Coach Tom Coughlin

Coach Tom Coughlin: Okay, we'll just start out by saying again how disappointed we were, and really in not playing better than we did down in Washington. And I'll go a little further with that…I thought, for example, we started the game off with the two interceptions and they got no points out of it. I really did believe that we were going to take off right then. I think if DRC catches that interception on the sideline and goes down there and scores, it's 7-0 in our favor and maybe some of that momentum shifts to our way of doing business. But that being said, they had quite a nice lead going into halftime. We had not responded with anything really offensively. And then we start the third quarter and we take the ball on a nice drive down the field, and, quite frankly, I think we should have scored right there…we didn't. The ball was a little bit behind, route could have been run a little bit cleaner, but nevertheless, the ball was behind and not only do we take down a touchdown, we take down the potential for the field goal as well, so that hurt us. We continued to battle back and forth, our defense only gave up three points in the second half. They had the big plays which we talked about last night and I'll talk about again. The big pass to Jackson in the middle of the field, which we knew was coming; at what time it was coming, we didn't know, but we knew it was coming because that's what you do with DeSean. They make the great play-action fake and let him get started and get down the field, regardless of the coverage. We were in single-high, we had a safety back there, but he cleanly took care of that, right past the corner as well. We had that work against us etc. etc. Big screen pass…in my opinion, the controversial fourth down quarterback sneak, which I understand you can't overrule it without irrefutable evidence, and there evidently wasn't any but that was really close. And then in the fourth quarter, we do a couple of things offensively. They're looking for an onside kick with 10 minutes to go, we kick it deep, they have to retreat to catch it, we pin them back on the eight-yard line. We score again and then there is still plenty of time. We kickoff and with the third and five with 3:55 to go and we still have two timeouts, they convert at that point in time, then we don't ever get the ball back. Or we do, but it's (19) seconds and the length of the field to go, which the ball should have been allowed to go in the end zone on that play as well. As I said, in the division, playing for, again, something that would have been extremely beneficial, the two-game lead at that point in time. We weren't able to do that. I'll take your questions if you have them.

Q: Obviously you didn't get the production that you would have liked from the running game, but did you feel—at some point, obviously, they jumped out on you—you were forced to kind of abandon the running game or was that kind of dictated by the first half?
A: No, we had a little bit of success early on and despite the fact that there were runs following that that weren't very successful, you always look back at that and say, "Yeah, we should have run. We should have kept running. We should have done something to, if nothing else, affect the ability to set up play action pass." In the game, in the process, in the game the way it was going, we were down quite significantly, not having a lot of success, and that always leads you the other way. But when you look at the end result and you look at the statistics from the game, you certainly would have liked to have rushed the ball a considerable amount of times more than we did.

Q: How did Bobby Hart do yesterday?
A: He did okay. He had his moments, he had a couple of things that weren't done the way we wanted to. But he brought energy and he kept his poise and he battled, and those were plusses.

Q: Just a couple health questions, if you don't mind. Geoff Schwartz, any further word on him?
A: No, but it's not good. He has a fracture above the plate on his leg. So I'm sure that he'll have to be put in I.R.

Q: Rodgers-Cromartie…I know he came back in the game but he kept going out, right?
A: Yeah, but it was an ankle. I didn't see anything yet from downstairs but hopefully he's going to be able to go.

Q: Where do you go from here with the offensive line?
A: You keep working, that's what you do. You keep working, you keep fighting, you keep scrambling, you keep battling. Maybe you get a couple of guys back, or at least one back. The other guys are going to have to keep playing and do a good job for us, that's all there is to it. This is our team, these are our guys. We had, unfortunately, at a key time of the year, some of these people were not able to play up front and I'm sure they felt very badly about that, but we have to go on. We did go on and the result wasn't very good, but nevertheless you have to keep fighting.

Q: How reasonable is it that you could have Richburg or Pugh, or both, back on Sunday?
A: You know what, I'm hoping that's going to be the case, at least with one of them, but I don't have any evidence of that just yet. And I'm going to have to wait, obviously, for the protocol to be completed and for some successful rendering of the various examinations. With Richburg, it's going to be, how much improvement is there? He tried it once, it wasn't very good and so we did the best we could to keep him off his feet and continue to treat etc. etc. etc. So I'm hoping there's an advantage to that and I really won't know anything until I hear probably tomorrow to what extent he's able to do anything. So we'll see.

