The New York Giants’ three coordinators met the media on Thursday to discuss the state of their respective units as Big Blue prepares for Sunday’s game versus the Minnesota Vikings.
Offensive coordinator Mike Shula
The Giants will finally have both Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate on the field at the same time this Sunday against the Vikings. The two are career slot receivers, and in preseason and at practice the they have alternated in the slot and on the outside. Now that Tate is back from suspension, the time for them to play together is here. Shula sees Tate and Shepard rotating during the game.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “But they are interchangeable. Whether or not we just keep Shep in one spot now or Golden, the good thing is that both of them can play in several spots, and I think that helps us for a lot of reasons. They’re smart, they have a good feel for our offense, and they have good speed and quickness.”
Running back Saquon Barkley was seen running and cutting again in individual drills at practice again on Thursday. So much for the four-to-eight week recovery period for his high ankle sprain. A reporter tried to trick Shula into revealing when Barkley could be ready to return.
“You’re talking to the wrong guy,” he said when asked how many carries Barkley might get on Sunday.
Defensive coordinator James Bettcher
The Giants lost rookie inside linebacker Ryan Connelly for the season last week with a torn ACL. Add in other injuries such as Alec Ogletree’s hamstring and Tae Davis (concussion) and the position is very thin. Last week after Connelly went down, Tuzar Skipper came in the game. He and another free agent — David Mayo — finished the game in the middle.
“I think David (Mayo) came in and I will give him some props because he came in and he played very fast,” said Bettcher. “For a guy that’s only been with us for really a week and half to two weeks at the time, he played very fast at the position. Made some plays that really stood out on tape when we watched it as a complete defense together. He earned a lot of respect from his teammates. After that, some of the plan will reveal itself on Sunday of who will be in what role and who will play where. I think all of those guys, they are working really hard, but I was really pleased with how David played.”
Rookie cornerback Deandre Baker, who has allowed 75 percent of the passes thrown his way to be completed has played better the past six quarters. Bettcher was asked what has caused the improvement.
“All of it, for me, goes back to finding what the small areas of improvement are. Then we continue just to focus on them. The question was already asked of young players, when do they not become young players. I think there are second year players, third year players, we’re defining what they need to get better at. The great thing about it is our players are taking ownership of that and you see it in individual,” he said.
Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey
The Giants changed punt returners once again. Last week TJ Jones muffed two punts but managed to recover both. The team released him this week when they ran low on linebackers and will now go to a committee/hot hand approach at the returner position.
“We’ll be fine. We’ve got guys that can do that job, and you make do with what you’ve got,” said McGaughey. “Jabrill (Peppers) is back there, we’ve got Golden (Tate III), (Antonio) Hamilton, we’ve got a bunch of different guys that can do it. So, I have no problems with it. We’ll go out there and make some plays, and see how we can contribute to the game.
“I would always prefer to have one guy, if that’s his only job. Like anything else, you want one player to be able to focus on one job because when you start giving them 16 jobs, it kind of clouds them a little bit. But you always prefer to have one guy back there and that’s what he does full-time, but Jabrill is talented, Golden Tate is talented, Antonio Hamilton is talented, so I don’t have any issue with it.”
