Coach’s Notes: Tom Coughlin After Atlanta Win

By Ryan G. Murphy

Below is a transcript from Tom Coughlin’s conference call following Monday night’s 31-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons:

Any injuries that you know of?

I really don’t even have a report yet. The players (weren’t) in until 1:00 p.m. for the medical so I don’t have anything upstairs yet. I know that the ankle with (Derrick) Ward was an issue again and I really don’t know if there is anything else. I am sure there are some bruises and some minor things, but I am not sure if there is anything else.

Can you explain what is happening with Aaron Ross? This is the second time he has left a game with cramps?

I wish I could ,but I really can’t. The first time it was a little bit unusual obviously because of the number of snaps. This time we knew and we talked about it that we would be playing in a dome and that hydration was a major issue. We do have to be very careful and make sure that we are hydrated going in and he obviously has a little issue with that. We will continue to work with him and try to find a way to solve it.

Do you see anything that Eli is doing on the poor throws that are intercepted? Is he losing his focus?

No, I don’t know if it is that. On the one, I told you that I am taking responsibility for the one before the half. The whole thing was really not conducted the way it should have been. He threw the ball; therefore, he is the one that gets credit for the interception, but I am taking the interception, it was mine. I think the second one he just launched the long ball down the sideline. He had read the coverage, he had checked to a prepared audible, and everyone was on the same page. Amani (Toomer) said he lost the ball in the lights and obviously there was a great play made by (DeAngelo) Hall, the interception, but that one was something that if we make the tackle down there, it isn’t going to look as dangerous as when he is running up the sideline obviously. We don’t want to turn it over, we don’t want to throw the interceptions, and we are working hard to not do that. You talk about the first half and I think he had 12 straight completions and was very, very accurate and very, very sharp. The two-minute without any timeouts interception I am taking responsibility for. The audible one I expected the ball to go in one of the seams and they carried the seam, so the ball ended up going outside.

The early part of this season and the early part of last season seem similar, starting off slowly and then going on a winning streak. Can you describe the differences and what might make the team more conducive to winning this year?

I just think that the players have been very supportive of each other. There is a very good sense of responsibility, leadership is doing a good job, there is a solid feeling in the locker room that if we stick together and everybody does their job, we can win. Those are the things that are prevailing.

How much has the solid play of the offensive line allowed you to open up the playbook a little bit?

That is where it starts. It starts up front. It is a product of being able to feel good about the mixture of run and pass that we have been able to do some other things. The beautiful long post ball from Eli to Plaxico (Burress), obviously you can’t do something like that unless you sell the run and then have outstanding protection, which we did have. The offensive line by and large is playing solid, solid football and that is where it starts.

Do you feel pretty good about where you stand in the division and the conference this early in the season?

I think what we try to do every week is to just be, like I told the players on Sunday night, the only thing we can control is the way we play, what we are able to accomplish, how we prepare, how we focus, and as we go into each game, the importance of each game and the critical importance of continuing to win to be able to be in some kind of position at some point during the year with an awful long way to go. Obviously you are aware of what is happening in our division because you have to be and hopefully it will come down to a hard-fought race.

Are you frustrated that you have to change the style of your kickoffs when you are not getting the depth on them?

I think that if you look around the league, you are forced to do that with some of the great return people that we are facing week-in and week-out with the speed and the execution. I think it requires that you do something to disrupt the timing of the return. It may be that those kicks are not pretty to the eye but they do cause adjustments on the part of the scheme in order to react to one, to where the ball is and two, the difference in depth between the return man and the wedge or the scheme. You do have to be able to do that and even though the field position was not necessarily what you would want, and you don’t want to put your defense at the 35, it is better than the result of long kickoff returns for a touchdown. You saw Norwood on one play from scrimmage go 67. That would not be the first time he would have ever taken a kick back that far with a 76-yarder the week before. I think you just have to be able to be aware of who the returner is, what you are facing, what their scheme is, how good they are at it, and then you do have to be able to maneuver the ball around. I thought that the mortar kicks that we attempted to utilize as a strategy were good thoughts, the squib kick got us into good position a couple of times, and we did drive the ball one time and got in position where we made the play. I don’t think you can do just done thing but by virtue of changing up some of these kicks we are giving ourselves a little bit better chance to control the outstanding return game.