Q: This idea of not taking advantage of the opportunity that you had to take a two-game lead, it's not that new a concept, it's happened several times before in previous years where you had a good opportunity to get somewhere then you end up with your backs to the wall—sometimes you get out of it and you get to the playoffs and sometimes not. Is there anything that kind of links these things together?
A: No. I don't have them sitting in front of me in a box and go and look at them. I would say each situation is different. I don't really have a great answer for that other than the fact I don't think they're related.

Q: Even though you've been around him for two years now, with regard to Odell Beckham, are there things you continue to learn about him?
A: I don't know about keep learning about. We certainly have a very, very high ceiling and a high ceiling as far as what the talent level is and the things that he can do and that you would ask him to do. There is probably nothing that you wouldn't ask him to do, he seems to be able to handle all those things. No, I would say that because of the broad spectrum of ways that we've seen him in practice and in games as an athlete, I think the expectation of what he can do is the sky's the limit.

Q: I think Eli threw to him on something like 35 percent of his passes yesterday. There have been high percentages in the past. Is that a product of how good he is or a product of the fact that there aren't other guys getting open to help Eli out?
A: I think it's you want the ball in the hands of the guys who can be the most productive. And it doesn't really say a whole lot about—we've had other people that are open, you saw it in the last few minutes of the game with the two touchdown drives that people are open or able to get open—sometimes not in the timeliest fashion as you'd like. But there's plenty of opportunities for people to get open. I mean, I would think yesterday, the ball to Vereen, he was open, and he tips it up in the air and it becomes an interception. The Harris ball, I don't think so, you throw that one away. And then we talked about the goal line—the green zone interception. I would say there's guys contributing and getting open, but you certainly do want the ball in the hands of the guy that can be the most productive.

Q: Is it surprising to you that with Beckham being so dynamic and demanding so much attention that it doesn't seem like Randle or Harris obviously didn't have their best games? Is that something the Redskins were taking away and just winning the matchups because it didn't seem like aside from Beckham that any of the receivers were getting much production?
A: Well, production is one word. The other word would be the direction of the ball being sent their way. Let's face it, Rueben could have had two scores. I think that if the ball was placed properly in the end zone on the end zone throw that he would have caught that ball. Dwayne has been used in a lot of capacities and certainly he's come through for us—made the one outstanding catch yesterday of a low ball, a very low ball. The tight end contributed a couple of plays yesterday. We had Hakeem for the first time, he got one ball, had another one thrown his way. I'm sure that will increase as well.

Q: Eli won't go down this road or use it as any excuse, but what do you see from him when he's dealing with change to this extent on the offensive line?
A: What do I see from him? I see the same player.

Q: Do you see a difference?
A: Do I see a difference in his play? No. I think sometimes it's perhaps speeded up like it was yesterday on a couple of occasions. I'm not sure that sometimes the play is allowed to develop to the full extent that it does, or a quick decision is made on where the ball is going to go, or we go back to featuring the balls that are coming out of his hand quicker. He was, I think, going into the game last week, he was fifth in the league in the time of release and he's done very well with that. You'd like your quarterback to have outstanding protection and not be hit—he got hit sometimes yesterday, there's no doubt about it. But the way he came roaring back in the fourth quarter was a very good indication of Eli hanging in there, even stepping up into the pocket on numerous occasions and delivering the ball. Everybody is aware of who's on the field, but has it affected his play? Maybe to speed up and not have an opportunity to go ahead and see the entire pattern the way that you would normally do it. But I did like the way he came back battling in the fourth quarter.

Q: What are you initial impressions of the Jets?
A: I haven't even looked at them yet. I'll start that this afternoon as soon as I hang up this phone.

Q: How much extra meaning does this Jets game have for you guys or does it have any extra meaning at all because of the locality of it?
A: I've not even begun to prepare for the Jets. They won yesterday, they're a good football team. We did play them in the preseason, which is a long time ago. We'll start our study here shortly.

