The Giants and Jets actually played for something in their annual preseason meeting, but in hindsight it looked like the Jets were the only interested party.
Head coach Tom Coughlin wasn’t happy with the overall performance of his team, specifically the reserves, and ranted about them afterward.
“They didn’t play well at all,” said Coughlin. “And they’re getting as many reps as everybody else. There has to be some improvement, no doubt.”
The Giants’ starting defense did enough to win, but was let down by an ineffective starting offense that was once stiffed at the goaline, went 0-for-3 in the red zone and committed a couple of key miscues.
“We have some work to do, no doubt [because] we had some positives there but still no points,” said Coughlin. “[The mistakes] were unfortunate.”
Defensive end Justin Tuck thinks the Giants are ready for the Sept. 11 opener.
“I think we’re pretty ready, considering all the injuries we’ve had and the guys we’ve brought in and things of that nature,” said Tuck. “We put in some good work. I feel as though guys were flying around and we showed some great things.”
Tuck’s blind allegiance notwithstanding, the secondary showed it has little depth at corner. Michael Coe left the game with bruised ribs and said he’s probable for Thursday night’s preseason finale at New England. The Giants are already without four corners due to injury and can’t afford to miss Coe. Safety Antrel Rolle has been working in the slot more to ease the pain, but the former cornerback appeared rusty in man coverage. It was Rolle who was beaten by Santonio Holmes on Mark Sanchez’s only touchdown pass.
“I tried to put my hands in there as much as I could and disrupt the route,” Rolle said. “It’s my first week at it and it’s going to take a little while to get comfortable at it … to get back in the groove and be on the same page as my team.”
The Giants don’t have much time left to figure it out. Last night was the third preseason game, which is every team’s “dress rehearsal” game. Most, if not all, the starters figure to sit out the Patriots game in Thursday. Coughlin will never let his team see him sweat, but even he has to be concerned deep down inside. Eli Manning didn’t look sharp (15-of-30, 200 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions), the backups across the board were abysmal and the overall health of the team is in peril.
At least Big Blue still has optimism on its side.
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