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Postgame Quotes: Coach Joe Judge, LB Carter Coughlin, QB Mike Glennon, G Kenny Wiggins, WR David Sills V

Head Coach Joe Judge

Opening Statement: Alright, guys. Well, look, obviously we didn't do enough tonight to win the game. The objective tonight mainly was to evaluate our players. There were a lot of things we saw out there tonight that were positive on an individual basis. Collectively, we have to be more consistent and better to have success. Told the players there were some good things out there, but we have to make sure that we improve our level of play, our football fundamentals and our execution on the field to have success. That being said, any questions you have, I'll open it up.

Q: (Wide Receiver Kadarius) Toney, we didn't see him out there at all for warmups or on the sideline. Any update on what's going on?

A: Any injured player who was not going to be able to play in the game tonight, we didn't put on the sideline. Everyone who was on the sideline would have been healthy enough to participate in the game. The only exception would be (Running Back) Saquon (Barkley) and if it's a captain, there's a different deal. Sometimes, we'll let them on the field.

Q: You played your starting offensive line for most of the first quarter. What did you think of the way they played?

A: Well, I think as a team, we started slow on both sides of the ball. I saw some improvement as we went on, we were able to move the ball a little bit, get down there in scoring position. We can't have turnovers in the low red area, we have to capitalize on it. Obviously, we can't shoot ourselves in the foot and expect to have success, so there's some things that we can highlight in terms of the offensive line, in terms of the direction we have to go and there's obviously a lot of things we can clean up, as well. 

Q: You didn't play your starting quarterback though? What was behind the thought process of playing your starting offensive line?

A: I want to get those guys some more chemistry on the field against a different opponent and I want to see as much of (QB) Mike (Glennon) and get as much experience in preseason as we can get with those guys. He's not always going to get a lot of reps with those guys in the regular season as of right now, so we want to make sure we took advantage of the time we had.

Q: What were your thoughts on the reserve offensive linemen and how they played in the second half?

A: Well, I've got to look at the tape before I can assess these guys publicly. I saw some positive things and some things that we've got to clean up. Obviously, some of the sacks and pressures on third-and-long situations -- you don't want to end any game with a safety, I mean that's something you don't want to do. However, there were some bright spots out there on an individual basis. I thought as a unit, the communication improved as we went on there. I thought some of the adjustments they were able to make on the sideline with (Offensive Line Coach) Rob (Sale) and those guys, in terms of handling what they were given, was positive. But ultimately we have to be fundamentally sound and play more consistent

Q: What's Kadarius's injury?

A: Yeah, I'm not gonna disclose any person's individual injury at this moment, but we hope to get him out there this week.

Q: Is that something new though? When did that happen?

A: You know, he's been dealing with it for a little bit. Something was aggravated in practice towards the tail end of this week, so he was unable to play tonight.

Q: But Joe, you said you're optimistic he'll practice this week.

A: We're hopeful he is.

Q: How did you feel like the quarterbacks played, Mike and (Quarterback) Clayton (Thorson)?

A: Well, I thought as a whole unit, we started slow. I saw some bright spots. I thought Clayton did some good things as far as extending plays. I'll take a look. He made completions with open guys, did a nice job extending the one play, throwing the touchdown. There's some other opportunities to take advantage of. In terms of Mike, I thought the function of the offense was smooth with him overall, but we have to play better as a group. 

Q: Did you get any update on (Guard) Kyle Murphy?

A: I have not. I've not gotten any injury updates right now. Hopefully Kyle and some of the other guys that left the game, hopefully it's not too serious and we can get these guys back out there. They're all working really hard for us and doing a good job. You hate to see a guy like Kyle or a guy like (LB) TJ (Brunson) or (TE) Cole (Hikutini) have to leave the game with some kind of an injury. It's unfortunate. Sometimes that's the nature of the game. You don't wanna see any player on either team get hurt. You always want every team to come out completely healthy, so we'll find out what that is. And, again, we're hoping for the best and we'll get these guys as well as we can as fast we can.

Q: What did you see (Guard Kenny) Wiggins do? You guys aren't really in shape for 60 minutes of football. You kind of had to put him back in there.

A: Kenny's a tough dude and he's a football player and having to kind of answer the bell right there and play 60 minutes. And as you said, you're absolutely right, I don't think there's anyone out here right now in shape for 60 minutes of football. And Kenny is the kind of guy that's not going to turn anything down. We signed (OL) Ted (Larsen Sr.) on short notice yesterday. Really the goal was getting him ready for Cleveland next week. I didn't want to do anything to Ted. This guy's obviously an older player, he's been in the league, had a lot of success. I didn't want to put him in a bad situation where he wasn't fully prepared to play. This guy hasn't taken a snap in a training camp yet. I didn't think it would be the right thing to do to put him in live game action. What we explained to him yesterday was it was basically a 'break glass' situation. If it was absolutely an emergency, we'd put him in. We were able to go ahead and navigate around that because Kenny was a guy that was ready to play at the time.

