In his final days with the New York Giants, then-head coach Pat Shurmur drew the public support of his players from quarterback Daniel Jones to running back Saquon Barkley and then seemingly on down the roster.
But not everyone in that locker room was a Shurmur fan. And while Jones and Barkley appeared genuine, there were others behind-the-scenes that were apparently happy to see Shurmur go.
One of Shurmur’s former players from his two seasons in East Rutherford recently told NJ Advance Media that they didn’t like Shurmur and blasted him as a poor communicator.
“Shurmur? I didn’t like him,” the player said. “He was not a great communicator. He was kind of awkward. He’s just … not good at communicating. That’s huge. He’s a great football mind, but you’ve got to get the guys to want play for you. And he could never do that.”
Kicking a man while he’s down from the shadows certainly weakens the statement and calls into question the motivation behind such a comment, but after watching Joe Judge during his introductory press conference on Thursday, there was a clear difference between how he and Shurmur communicate.
Shurmur was a savvy football guy, but his ability and willingness to speak weren’t necessarily lacking, but seemed to be riddled with anxiety. He was always soft-spoken, distant and seemingly uninterested.
If that’s something that came across to his players, it certainly would have caused some issue. However, unlike Ben McAdoo before him, most of Shurmur’s players clearly didn’t quit and put everything they had on the field every week. But apparently there were a few who went a different direction with things.
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