all, it was a good win and I like what the offense did."
On how he feels in terms of readiness for the season: "Good. I think I'm coming along. A couple of throws that I wish that I had back, a couple of near misses. I think it was the right throw, right decision, just missed him by a yard or two and that will happen. But we moved the ball well and we put up points, so I'm just happy with the way that the whole team played and the way we came out with the win."
On the feeling of winning a football game: "Anytime you can win, the whole team morale is just a lot better. Guys were having a lot of fun out there. It was good to see."
QB Davis Webb
Q: Its only preseason but how did it feel to lead this offense to a score?
A: I was just excited to be with the first guys. Having Nate Solder in there, Sterling Shepard, Jon (Halapio) directing the traffic, my buddy Evan (Engram) and Rhett (Ellison) making plays. It was a lot of fun being with those guys, I think they played their butts off tonight and all the credit goes to the offensive line for having some protection.
Q: On the touchdown drive, you had the pass to Wayne Gallman, talk about what you saw on that play?
A: Pre-snap, I didn't know if it was going to go to him or not. They kind of did something a little different than I thought they were going to do. It just kind of worked out that way, Wayne did a great a job. He set them up all week in practice, he ran a great route and all the credit goes to him, great catch.
S Landon Collins
Q: It's only preseason, but what does it say about this defense to have only given up 3 points?
A: We are gritty, we are aggressive, and we are playing how we want to play. We are playing sound, we understand what the defense asks of us, we understand what the defensive call is, and we are playing fast.
Q: It's the second preseason game, are you feeling the chemistry of this defense getting stronger?
A: Yeah, each and every day the chemistry is getting stronger. We are just clicking, it's not like we are fighting against each other trying to find out what the heck is going to happen within the play. It just happens, and it happens naturally.
GIANTS CB ELI APPLE
On the team's defensive performance: "I think we did well collectively, especially the first two units. And we had a little adversity with that big play on third down, with the running back, but I think we all came together and held them to that field goal. That was key."
On how important it was for the offense to surround the quarterback: "It's great. It's all great team ball because we're back there covering guys and trying to hold up the coverage so the quarterback can hold the ball a little longer. So, we get guys like O.V. (Olivier Vernon), chances to really pass, rush and get to the quarterback and other guys, too. Like you know, Kareem Martin was in the back field, even Snacks (Damon Harrison Sr.) was in the back field, so it was just a great team effort."
On how the defense has come together for the preseason: "It's definitely come together, it's very aggressive, and we can stop any run really well, we just got to keep that going. Continue to work harder on tackling too, I think we did a good job at that, and we could always welcome communication and get on the same page on the field. But I mean, we took a step forward today."
GIANTS RB WAYNE GALLMAN JR.
On his mindset coming into the game with RB Saquon Barkley out and getting additional reps and opportunities: "Same mindset I always have. Honestly, just going in when your name is called and put in work."
On how his experience from last year is helping him this year: "I feel way more comfortable. You know, it's a thing where we went through a lot last year, so I know I learned a lot. From what I learned, going into this year, really worked on in the offseason, pretty much everything from the passing game, to the running game, to whatever I need to work on in terms of confidence and it's showing. I am having fun out there. I'm not so much worried about knowing the play because I already know it and just out there letting it loose."
On what he thinks QB Davis Webb showed tonight: "That he's a player. We all know he's a player, Davis is the first one in the building and the last one out. He's very dedicated and when he does have those down times, he doesn't dwell on them, he gets right back into it. That's why I am glad he came from last week, didn't have the best game, to this game, he did way better. He had a good game, so I'm proud of him."
On if he noticed anything about QB Davis Webb this week after last week's performance: "No, not really, Davis is always the same. Every time you look at him, he's confident, he knows what he's doing and he's competitor. He's always ready to play."
