By Ryan G. Murphy, WNBC.com
Giants’ offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride will look to enact a plan Monday night that will allow the Giants offensive to be more consistent through the course of the game.
Below is a transcript of Gilbride’s comments to reporters.
Q: You guys came out of the first game with a huge offensive game. Since then, it seems as if your offense isn’t in synch, at least for not all four quarters. Do you have any idea why that might be happening?
A: Let’s just say that we have tried to examine it as thoroughly as we can. And obviously if we had an easy solution to it, we would have gone to it right away. But it has been frustrating because we see some sections of the game where we have played it very, very well. And there have been a couple games, obviously, where we haven’t played well the entire game. So we don’t have an answer except to try to experiment with some things and try to get into a flow a little quicker. Try to cut down on the mistakes more than anything. If you looked at it really, that was it just this past Sunday. The first few plays one guy was making a mistake on one play. The next play somebody else would make a mistake. And finally we stopped making mistakes and started to roll pretty well. But trying to find out why those things are happening is the quest that we are on. There is no easy answer like, “Hey, all we have to do is this, change this or do that.” But it is certainly something that we are concerned with and we are working on it and hopefully we will get better.
RE: Falcons defense
A: They are playing good defense. They have a good defense. So we are going to have our hands full. We know that. They have a nice team and some very talented players. We are going to have to play well on offense to hold up our end of the bargain. I think our guys are not happy with playing half of the game well and half the game not so well. So I think it is certainly worth an effort to get that ……. And solve that problem. And hopefully this week will be in a step in the right direction.
re: more on the slow starts vs. the fast finishes
A: That is the first thing that we look at. You would look to see if there is a play; is there an approach, is there an philosophy, is there a strategy, a scheme or what have you. We have taken different approaches. And really the second half has been we have come in and looked at what they have done and been able to make some adjustments and it worked very well. But to be quite honest, the last game in the first half we just didn’t play as well as we are capable of in the beginning. And to the credit of our players they kept playing and they didn’t get down and they responded very well to what we did in the second half. But we are certainly – I would like to think we are good enough to play well for four quarters. And hopefully we are going to get to that point.
Re: Offensive line play
A: They have been very solid, particularly running the ball. Certainly nobody was above making mistakes at the beginning of the game last week. But I would say that they are a group that played very well together. They are very physical; they are a very proud group and I think they are one of those groups that the collective is better than the sum of the individual parts. I really think they play well together. And they play hard.
Re: more on offensive line, specifically how Rich Seubert and David Diehl has adjusted and played
A: I think they are playing well. I think there were certainly some concerns with some of the movements we had to make. Right now, knock on wood, Rich (Seubert) is just staying healthy. David is battling his butt off at left tackle. They are helping each other. In the pass protection the backs are doing a great job. And so I trust that collectively they are doing a pretty good job. And I think the quarterback in terms of – he is going to get rid of the ball. He is not going to take sacks unless it is just somebody that breaks through and he didn’t see them. And so all together they do a good job in that respect. Our backs are doing a very good job of running the ball but the line is doing a good job of opening up some holes for them.
Q: Plaxico
A: That’s one of the things – the realties that we have been dealt and we try to make the best of it. But certainly that hinders any growth or development. There is not practice time; zero practice time. He is a great player and he is playing very, very well for us. But it is hard to get in a rhythm with the quarterback. Not that they don’t know what to do, but there is just no growth. You are just staying where you are at. Fortunately he came in after a great commitment on his part to be a major factor for us ….. He has been a monster for us. But we would do better if we had him in practice. And the things that you think are going to work, you actually see on the practice field before you go out on game day. Right now it’s what we think schematically, based upon what we have seen on film, on what they are doing. But you haven’t done it. And the game then is the first time you do some of those things with the guys that are going to be out there.
Q: Are you amazed at what he has been able to do? The two first halves he was completely shut out. The Green Bay game he barely played. He is still among the NFL leaders in those categories.
A: Yeah. He has really made a commitment to help our football team and realizes how important he is. He is one of those guys that can make a game — turning around plays for us. He has that capacity. He has done it now in two of our games, the Washington game when he took that little shallow pass and broke a tackle and made a guy miss. And then that last one Sunday. I was happy he saw the blitz. He had a nice call. But a 60-yard gain to take advantage of what we thought was going to happen, which was a blitz. But then he turned it into a 53-yard touchdown. So it is nice to have a guy like that. I think he knows he is playing well. He is playing with confidence. But his effort where he can generate them…… in the classroom watching extra film, coming in on a normal Friday – not today but a normal Friday – where everybody else has gone by 2 pm. I come down and he is still by himself. He doesn’t want anybody to know but he is there by himself watching extra film. He is quietly preparing himself, mentally, trying to compensate for the fact he is not doing it physically. But it’s not the same. There is no question that he wishes he was out there. And we all do.
Re: Eli Manning’s play
A: We are always going to feel that he can do better. And I honestly, generally, feel that he will, and again, some of those things, like we talked about earlier. He will throw passes rather than take a sack. Now that is always going to cut down on your competition percentage. Some quarterbacks are not going to do that. They are going to stand in there and they are going to take a sack and wait….. He is not going to do that. If he sees that coming he is going to throw it away. So that is always going to hurt his percentage a little bit. But certainly the interceptions he knows he can cut down on. ………..some of those things. I don’t think I am being naive, I think my faith will be rewarded that he is going to finish the year playing the way we all think he can. Not turning the ball over, making the great throws that he always does make and maybe cutting down on some of the inconsistencies.
Q: Is the goal of a 60% completion percentage a number you would like but it is kind of artificial?
A: Well I think we felt, and feel, with the style he can still complete 60%. That is where it is going. It wasn’t a capriciously arrived at number, but one we said, “With his ability, with his knowledge, with his accuracy, if we give him time we will throw …. 60% even in the context that we are going to throw the ball down the field a little bit.
Q: Amani doesn’t catch a pass last week?
A: Yeah, it was very much a fluke. The very first pass of the game he was wide open, he makes a great cut. And one of the linemen gets power driven right back. He is falling back and tries to throw it and doesn’t complete it. Then the next one we ….. he is wide open and we don’t fan out and the nickel is coming through free. So again, he doesn’t take a sack. It was a mistake and …. Definitely that’s a tragedy because he’s always out there every day. He has worked his butt off. He is as a dependable a guy as you are going to get. He is courageous. So you feel horrible that he didn’t get a ball, but it was just one of those deals. That’s just the way it happened. It is not always easy for a player to understand. But usually it balances out during the course of the season. But it doesn’t make it anymore palatable for him. I understand that but there is not much you can do about it.
