New York Giants Notebook | Takeaways from the Assistant Coaches Media Sessions
The Giants have a lot of work to do at every position heading into their Week 4 game against the Los Angeles Rams.
For the Giants to improve, it will come down to individual efforts at every position to correct the mistakes they've made thus far in the season.
The Giants' staff of assistant coaches will bear a lot of the responsibility to correct those mistakes, and they know better than anyone else what their respective players need to correct.
Quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinksi
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has made a litany of mistakes in his first three games this season, including four interceptions and two fumbles.
Jones has completed 60.18% of his passes as his passer rating has declined from 87.7 as a rookie in 2019 to just 69.2 in new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett's system this year.
But all is not lost with Jones, according to quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski, who noted that while Jones has missed several passes, he is still showing good accuracy.
So what's the goal to work on for the coming week? Footwork and easing into a better rhythm in the pocket.
"I think the biggest thing we're going to continue to try and do with him is get his feet set a little, it starts there, getting your feet settled underneath you," Schuplinski said. "Being able to step into a throw and make a good throw."
Jones has been the Giants' leading rusher through the first three games of the season as well and has had to roll out of the pocket on a high percentage of his throws.
"I would encourage as we all would if it becomes a comfortability thing, and he's done a nice job," Schuplinski said. "He has that ability to do it, and I think we all encourage, myself included if he can get up or out of the pocket and make a play out there.
"He's a good runner. He's fast, he does a good job with the ball when he's out in space."
Defensive Line Coach Sean Spencer
The Giants defensive line has been a much more dynamic unit than in years past, as it has deployed several different formations depending on the game situations.
The Giants coaches have rotated their defensive linemen in and out of the game as regularly. However, how they rotate their defensive linemen is based more on the eye of defensive line coach Sean Spencer rather than a predetermined snap count for each player.
"During the week we practice those personnel groups and those types of things and doing the substitutions that way," Spencer said.
"During the game, you're watching. I'm really in tune with whether a guy is tired or not. I don't have a specific rep count. I know how many reps we want guys to play.
"In college, we actually tracked the number of each player, we don't really have that capability here, so I kind of just look at the overall numbers and if it's like 21 plays in two series then I know I should probably rotate that guy."
The workhorse for the Giants' defensive line this year has been Leonard Williams, who leads the defensive line in snaps played with 143 and has already racked up a team-leading two sacks on the season.
Still, Spencer is conscious of ensuring that Williams isn't left on the field for too long, as resting him on the sideline outweighs the prospect of leaving him in for a bad rep.
"If Leonard has been in there for eight straight snaps andI'm expecting him to go 150 miles an hour, then I probably got to pay attention to him because at some point in time he's going go to fizzle out and I don't want that," Spencer said.
Offensive Line Coach Marc Colombo
On Monday, center Nick Gates admitted that the Giants' offensive line room is "p---ed off" with their performance so far this season as the unit has ranked near the bottom of the league in pressures allowed, according to Pro Football Focus.
For offensive line coach Marc Colombo, that is precisely the mentality he is looking for as he tries to correct the mistakes that the unit was hoping to be well past at this point.
"I love that their p---ed off," Colombo said. "I thought we had a great week of practice. It's just not translating to the games yet. We're a million reps behind.
"We're going into game four, this stuff should be ironed out. It's our job this week to iron it out and move forward and get some more consistent play out of this group and it starts with me."
Colombo isn't dissatisfied with the level of physicality and toughness the unit is playing with. Instead, he would like to see the group clean up its technique, especially in the running game.
Colombo believes that if the unit can improve in run blocking and get the rushing offense going, it will ultimately alleviate the struggles in pass protection.
Wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert
The Giants haven't had their full complement of offensive weapons on the field for more than a single quarter.
Veteran wide receiver Golden Tate missed Week 1, and Sterling Shepard will be out some time with turf toe sustained in Week 2. The Giants have already had to dig into their lesser names at wide receiver, as C.J. Board and Damion Ratley have had to fill in for the Giants in the early going.
"They're progressing nicely, they both played pretty equally the other day as far as snap count," wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said of Board and Ratley. "We strive here in making our presence known whether we have the ball or not, so they have to continue to do that.
"I tell them all the time, try to be the best player on the field with or without the ball because you can make an impact on the game with or without the ball."
The Giants might not be done having to dig into their wide receiver reserves this season. The Giants saw flashes from several other young wide receivers during training camp, many of which are sitting on the Giants' practice squad waiting for an opportunity to contribute themselves.
Binjimen Victor, Austin Mack, and Derrick Dillon could give the Giants another spark if their number is called in the coming weeks. Tolbert said that the Giants are preparing those players throughout practice in the case that one of them needs to contribute.
"We have what's called a basic period," Tolbert said. "That's at the end of practice when all the young guys stay out there and get extra reps, whether it be as a team period or a 7-on-7 period, and those guys are running the same plays we just ran in practice with the varsity guys.