QB Eli Manning

Q: A Giants fan asked me this morning, "Does this team really want to make the playoffs? They had so many chances and just haven't capitalized." What would you say to a guy like that?
A: Of course, we want to make the playoffs and we're fighting our tails off and trying to do it. We didn't have our best performance yesterday, that's disappointing, and I wish we played better. I think our defense kept us in it, did a good job, and offensively we would have liked to get something going, we get a first down or we'd move the ball, and do something to force us back. We'd get into a third and long, so they did a good job. We had some opportunities to make some plays down the field and we just didn't make enough big plays and make some of the challenged throws that we need to complete.

Q: This is another instance where you have a very good opportunity to take a big step forward and it's happened before in previous years where you weren't able to do it. Is there anything baffling to you about that idea of not playing well with prosperity on the line?
A: I don't think there is something to it. I think we just have to find ways to make some plays. We have to prepare for the Jets. I don't think it's a matter of something with the team, we have a lot of new guys on the team that haven't been a part of these teams these last few years, so it's just a matter of us coming together and making plays. I don't think it was part of our effort or understanding the offense or not. I thought our effort was there, I thought our desire to do it was there; just our execution has to be better.

Q: You probably didn't get the production from the running game you would like, is that something that was dictated by what the Redskins were doing? Was that just execution on your end or what they were taking away?
A: I thought we were fine running the ball early in the game. We were getting four yards a pop, and had some nice runs, and put in some good down and distance. We just kind of got into the second half, and got down, started hitting some big plays in the pass game, finally connected on some, and once you get to the midway towards the end of the third quarter and you're down 17, it's a little bit tougher to stay with the run. We had to score, and score quickly and kind of got into a passing deal. We didn't want it to be a game where we had to throw it 50 times; we would have liked to run it more, but I think it's also a combination. We took some shots trying to throw the ball on second down and we didn't complete a lot of them, and got into a lot of third and long situations. The second half, we also just had some runs where we were just losing yards. We lost yardage a few times, we weren't getting a whole lot of it, and it just became one of those games. It wasn't the game plan but just the way it became.

Q: I know you haven't started on the Jets yet for this week, but you've been around and played against Darrelle Revis before. How intriguing of a matchup could you see Revis and Odell [Beckham Jr.] being with how well Odell is playing right now?
A: I don't know about their scheme, but I think there's a chance Revis could follow Odell around the field and be matched up with him. We'll have to see what routes we want him running and we'll put him in a position to win some one-on-one matchups. We'll see what their game plan is and see how it plays out. For me, it's not about Odell vs. Revis, it's about our offense versus the Jets defense, and us moving the ball, finding completions, and not trying to win individual battles.

Q: Are you pretty comfortable at this point throwing to Odell no matter how tight the coverage is with the way he's able to come down with the ball?
A: Well, I think we have to complete more of them. I know he had a great one-handed catch but I thought we had too many throws to him that we didn't complete down the field. He and I have to get together on that and figure out how we have to make some of those plays. It's not about forcing the ball to him, it's about giving him a shot to make some plays, but we have to figure out how to connect on more of those.

Q: The fact that you threw to him so often, 18 times yesterday, is that a product of him being more open than other guys are, or just being a better playmaker?
A: It's just kind of the way things were called based on the coverages they were playing and had a lot of man coverage, one-on-one coverage with him, and the routes. The timing of that, with the routes being called, with the coverage being played, he was my number one receiver on a lot of those just kind of based on where he was lined up at the time. When you have that matchup and you have one-on-one with him, you hope you can connect on those, and make some big plays out of it.

Q: How much does that idea of taking advantage of him being one-on-one change, if at all, against a guy like Revis?
A: I don't know. I haven't studied Revis in a while, we haven't played against them. Played against them in preseason, obviously, this year but we have to look and see and be smart about it. He's a good player and so we have to figure out what routes we want to run with him, where to be safe, and don't force certain things his way. We have to figure out where we will have our opportunities to make some plays.

Q: Obviously the last time you played the Jets four years ago, that was a turning point in your season; do you think this could be a crossroad, this game coming up against the Jets?
A: It's an important game and obviously a big one. We need a win to stay where we are in the division and we have to take it one game at a time. This is the next game and an important one, not just because it's Giants versus Jets and both teams share a stadium in the same city and everything, but it's important because of what it means for our playoff hunt. It'll be a great test for us, they're a good defense, their offense is playing well and scoring points, and we have to play well.