On the 12 straight completions by Eli, how many of those plays were plays that he might have called at the line? How much does that tell you about how far he has come as a quarterback to be able to complete 12 in a row?

The majority of those plays in the first and second quarter came from the sideline. There may have been one or two that were adjusted. He actually did an outstanding job once again in the one drive where we were facing blitz, blitz, blitz late in the game when Reuben (Droughns) made his long run. Those were all run audibles so he has done an excellent job consistently with that. With the protection being what it is, his confidence level is up. We hit the 12 in a row and he may have adjusted some of them, but his accuracy was outstanding.

What happened defensively on the first two series? It seems like the defense got together after that?

I don’t know if we got together. You make the adjustments, you notice the style of play, and you react to how the other guy is playing. We got hurt by the long run and one of the things that we have been able to do as a team is come right back and line up and play the next time and realize that that play is over and there is nothing you can do about that now, let’s move forward. I think we just kept making the necessary adjustments, recognizing the positions that we were in, and played better football. I think that there were actually three sudden-change situations. The two that I talk about are the first two. I think the ability to go on the field in those situations and force the other guy to go three-and-out, those were exceptional defensive plays which really stated very strongly to everyone on our team that, you know what, we do have the ability to bail ourselves out if we do make mistakes. Not that we ever want to make a mistake, but it is a confidence boost.

Antonio Pierce said the team is going in with an attitude that you are still 0-2. Is that an attitude that you like and one that you try to foster?

I think it is. We do talk about and we do have a sign which says, ‘prepare, practice, and play as if you lost your last game,’ and I think that mentality kind of says it all. You never can be satisfied. It is a constant attempt to keep the bar high and to really run the race against yourself. Practice and play to meet a standard that you set for yourself. I think that is something that we have constantly tried to make our players understand downstairs and we have to keep doing that.

Amani Toomer sets the Giants’ record last night and in addition has a very good bounce-back game; do you continue to see him as a real impact player?

There is no question about that. When you say bounce-back, we just didn’t get him the ball (last week against the Jets). It is not as if he did something wrong. We just weren’t able to get him the ball by virtue of whatever. The coverage went that way, the progression didn’t take it as far, whatever you want to say about it, but he has done that many times in the time that I have been here, where he has gone from a game where he had maybe one catch or whatever and then he turns around and has a solid, solid performance which he did last night. I think one of the things that was really good on the part of our offense and our play-calling last night was that in that first quarter, when we were so interested in starting faster than we had started really literally all year, the ball got moved around to everybody and there were a lot of people contributing. That was a good sign.

You have been able to run the ball quite well in the second half of the past two games with your two or three big backs. Is that something that you really want to take pride in? That you can wear down the other team by grinding it out with your big backs?

I don’t know that it was a wear-down thing; it is just a strength of ours that we have to continue to develop. I think the one thing that always frustrates me about the inability, if you will, to be successful in those two-minute things or whatever right there at the end of the half is that they are so predictable. The ball has to be thrown in order to get where you want to go otherwise you don’t have enough time to put yourself in position. While we will continue to work on that we are so much better when we have a good mixture of run and pass. That is something that we seem to come back out after the half and obviously by virtue of how things are set up and utilized we make a strong statement about that mixture.

Coughlin: Jacobs’ Fumble Can’t Happen Again

By Ryan G. Murphy, WNBC.com

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin stressed the importance of Brandon Jacobs not fumbling like in last Sunday’s game against the Jets. During Jacobs’ second carry of the game, Jets safety Kerry Rhodes stripped the ball from Jacobs and ran it back 11 yards for a touchdown.

A criticism of Jacobs’ bruising running style is that he refuses to go down even when the play appears to be over.

“It certainly isn’t very pleasant to have [a fumble like that] take place. We talk all the time about ball security. He comes back in and it is a critical third and short and, quite frankly, he gets himself in not a very good position and the second people on the ball strip the ball and it comes out,” Coughlin said.

Coughlin said he talks endlessly to Jacobs about defenses ripping for the ball out since he stays up so long during runs.

“He is up a lot because he is a powerful man and the power is moving,” Coughlin said. “Whenever that occurs, you obviously give the opposition a chance to get more people in grabbing for the ball and stripping for the ball, which is something that will happen this week, which Atlanta does. You have to be very careful.”

Coughlin said he doesn’t encourage Jacobs to ever go down, because the play might not really be over.

