IMPROVING THE OFFENSE
Despite their success the first two weeks, Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride sees a lot of room for improvement from amongst his troops.
“I think the fact that we got down there a couple times early on and had a penalty called back twice, a couple big plays; the sail route that we threw to Kevin Boss and the draw to get down to the one, which would have been a great finish to the two minute drive before the half. There is always an area and I think our guys understand that as good as we were there were areas where we could have been a little bit sharper.”
Gilbride was asked if getting the tight end more involved in the offense was another area of interest. Through two games, the Giants tight ends have recorded zero receptions. They have been targeted exactly four times – Kevin Boss being the intended receiver on three of those pass attempts.
“It is a bigger deal to you guys than it is to me. If they are going to play, which they are coverage-wise, where he is taken away, then it is just opening up opportunities for other people. I heard some of the players explaining some of the situations that we actually made substitutions where Steve Smith is on that spot in four wides and that position has been very productive for us and it has been for a while.
“I am not concerned about it. Like everything else, usually it balances out, plays itself out, just like it did on that sail route where he had the opportunity for a big catch and gain.”
NOW FOR THE POSITIVES
Despite their problems with leaving points on the board, penalties, the missing tight ends, Gilbride couldn’t hide his giddiness over the weapons he has to work with.
“I love our three-headed monster that they have created for our opponent,” he said of the running back trio of Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw. “The challenge always is going to be how you get them in and when do you get them in and who goes in when. The guy you rely upon heavily is Jerald Ingram and his timing or his suggestion, ‘let’s put Ahmad in now,’ wound up being a brilliant, brilliant suggestion and of course he just ignited us as soon as he went in there by making a couple big plays. I am very fortunate; we are, as a group to have three guys we feel very good about.
Besides his trio of running backs, Gilbride has a stable of receivers who can open things up and allow the Giants to pursue the deep ball. “We not only rotated some people in, but we rotated some spots where they were playing. We were able to get some isolations, I guess the most obvious one was getting Domenik Hixon revolved. A couple creative things like putting Plaxico over on the left side with Steve Smith and Amani and then gave him some one-on-one chances and he capitalized on them. We plan on continuing to do that, move people around, and see if we can create certain matchups that would be in our favor and knock on wood, right now it is working.
REMEMBER THE BOSS?
Despite the fact that he hasn’t had a reception yet this season, Giants starting TE Kevin Boss said his time will come. “I think I can be a threat whenever I am in the game. I think I am going to get plenty of opportunities throughout the season so I am just going to be patient.”
Boss, who said he’s gotten his strength up this season, said the Giants 0-2 start has lessened any frustrations he might have otherwise felt from not being involved. “We are 2-0, so I don’t really have much to complain about when I am on a team that is 2-0. Like I said, just be patient and wait for my number to be called. It is a long season so we will wait and see.”
KEEPING IT REAL
The Giants are 0-2 and appear to be firing on all cylinders. But at least one player realizes that the first two opponents haven’t really tested the defending Super Bowl champions to the point where they can feel complacent with what they have done so far.
“I think the easiest thing to do is just look at that schedule,” said DE Mathias Kiwanuka. “It is a long season and everybody that has been in this locker room that has been through it before knows that things can go bad quickly and you have to stay on it week to week to make sure that down the line somewhere that doesn’t happen.”
That’s why Kiwanuka understands that you can’t look past a winless team, such as the Cincinnati Bengals, the next team on the Giants’ schedule. “I don’t think they scare us,” he said. “I think we understand, because we were in that situation, exactly what they are capable of and how much intensity they are going to come out with. We are definitely taking it as seriously as we possibly can.”
DE Justin Tuck also feels that the Bengals are extremely dangerous. “Obviously they still have weapons. They still have #85, #84 and #9. Whenever a team has that combination, they can put up a lot points when they get hot. So we have to do a good job of, as always, starting fast and making sure we make them one-dimensional, taking their running game away. Not letting Chris Perry get started and putting a lot of pressure on their quarterback. And if we are able to do that our chance of winning and our chance of succeeding go higher.”
Tuck remembers all too well what it was like to start off 0-2, with your season teetering on the brink of disaster. “I just remember us going into that Washington game. We had probably our best week of practice that entire year after our 0-2 start. Because of the fact that we knew we had a lot of challenges, we knew we were playing up to that potential. And obviously we had different circumstances. We had new faces, new coaches and things of that nature, but no one wants to be 0-2, especially not 0-3 when you have that much talent on your football team. So I know they are probably very focused this week. Their will leaders are stepping it up and starting to chew a couple of guys out. They are going to come in here with a lot fight in them on Sunday.”
Despite saying all the right things, Tuck was asked if it’s still human nature to look at the Bengals and size them up with some added confidence. “I think it is probably one of the toughest things, but just looking for us, you always worry about that in the younger guys. It seems like our younger guys get it. No one is complacent. I kind of worried about it coming into this year; young guys – their first year here, their second year and they go on to win a Super Bowl title
“We have guys that are very hungry and definitely want to do it again,” Tuck added. “They want to prove guys wrong; they want to prove the media wrong. They want to prove everybody around the league wrong. And you know when you have guys like that it makes it a whole lot easier because veterans kind of get it; they normally get it. It is more of the younger guys that you worry about.”
KIWI: ANKLE NOT A LONG TERM ISSUE
Speaking of Kiwanuka, he said today that he doesn’t think his nagging ankle injury will be a season-long affair. “It will probably be a couple more weeks, but if I can get it under control over the bye week then it should just be an afterthought.”
INJURY REPORT
R.W. McQuarters (calf) remains sidelined. DE Mathias Kiwanuka (ankle), CB Terrell Thomas (hamstring) and PK Lawrence Tynes (left knee) were all limited. S Michael Johnson (neck – stinger) fully participated today.
For the Bengals, S Dexter Jackson (thumb) has been officially declared out. S Herana-Daze Jones (hamstring), CB Johnathan Joseph (ankle) and TE Ben Utecht (chest) did not practice today. Limited were S Kyries Hebert (hamstring), S Chinedum Ndukwe (knee) and DT John Thornton (knee). QB Carson Palmer (ankle) and TE Reggie Kelly (head) practiced fully.