Q: You guys have been tinkering with (Linebacker) Carter Coughlin at inside linebacker. I know you're going to watch the tape, but it seemed like he had a couple of plays there where it's exactly what you're looking for at that spot.

A: I thought Carter did a good job for us overall tonight. He had a couple of things that we have to clean up and nothing was perfect with him, but in terms of a motor, Carter plays with a motor. He's got good athleticism, he has good play strength, he shows some instincts and obviously with us moving him back and forth inside and outside -- the inside is new to him. So there's a lot of things that for him he's experiencing for the first time, but I'd say he's flashed positively throughout camp. He did a lot of things tonight that flashed positively. We have to watch the tape from a breakdown to see exactly how he did, but he's one of the guys that we wanted to really see come into this game and see how he responded to some different situations, both on defense and the kicking game, and he was a positive for us tonight. So, he's definitely a guy that showed up tonight to play and made an impression.

Q: Is there anything to read into (Wide Receiver) Darius Slayton playing tonight? I know (Tight End) Evan (Engram) didn't play and (Wide Receiver) Sterling Shepard didn't play. Anything to read into Darius being out there?

A: No, not at all. I think Darius has had a really good camp for us. I wanted to give him some reps on the field, that's all that was about right there. Wanted to make sure that he was out there with Mike (Glennon) and had the opportunity. Again, when you have the time to work these combinations, you want to go ahead and do it. Playing in a preseason game for a veteran is not a punishment. It's not a punishment at all. In fact, it's the best opportunity we have to prepare our guys physically and mentally for the season. So, every chance we get to get them out there, that's something we go ahead and we look to use as best we can. Look, I saw enough of him early on. I didn't need to see a ton of him. It wasn't really that he was out there to be truly evaluated altogether today. Everyone's always competing for roster spots, but I wanted to get Darius some reps on the field tonight. Thought it would be good for him and Mike to have some chemistry out there, they found each other a couple of times, so that was good.

Q: You played with a lot of young guys and that was the plan. You obviously need to watch the tape to get a thorough evaluation. Any guys in particular stick out to you in terms of young guys who did some things that impressed you just watching the game?

A: I'm going to hold off blanket statements until I really have a chance to watch the tape. I noticed obviously Carter (Coughlin), I've commented on him already making some plays. I thought Cam Brown did a good job for us at the gunner position. I thought Matt Cole showed up. He was a guy we were looking for in some of the kick covering stuff right there. C.J. Board did a nice job back there handling the punts. Did a good job on the offensive plays, returning the kick offs. So, there's a number of other guys. Before I really get a chance to go ahead evaluate truly more of the inside. There's other guys, you can really see them play more in space. It's more evident how they play in a game. You really want to dig into the tape to really evaluate your front, what's happeing tackle the tackle. We'll take a look at it to see and have the best assessment I can for you. 

Q: What did you think of (Linebacker) Azeez (Ojulari) shedding (Tackle) Mekhi (Becton) on that play? A pretty impressive play by a kid in his first game.

A: For any of those rookies, it's their first time in game action in the NFL. So, to get out there against any other player in the NFL and make some kind of a play, that's something that you've gotta build on. There are things we have to clean up with him, but there's some things that he flashed tonight that were very encouraging to build on. I liked his attitude going into the game, I thought he had good intensity. You could see it in his eyes, he was focused going in. But there's things all around the board that we're going to have to go ahead and break down fundamentally and schematically tomorrow, to make sure that we're on the same page. But look, our focus as a football team going forward really isn't going to change. It's going to be fundamentals, getting in football condition, getting our team ready, building our communication, building our chemistry in our units and taking a step forward every week. We're going to go to Cleveland this week and see a lot of good talent. Right now, we're going to focus on cleaning up this game before we take a step forward. But when we go there, it's not really going to change the focus either. We're not going out there to try to out scheme the Browns, we're going out there to match up against a very talented team, and just see how our guys stack up in individual matchups as well as collectively within the units.

Carter Coughlin

Q: We've talked a lot about you learning this new position and all the challenges. How'd it feel to actually get out there?

A: Oh, it was a blast. It was a blast, you know, putting everything that I've been working on in practice, everything that I've been taught from the coaches and getting a chance to really go out there and do it for real.

Q: Without watching the film yet, how'd you feel it went?