“He might come out the other end,” Coughlin said. “You saw what Ward did the other day when it looked like a pile that he wasn’t going to come out of. He came out of that.”

Coughlin noted that he’s been pleased so far with the two-back effort from Jacobs and Ward.

NOTES:
Coughlin said Osi Umenyiora would return to practice on Friday after nursing a sore back for much of the week. On Monday night, Umenyiora will line up against Falcons’ rookie left tackle Renardo Foster. Umenyiora leads the NFL with seven sacks.

Coaches Notes: Tom Coughlin

By Ryan G. Murphy, WNBC.com

Tom Coughlin’s conference call on Wednesday. Among the highlights, Coughlin discusses Eli Manning’s shaky play in the first half against the Jets and calling time out right before a potential game-winning kick…

How have things been going for the New York Giants?

A: “We have won three games in a row. We have been able to find ways to win to be honest with you. Down in Washington, we came back in the second half and the defense played well the whole game. But the offense played well in the second half. Against Philadelphia we had a good defensive game, which catapulted us into the winners circle. Last week, was a repeat of Washington. We were down 17-7, came out in the second half, threw the ball down the field and scored. They returned the kickoff for a touchdown and we recovered from that and went on to win the football game. We sealed the game with a defensive touchdown. We keep talking about playing well with all three units in unison, but we are not there yet. Our constant theme is to have people performing at the highest level at each position so we can play in harmony and not beat ourselves.”

Q: Can you talk about WR Plaxico Burress coming back and playing with his injury (ankle)?

A: “He has played well. He is not able to practice during the week, but we get him to the point to where he can go on gameday. He spends the week studying and preparing. He tries to catch as many balls as he can without actually participating in practice. He has been able to make a very solid contribution obviously. The play he made the other day inspired our sideline and pushed us towards the win.”

Q: How does getting RB Brandon Jacobs back help your running game?

A: “To have both RB (Derrick) Ward and Jacobs playing is good. Ward played well the first half and I thought Brandon played well and powerful in the second half. The combination of the two of them and then finishing with RB Reuben Droughns was good. They seem to compliment each other.”

Q: Can you talk about your pass rush?

A: “We spent a couple of games without the pressure and we really needed it against Philadelphia. It seemed with the pressure we played better pass coverage. Not everything was based on the speed of the rush, some of it was coverage. DE Osi Umenyiora had a historical game. DE Michael Strahan became the all-time Giants sack leader. LB Mathias Kiwanuka and DT Justin Tuck in addition to bringing the linebackers and safeties amounted to an exceptional game. Last week against the Jets, we only had one sack. They did a nice job with their schemes, protections and they got the ball out quickly. We were finally able to get them to hurry the release of the football. It was not from a lack of trying, we just kept coming.”

Q: Whose idea was it to move Osi around on defense?

A: “Steve Spagnuolo is our defensive coordinator and he has done a good job of utilizing our talent. We wanted flexibility and to be able to create some issues. By situation defense we were able to do that against the Eagles.”

Q: How has QB Eli Manning played?

A: “Eli has played solid for us. Last week, the first half wasn’t very good, but the second half was good. We need to cut back on the turnovers. I took responsibility for the interception before the half. He has played well. He did a nice job of getting us in the right play last week. He got some opportunities to make some plays by virtue of his feet. He was able to get outside the pocket and buy a little more time to get the ball down the field.”

Q: Is calling a timeout right before the kicker kicks in the spirit of the game?

A: There is no doubt it is. There is risk involved because you have to have the official right there beside you if you are going to wait that long. If you don’t get the official’s attention the ball might be away. I am seeing people “ice the kicker” closer and closer to the snap. I definitely think it is in the spirit of the game, but there is a chance you won’t get the timeout.”

Gameday Blog: Highlights From Tom Coughlin Presser

By Ryan G. Murphy, WNBC.com

Tom Coughlin: Outstading second half, obviously even with the kickoff return. Had a lot of things go against us. I am taking full responsibility for the first half. The fumble, they score, the interception, they kick a field goal; just not the way we want to play the game. One of our themes is always, ‘don’t beat yourself.’ and we put ourselves in a bad hole that way. However, we came out after the half and we played hard, we gave up the kickoff return, but we still came back and we still felt like we could win the game…

On Aaron Ross: Aaron violated a team rule, that is between he and I, it is my call, and that is all I will say about that.