Q: From what you have seen from Hakeem {Nicks] since he's been back and what you know of this offense, are there going to be opportunities for Nicks or is he in the role we saw yesterday going forward in your opinion?
A: I don't think we wanted to put too much on him too fast. It's one of those deals where it's just hard to come in in one week and learn a whole offense as a receiver. It's just learn plays, knowing what to do, the check, everything that goes with it. We have to smart about not putting him in there for too much or putting too much on his plate and make sure he knows what he's doing so he can play fast and not second-guess if he's doing the right thing or not. I thought he had a good first week of picking up the offense. I think as you go into the second week you get more and more comfortable.

CB Prince Amukamara

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the way that Odell is playing and how difficult the matchup for him at cornerback is and him facing potentially Revis this week with the Jets.
A: Everybody knows that or everyone should know that Odell's athletic ability, playmaking ability is second to none in this league. Everyone knows that he's one of the best and he's a defensive coordinator's worst nightmare. But I think this is going to be a good matchup with him. We saw a little bit with him and Revis in the preseason. I don't know if Revis played yesterday, but if he does, I'm sure Revis is going to shadow him and follow him around and it's going to be a great matchup. Revis doesn't look like he's been slowing down any either.

Q: Prince, where do you think the team goes from here to pick up from the disappointment from losing yesterday's game?
A: I think just like you said, we're disappointed in ourselves but we're not discouraged. We're excited that we have another game this week to go out and prove ourselves and we feel like our goal, which is winning the NFC East, is still achievable. Guys just have to be excited about that.

Q: After what you saw yesterday in a big game, is there anything that you've seen since that game, even this morning, that leads you to believe that you guys will come out a little more aggressively in the next big game?
A: I don't think you can really gauge how we're going to perform next week by how guys feel after a game or by how guys feel this Monday. I think it's all about the preparation through a week of practice and even that, it's all about how guys show up on Sunday. We just hope to have the right mindset on Sunday.

Q: Coach said on the DeSean Jackson touchdown play, they hurried up out of the huddle and quick snapped it. Is that something they did often and how did you see that play and was everybody set?
A: I think it was right after a timeout and yeah, I don't think I was set on that play, but I was able to still get myself in position. I think you've just got to applaud the offensive coordinator and Kirk Cousins for throwing a great ball. I mean, it was a good matchup. DRC was out, it was right after a timeout and they just caught us on one. It was a great play by them.

Q: Is it something they tried to do often or was it just that one play right there?
A: No, I don't think hurry up was a big part of their game. For the most part, they huddled up and just did everything routine.

Q: I know this game is pretty important for you guys for obvious reasons in the standings, but the fact that it's the Jets, does it get you excited or mean anything else to your team, do you think?
A: I think guys right now, I think we're all just focused on this just being just another opponent that we need to beat. We're still trying to win the division and I don't think it's about who we're playing and if we need a rivalry to get us up, I feel like yesterday, I feel like we should've been more amped than any game on our schedule. I don't think we need it to be a rivalry for us to get us up. We know how great the Jets are, we know they came up with a huge win yesterday against the Dolphins so we know what's ahead of us.

Q: What do you remember about the 2011 game when you guys played against the Jets?
A: Obviously the play that stands out is Cruz's 99-yard touchdown that Eli threw to him and I just remembered that feeling, that atmosphere, we were on a roll, and that was one of the best performances that we've had.

Q: You mentioned you should've been as amped up yesterday as for any game. Why weren't you and can you explain perhaps if you took the Redskins for granted a little bit?
A: I don't know how anyone else was feeling. I'm just saying we weren't because we lost. If we would've won, I would've said that we were amped up. I don't know. I felt like in the first couple of series when we came out blow for blow, they came out on fire and I say on fire because they got two turnovers real quickly and we stopped them and held them to no points. Then I think the first half wasn't the way that we wanted it to go and the second half I felt like we fought and we started to get things going, but we were just a little too late. To circle back to your question, why weren't we as hungry in the second half as the first half, I seriously can't speak for everybody, but all I know is we fought in the second half and the first half we were just disgusted with how we played.

Q: Can you explain the lack of consistency in the team's performance?
A: Yeah, you've brought up good evidence and I think we're well aware that inconsistency is our biggest problem and we're definitely trying to fix that, because, you're right, I feel like when we're on, we're on and when we're off, we're off, so we just have to be consistent with that light switch.