"They're staying in the loop with everything we do offensively because they never know when their time is going to be called to come up, and when they do, I feel confident that they'll be ready to go."
Defensive Backs Coach Jerome Henderson
Cornerback Isaac Yiadom made his first start for the Giants on Sunday against the 49ers, playing 77% of snaps, knocking down one pass. Still, Yiadom was anything but perfect as he ultimately allowed six receptions on eight targets for 89 yards.
Defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson said that Yiadom would "be in there again" this week, and the priority will establishing some consistency at the No. 2 corner spot opposite James Bradberry.
"[Yiadom] played solid at times, there were things that we could do better," Henderson said. "You'd love to settle on one guy and [Yiadom's] going to get the chance to be that guy this week and I expect him to play well."
Meanwhile, with safety Jabrill Peppers recovering from a low-ankle sprain, the Giants might need to find an answer to replace one of their most important players in the secondary.
Second-year safety Julian Love has filled in for the Giants in the back end, but beyond that, the Giants will have to adjust their secondary to account for a critical absence.
"When you play with Jabrill, you play with him as the down safety," Henderson said.
"When we played with those other safeties, we were more rotating, and they both played some down, both played some deep.
"The best situation would be to have Jabrill. He's been playing well and I hate it for the kid that he tweaked his ankle and I just hope to get him back soon."
Outside Linebackers Coach Bret Bielema
The Giants went to more of a rotation at outside linebacker in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers.
Rather than leaning too heavily on any one combination of players to stay on the field for the majority of snaps, the Giants spread playing time around to their top-four outside linebackers more than they've done so far this season.
Lorenzo Carter saw his lowest workload of 2020 after playing 98% of snaps in the first two games, while Oshane Ximines and Markus Golden saw the most playing time they've seen all year.
Outside linebackers coach Bret Bielema believes that the rotational strategy will allow the Giants' outside linebackers the chance to utilize their skill sets to make the optimal contributions to the defense as the coaching staff sees fit.
"Sometimes less is best," Bielema said about Carter's snap count. "By committee, hopefully, we'll continue to improve and see where we can go.
"Our room has four guys between [Ximines, Carter, Kyler Fackrell, and Golden] ... those four guys all have different unique skill sets, they all bring to the table certain strengths and we try to minimize the weaknesses."
Running Backs Coach Burton Burns
The Giants running backs have been the worst in the NFL so far, racking up a collective 72 total rushing yards out of the team's 170 yards through three games.
While the injury to star running back Saquon Barkley has severely hampered the Giants' rushing attack this year, the bigger problem is the offense as a whole, particularly the run blocking of the offensive line.
For running backs coach Burton Burns, the stats are not a point of emphasis, and he is focused on correcting his players' technique and keeping their mind off of the low rushing production so far.
"I'm not going into the game looking for results, I'm looking for the little things that, eventually if we do those things, then the results will come," Burns said.
"These guys are professionals; they understand the game. They've had a lot of experience on a lot of different kinds of teams.
"The one thing they know they have to do is be a good team player, stay positive, and stay focused. The worst thing that could happen is you lose your focus and then once everything starts clicking and you're not where you're supposed to be at."
Inside Linebackers Coach Kevin Sherrer
Linebacker David Mayo has missed the first three games of the season while recovering from knee surgery but is eligible to return to the team this week if he's deemed healthy enough to do so.
Mayo is one of the most experienced defensive players on the Giants roster. Inside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer believes that Mayo will have a lot of leadership and knowledge to bring to the Giants' defense once he returns.
"He does a really good job of working with other guys, some of the rookies that are in the room of just helping be that voice in the room like this that and the other how to do things," Sherrer said.
According to Pro Football Focus, Mayo was the ranked fourth in run defense and 25th in overall defense among his position for the Giants last year. He also ranked 99th in tackling and 125 among linebackers in coverage.
"[Mayo] is a tough rugged guy," Sherrer said. "He's been in there before, he's been in the battle so it doesn't phase him to go out there when things get a little hair so it doesn't affect him."
Tight End Coach Freddie Kitchens
Tight end Evan Engram hasn't been utilized as the vertical threat he encompasses as a tight end, and overall his production has suffered as a result.
Engram has only has 96 total receiving yards on the season, and his chemistry with Jones has appeared to have regressed from last year.
"We're continuing to try to do different things to get the ball in Evan's hands whether it be run after the catch or down the field," said tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens.
"Coverage dictates a lot of those things and it just hasn't happened yet, but we're going to continue to try and get the ball in our playmakers' hands."
While Engram continues to eat up attention from opposing defenses, it should create opportunities for the other Giants' offensive skill players.
"If [defenses] are doing their job they're trying to take away the guy you're trying to get the ball to," Kitchens said. "But that also leaves opportunities for others."