On not taking a knee to end the second half: Because I thought with 30 seconds…I thoughts we had enough time to maybe throw the ball to the sideline, make a couple of plays, and maybe get a shot a field goal. That is what I was looking for. We had the timeouts. It didn’t turn out that way, so as I said, I take responsibility for the play call.”

Bam! Pow! Zing! Attack!

The problem with attacking defenses is that they are generally high risk and high reward. The attacking defense, in theory, makes a lot of big plays but is vulnerable to giving up the big play on occasion. On Sunday, the New York Giants defense epitomized to perfection what an attacking defense should be…except there wasn’t really any attacking. And no reward either.

Coming into the 2007 season, words like blitz, attack, pow, zam and zing were thrown around. You got the sense Steve Spagnuolo was going to launch a full-blown assault on opposing offenses with results so destructive that you’d need to peel jerseys off the turf. Here’s a secret that we’ve learned through the first two weeks of the season – the Giants don’t have the personnel to be an attacking defense.

Let’s look at the numbers:

Total Yards Given Up: 846 (621 Passing!)

Sacks: 2 (both by Justin Tuck – paging Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan?)

Interceptions: 2 (both by Gibril Wilson…Sunday’s was on a gift tipped ball)

Total Points Given Up: 80 (this isn’t the NBA)

If said “attacking” is going on, we’re doing a heck of a job, huh? Two sacks, two picks, 40 points a game.

There wasn’t a single defensive facet working Sunday. Pass rush was atrocious (I think I saw Brett Favre check his fantasy stats between a five-step drop and completion); linebackers can’t cover the middle of the field, (NFL tight ends can’t wait for Big Blue); and the secondary is prone to the big play (see: being torched by 57-year-old quarterbacks).

Bottom line, AGAIN, is that this is the same exact team as 2006 sans Tiki Barber. It’s the same old mistakes, same old excuses, same stupid penalties, same old Giants.

Jeremy Shockey and Amani Toomer both killed touchdown drives with stupid, stupid penalties. Don’t worry though, Tom Coughlin, the disciplinarian will work it out.

Excluding some promising looks from the offense, I am disgusted with the Giants’ performance Sunday. If there is any sense of pride left in this team, I’d ask that they please show it now. Losing is fine, just not like this. It’s hard to watch a team show no heart when thousands of Giants fans keep giving so much of theirs.

Report: Eli Manning Out At Least A Month With Separated Shoulder

ESPN is reporting that Eli Manning is going to be out at least a month with a separated throwing shoulder.

I’ll keep you updated on this news as it’s updated.

A severely separated shoulder will put Manning out for more than 4 weeks. That’s just a personal opinion; I hope it’s not right.

Early speculation is swirling that the Giants could pick up Byron Leftwich to step into the gaping hole that is now left by Manning’s injury.

–Ryan

Not Exactly The Week 1 We Hoped For…

Sorry for not writing until Monday afternoon but I’ve spent the last few hours trying to cover Jason Whitten over the middle. Somebody’s got to do it.

Ok, so we learned three things on Sunday:

1)I can’t pick against the spread: 6-8 on Sunday. If I win both Monday night games I’ll be 8-8. Does that clinch me a playoff spot in the NFC?

2)The Giants defense is atrocious. Tony Romo is good – but not “I won my fantasy week because of him” good. I am not even remotely confident in the Giants’ secondary and Mathias Kiwanuka looked as comfortable at linebacker as the class nerd playing dodge ball in gym class. Also, I saw John Madden get less winded running sprints before the game than the Giants D-line.

3)The Giants are the exact same team as last year minus Tiki Barber. Just when you think the game is lost, they come back to give you hope, only to say 10 plays later, “you silly, silly man, did you think we were ACTUALLY going to pull it out?” Last year’s team did just enough to lose the big games. Last night wasn’t any different.

Plain and simple, the defense let us down Sunday night. Injuries aside, you can’t get torched for 45 points and 336 passing yards. Defense gets an F for Sunday’s loss. I’m more worried about the secondary than the injuries.

Let’s look at the bright side of things, now.

Ok…done.

Just kidding. In reality, we’re 0-1 after an injury-plagued game, on the road. If we take care of Dallas at Giants’ Stadium later in the year, we can call it a wash. Last night would have been a HUGE win, but it’s not the end of the world.

