Edition: U.S. / Global

PRO FOOTBALL; For Now, No Change In Lineup For Giants

Published: September 14, 1995

Dan Reeves hinted on Monday there could be personnel changes after the Giants' collapse at Kansas City. Today, before the first practice of the week in preparation for Green Bay on Sunday, Reeves said he was standing pat.

It's just as well, because for the second straight week they will play a team that runs a variation of the West Coast offense. And facing the Packers at Lambeau Field might not be the best time to go with a shuffled lineup.

There wasn't nearly as much gloom permeating the Giants' locker room today as there was on Monday. But linebacker Corey Miller still seemed frustrated by the decision to have him split time with Marcus Buckley. The theory is that the Giants need Miller's run-stopping prowess and Buckley's speed in passing situations. Miller, angry about not playing in the overtime period against Kansas City, tried hard to sound as though he had made peace with the coaches, but it was clear that the move didn't sit well with him.

"I've learned not to worry about things you can't control," Miller said. "I can control my own actions and I'm not going to be a cancer to this football team. I'll continue to go out and do what I do and let the chips fall where they may."

Miller, who signed a four-year, $6.5 million deal during the off season, said he thought Buckley deserved to play. Buckley welcomed the opportunity to play more.

"Everybody wants to get on the field and play more," Buckley said. "I'm just doing what they tell me to do. We all have our roles. I won't say it's an uncomfortable situation. If it's my role to get out there on certain plays, then I'll go out there."

The Miller-Buckley subplot is being played out against an 0-2 backdrop, and it could become more disruptive if the Giants' slide continues.

Besides asking his players to work harder, Reeves said he has done some critical self-evaluation and acknowledged that he might have become hesitant to call certain plays because of his perception that the players can't execute them properly.

"I've just got to have more confidence," Reeves said. "I haven't seen the execution in calling certain plays, therefore I'm a little reluctant to call those plays. I've just got to say, hey, we've got to get over this thing and have more confidence in players executing and not say because of one bad play that the play is bad. I've got to do a better job of sticking with plays we have confidence in and trying to gain some confidence in the others."

Someone asked if he found himself lacking confidence in one set of plays over another.

"It's both run and pass," he said. "You get sacked and all of a sudden you get reluctant. That's the easiest way to get in a bad situation. You run a running play and you don't lose yards that much. You're sitting there and it's second and 10. You get sacked and it's second and 14. You have to have more confidence in the passing as well as the run. You can't be so conservative that you become predictable."

Giants offensive coordinator George Henshaw said you can run a play three or four times until you get it right or you can decide to run only the plays that you can execute properly. The danger with continuing to run a play that doesn't work is that it erodes player confidence in the coaches' play-calling abilities.

"Players start to wonder, 'Why do we keep running the same play and it doesn't work?' " Henshaw said.

Later he added: "Personally, I don't think that's our problem. We just make too many self-inflicted errors that hurt us."

Many of the Giants players watched the Packers play Chicago on Monday night and they discovered that there was very little predictability in Green Bay's offense or defense and that most of the plays they ran worked.

Just like the Giants did against Kansas City, the Packers saw a huge lead against Chicago crumble on Monday night. But unlike the Giants, the Packers held on to win.

Giants cornerback Thomas Randolph said there are similarities between the styles of offense the Chiefs and the Packers run. But getting ready for Packers quarterback Brett Favre could be difficult. Backed up on their own 1-yard line, Favre hooked up with receiver Robert Brooks for a 99-yard touchdown pass play on Monday night.

"He's a great guy on the move, but he's not a real good pocket quarterback," Randolph said. "He makes good plays. He'll mess up sometimes, but when he's on, he's on."

Photo: Corey Miller, above, will split time with Marcus Buckley in Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers. (Alan Zale for The New York Times)