NY Giants RB Tyrone Tracy, Jr Speaks About Team's Red-zone Decisions in Week 1 Loss

The Giants struggled to run the ball in their Week 1 loss to Washington.

New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) looks on from the field prior to the game against the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium. | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

By nature, New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. wants to run the ball as often as possible, and in particular, when the team is within striking distance of the end zone.

But the Giants, who in their Week 1 loss to the Washington Commanders came up empty on 13 red-zone attempts, apparently didn’t agree, opting to throw the ball on 12 of the 13 plays inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

“I mean, I gotta do what's called, you know what I'm saying?” Tracy said on Thursday. “Like, I ain't the play caller; I gotta do what's called. But I definitely said we needed to run the ball on a 1-yard line. I feel like everyone felt the same, whether it's the offensive line, quarterback, running back, or whatever. 

“And I think that to do the play-action pass off the one, you have to run the ball first. That's how I feel. But whatever the play is called, we gotta go out there and execute at a high level.”

The Giant running game only mustered 74 yards in 23 carries. Of those, 15 attempts and 30 yards were generated exclusively by the running backs, with quarterback Russell Wilson finishing with a team-leading 44 rushing yards on eight carries.

Further breaking down the production, the Giants had rushed 11 times for 30 yards in the first half, nine of those carries by the running backs, going for just 20 yards.

The Giants' offensive line, particularly the interior, struggled to gain push on running plays, which may have led to assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kafka's decision to lean more heavily into the passing game.

“Yeah, we just missed,” Kafka said on Thursday. “We missed on a few things, whether it was a block here or a read key here. So really everybody is just kind of getting back on the same page.”

The Giants are hoping to get back on track this weekend against the Dallas Cowboys, who allowed a whopping 158 rushing yards to Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles in their Week 1 clash, the 158 yards putting the Cowboys' run defense 28th in the league.

While no one is expecting the Giants to match that kind of output, Tracy admitted that the Giants' rushers need to be more assertive in fighting for yardage on the ground.  

“Yeah, we definitely took it personally for sure because that's not up to our standards,” Tracy said. “It's never up to our standards when you go out there and put on that performance. So we have a certain way of doing things, especially in the run game. 

“Obviously that's my bread and butter, so I'm gonna do better; I'm gonna try to help the O-line out and play better–my reads, being patient or hitting the hole faster, whatever it may be.”

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