Manning looked better than I’ve ever seen him. Assuming his injury isn’t long term – the passing game looks promising, and who needs Brandon Jacobs when you’ve got Derrick Ward, right? There were glints of Tiki Barber last night from Ward, but I wouldn’t christen him the savior running back just yet.

At the very least we saw that Ward can be an extremely effective third-down-type back. Paging David Meggett…

No, seriously, we need David Meggett and any other football player that’s played running back before. Send resumes to: OnTheHotSeat@coughlin.com

Bottom line, it could be worse – we could be the Jets.

–Ryan

Strahan Ends Holdout… "He Went With His Heart"

Giants DE Michael Strahan ended his holdout Friday night and will return to practice on Monday with the team.

Does this surprise too many people out there? I’m really not too shocked about this one, but it is good news if you are a Giants fan.

On a different front, is anyone interested in trading for Byron Leftwich? The Jags said Friday they were interested in trading him. With the way our backups looked this preseason, he might not be a bad pickup…Just a thought…

Here’s the AP story on Strahan:

Seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan has decided to end his holdout and return for a 15th NFL season with the New York Giants.

“He went with his heart instead of his head,” Tony Agnone, his agent, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Friday evening. “He felt at this point he was part of the team, and he was going to go to battle with them.”

The decision came a day before the Giants had to cut their roster to the 53-man limit and a little more than a week before the season opener at Dallas.

“He knows he’ll be ready to go,” Agnone said of playing in the season opener. “He’s been working out like crazy.”

Strahan left the West Coast on Friday and planned to be at Giants Stadium on Monday when the team begins preparing for the Cowboys. He will have four practices before the game.

And Strahan might play more than the 2007 season.

“This does not mean at the end of the year that he is going to retire,” Agnone said. “He is going to sit down again in March like he always does, and he said: ‘I won’t be doing this next year.”

Agnone said Strahan informed Giants general manager Jerry Reese of his decision to play around 5 p.m. EDT. Agnone would not say when Strahan made up his mind, but he added the NFL’s single-season sack leader did not want to keep the team hanging.

The 35-year-old Strahan missed 36 days of training camp and amassed a $514,368 fine.

Agnone said the Giants agreed to reduce the fine total, but Strahan still will pay a “significant amount of money.”

Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said the team had no immediate comment, and Reese did not return an e-mail seeking comment.

The announcement of Strahan’s decision came just hours after a frustrated coach Tom Coughlin said he was taking the approach that Strahan would not play this season.

Coughlin seemed upset that Strahan still was mulling whether he would play more than five weeks after training camp opened. He also was annoyed that Strahan’s absence made it tough to make final roster decisions and to pick a practice squad.

Third-year-man Justin Tuck has started at left end in the preseason, and he has played well.

Strahan, who is to make $4 million this season, had mulled retirement while considering a career in television, insisting the decision had nothing to do with money.

In a letter to Giants fans last month, Strahan said the holdout had nothing to do with his recent divorce, in which a judge awarded his former wife $15.3 million. Strahan has paid half that amount, and an appellate court granted him a temporary stay while it considers whether the award was too much.

Thoughts On Giants – Pats

Granted it was against the Patriots’ second-team defense, but the Giants offense looked very efficient on Thursday night’s first drive of the game.

Manning found the open guys – unfortunately 2 balls were dropped. Shockey finished the drive with four catches for 47 yards. Stay healthy this year Shock!

Mixed reviews on the first drive for Anthony Mix. He’s got to hold on to that ball when he knows he’s going to get hit. The way I see it, you’re going to get hit anyway, might as well have the first down with the pain. Easier said than done, I know, but I don’t get paid to hold on to those balls.

Jacobs looked strong again – glad he got in for the touchdown. I’m a little bothered that it took 5 plays for the Giants to get in on first and goal. That’s been their problem for a while – red zone efficiency.

I like the Giants out of a three tight-end set – a lot of things can come from it – run, pass, play action….

