New York Giants Notebook: A Wish for Santa Claus, Why Joe Judge Hasn't Been Flag Happy and More

The Giants offense has many pieces in place for future success, but so far, the one thing it hasn't had is much luck scoring.

The Giants are averaging just 17.4 points per game this season (31st in the league). While they'd probably love nothing better than to wake up Christmas morning with an answer to their scoring problems, the coaches realize that their scoring shortcomings this year have been an inability to get into position to make plays and then executing.

"That’s what it comes down to," said tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens, who filled in for offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who is still recovering from COVID-19 during the coordinators' weekly media call.

"Each and every week, it doesn’t change. You try to get them in position, and then they have to do it. This game is about the player. The player has to make the play. The coach has to put him in a position to make the play. That’s what we try to do on a weekly basis. Sometimes we do a better job than others. We try to do a great job each and every week."

Just in case they're not able to do that, Kitchens made a final playful plea to the media assembled on his call.

"If you know (Santa Claus) and you want to get him to send us some whatever you were talking about, please feel free," he said to laughter.

A Change Coming at Kickoff Returner?

The fans know it and the coaches know it.

The question is, what, if anything, are the coaches going to do about it?

"It" refers to the team's struggles at kickoff returner, where Dion Lewis, who is averaging 23.2 yards on 17 returns, has twice lost the handle on the ball in as many weeks.

Given the lack of pop and recent ball security issues, is a change coming?

"We always have options there," said special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey. " Dion has been our guy. He’s done a good job. We just have to make sure we take care of the football. He’s always been a dependable guy that way."

Not lately, though, so again, are the Giants going to sit back and continue to take their chances, or is a change to the yet-to-be-active Dante Pettis in the works?

McGaughey refused to tip his hand. "We’re always trying to find a way to get better. We’re harping on ball security and making sure that in traffic, we take care of the football," he said.

Joe Judge Reveals His Philosophy on Challenging Calls

Lost in the 14 games played thus far by the Giants is that the Giants didn't issue a single challenge flag all season until last week's game against the Cleveland Browns.

That's a significant shift in the coaching staff's philosophy from years past, yet something that has flown under the radar until now.

Head coach Joe Judge explained that it's not as though it's been a case of there being no opportunities to throw the challenge flag, but instead there hasn't been enough evidence based on what the eyes in the sky have seen who advise him to do so.

So he's tried to be very judicious when he does to avoid blowing a timeout, the penalty that comes when a coach's challenge isn't overturned.

"I rely on the information I get up top from the guys who have the monitors in front of them for the replay. They do a great job of communicating," Judge said. "If it’s something we think is worth a challenge based on what they’re seeing, then we’ll go ahead and use it.

"To be honest with you, I’m not looking to waste timeouts. That’s a valuable asset in the game that you can’t go ahead and burn, especially when you get into the second half. Those things are like gold. The ability to control the clock is something you have to have based on situations."

That doesn't mean Judge won't throw the flag if he thinks he has a strong chance of winning the challenge.

"Look, if it’s worth it, we’re going to always challenge it because I want to help the team and make sure we get the calls in the game right," he said.

"But at the same time, if it’s not something that we know is going to work to our favor, then I’m going to hold onto those assets."

Joe Judge's "Test" for Daniel Jones

In speaking about starting quarterback Daniel Jones the other day, Judge mentioned that he made things hard on the quarterback in a lot of ways.

Thursday, Judge was asked to explain what he meant by that.

"Without going too into detail internally, this was something I had to see from all the players this year: Who they really are, how they are as players, how they respond to hard coaching, how they perform under pressure, how they handle situations inside and outside the building, are they a guy who can block out external factors and come in every day and focus?" Judge said.

"We created a situation with Daniel. I wanted to see how he performed at practice, within games, how he responded to things. Like I said yesterday, he’s earned my respect all the way. He’s a pleasure to coach, he’s a pleasure to have in the locker room, it’s even better when you have him on the field."

Judge explained that the reason why he makes things hard for players is because the game demands it.

"If you go ahead and make everything easy when they come to work, you’re not really preparing them for what they do on Sundays," he said.

"It’s a tough league, it’s a competitive league, everyone is trying to go ahead and take you out every week. It can’t be a country club when you walk in here to work."