…Alright I’m going to say it – for being billed a disciplinarian, Tom Coughlin seemingly does very little to enforce punishment for personal foul penalties. I’ve been watching on and off for the last 25 minutes as I am covering news for WNBC.com, and that’s the third personal foul penalty called on the Giants. You’ve got to be kidding me. If I’m a head coach, I don’t care who you are – if you commit a stupid personal foul (i.e. – hitting a guy after the play is dead) you’re coming out of the game and you’re getting a fine. Too many times in 2006 the Giants shot themselves in the foot with stupid, stupid penalties like this. It’s got to stop…

…On a lighter note, nice to see Vinny Testaverde in a jersey for another year. Think he’s got a shot at starting for the Jets this year? Ouch. Yes, Jim Scott, I went there…

…I absolutely love what I just saw from Jared Lorenzen…Reuben Droughns just broke free on a handoff and Jared Lorenzen ran out ahead of him and threw a lead block…stupid, but I love the intensity…Glad to know that if Manning goes down, we’ve got a guy who really wants to kick some butt!…

Couglin On The Hot Seat

Despite making the playoffs the past two seasons, expectations for the New York Giants aren’t that high.

Tiki Barber, the Giants’ all-time leading rusher and offensive catalyst, retired for a television career. The wait for Eli Manning to live up to expectations continues. And who knows what to expect from seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan, if anything.

Then there’s the Tom Coughlin factor. The no-nonsense coach is on the hot seat after failing to get past the first round of the playoffs two straight years amid all kinds of turmoil.

If the path gets bumpy again, things could get ugly fast.

That’s the Giants, though. They were the defending NFC East champs and considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender a year ago. They got big heads, suffered a couple of injuries, pointed fingers and went 8-8 to barely squeeze into the playoffs.

“One of the things we are striving for this year is playing together as a team,” center Shaun O’Hara said. “I think last year we had a lot of individual talent, but I don’t know if we played well as a team every Sunday. That’s our overall goal as a team, to complement each other in every phase and make it a collective effort.”

Whether the Giants can get back to being a title contender depends on three key issues:
— Can Manning have a consistent season and avoid the big mistakes?
— Can big, bruising Brandon Jacobs do as well as Barber, and stay healthy?
— Will Strahan end a holdout and play a 15th season, and can the defense survive without him?

The Strahan question was the most unexpected. Hours before training camp opened, the NFL’s active sacks leader announced he was holding out while he mulled retirement. Five weeks later, and just a little more than a week before the opener at Dallas, he was still mulling his options.

On the field, the offense has shown the potential to carry the Giants, especially if Manning can avoid a third straight second-half slump. Having former quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride as the offensive coordinator should help Manning, who is also being tutored by Chris Palmer, another longtime quarterbacks guru.

One thing that has changed is Manning has emerged as one of the leaders of the Giants, thanks in part to Barber.

Barber criticized the quarterback’s leadership a few weeks ago during halftime on Sunday night football and Manning fired right back at his former teammate.

Not only did the retort prop him up in the eyes of his teammates, but Manning followed that with good stints against Baltimore and the Jets.

Manning should have plenty of help this season.

David Diehl’s ability to move from left guard to left tackle has strengthened the offensive line. It also should help Jacobs use his 6-foot-4, 260-pound frame to run over defenses.

The receiving corps is deep with Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, rookie Steve Smith and Sinorice Moss on the field along with Pro Bowl tight end Jeremy Shockey. The concern is Burress, who missed much of training camp with ankle and back problems.

“This team came a long way,” said Toomer, who has returned from major knee surgery. “There were times early in camp where it was touch and go, but the young guys stepped up and our defense played real well.”

After a dismal performance in the preseason opener, the defense improved under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, allowing one touchdown in the next two games.

Justin Tuck, who like Strahan missed a good part of last season with a serious foot injury, has been outstanding filling in at left end. Osi Umenyiora has been a force on the other side.

Mathias Kiwanuka has been adequate making the transition from defensive end to strongside linebacker, and free agent Kawika Mitchell has looked good as weakside linebacker. With Pro Bowler Antonio Pierce in the middle, the linebackers are solid.

The weakness is the secondary, especially with veteran Sam Madison battling a hamstring injury. Rookie cornerback Aaron Ross should provide help at some point.

“This is going to be a team you can be proud of,” Pierce said. “I know one thing you love in New York is defense. When I came here from that other team (Washington) I saw the (tradition) at linebacker: Carl Banks, Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson. But this group is going to work hard and play some ball.”

One area not settled is the kicking job. Neither veteran Lawrence Tynes nor free agent Josh Huston has won it, although Huston has kicked better lately.

(AP)