A: You know, to be honest with you, there's a lot of stuff that I've got to get better at. There's a couple of plays that stick out in my mind that I should have made. So this week I'm gonna dig into the film and take the constructive criticism and be better next week.

Q: You came here as an edge rusher, but they're giving you a lot of opportunities on the inside. What does that tell you? How does that make you feel?

A: It's awesome that they're moving me around and allowing me to try out different things. It's been, like I said at the beginning, it was a challenge moving from outside to inside. But the coaches and the other inside linebackers have been helping me a lot and that allows me to play fast and pick up on different things. Guys like (Linebacker) Blake (Martinez) have been really helping me out and it's been a blast. 

Q: What's the biggest thing playing on the outside going into the inside that you've used, kind of like cross-training, like, 'OK, this worked on the outside, I think it can work on the inside?'

A: (Linebackers) Coach (Kevin) Sherrer talks a lot about using our hands when we get to offensive linemen and especially when we have offensive linemen in space and stuff like that. So, when you're playing outside linebacker, it's all about hands. When you pass rush, it's all about hands. So, I think that's one of those tools that helps out with inside linebacker. When an offensive line comes to me, being able to use my hands, just like I would at outside linebacker.

Q: How quickly were you able to adjust your eyes from playing on the outside to playing on the inside?

A: To be honest with you, it's a continuous process. I'm still working on it. When you're playing outside linebacker, your key is right in front of you. When you take a step back, you've got a couple of different keys and you're able to see the big picture and get the safety calls and all that kind of stuff. That's stuff that I'm still working on and will continue to work on every single day in practice, all that kind of stuff.

Q: do you enjoy the freedom? It's almost like they're not giving you a position and saying, this is where you're going to be. It's almost what you make of it. Is that fair to say? Does that give you more leeway to kind of grow into this role?

A: I really, really like being off the ball. It's been really, really fun to work on. It was fun to do that on the scout team last year and get kind of a feel for it and then really dig into it during camp and get those off-the-ball reps. But it's just like anything, whatever my role is, whether it's special teams, whatever, I want to make the most out of it. I'm continuing to work on my skills every single day and (Head) Coach (Joe) Judge preaches on the fundamentals, so just making sure that I continue to attack my fundamentals.

Quarterback Mike Glennon

Q: Mike, what did you think of the operation in the time you were in there?

A: Yeah, you know, the first drive obviously wasn't very good, two incompletions and a sack. But then it was good to see the second and third drive put together some long play drives and just move the ball. Obviously, particularly the last one, you don't want to end with the turnover on the, I don't know what yard line, we were inside the five. But it was good to see us move the ball after it kind of started slow. 

Q: How valuable was it to get live reps with the first-team offensive line? I know it typically doesn't happen in practice, what do you take from that?

A: Yeah, I think it's great to get with those guys because if something were to happen, those were the guys to be with. So, to get more familiar with them and really just throwing to guys like (Wide Receiver) Darius Slayton, I don't typically get a lot of reps with him in practice cause (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones) is usually getting those reps. It's always good to get an opportunity to play with the ones. So to (Head Coach) Joe's (Judge) point that the backup usually doesn't get to do that, so I appreciate that opportunity.

Q: Did this feel a little weird in the sense it was the first preseason game, but itelt like a fourth preseason game?

A: Yeah. I don't know the whole preseason. I feel like since I got in the league, the whole trajectory has changed. It used to be everything built up to the third game and then it started a couple of years ago it was like no one played anymore. Now it seems like maybe teams are treating the first game like the fourth game and the third game, like the third games – I don't know. You guys have probably been around long enough to see the same thing, so I don't know what the plan is. But yeah, it felt kind of more like a fourth, which is weird, but we'll see. Maybe that's what it's going to be going forward now that there's only three games.

Q: Mike, obviously now with joint practices becoming all the rage and it kind of plays into what you're saying. I would imagine next week getting in those situations, competitive situations not just in the game, but in practice with another team, I would think the veterans on this team ramp up a little bit more too, right?

A: I would definitely think so, especially for the guys that didn't play today. I think that's probably what was communicated to them is you know you're not playing this week, but we got to get ready for Cleveland and kind of treating those practices as I wouldn't say as games, but you know that's the reason we're going is to get those joint practices to take advantage of those days. Yeah, I think the veterans probably feel a kind of, I don't know, I don't wanna say sense of urgency, but it will be more than just a normal practice here at our facility.

Guard Kenny Wiggins

Q: You wound up getting a lot of reps tonight. How'd you feel like it went for you out there?

A: Good and bad. Plays you want to have back. Every single time you're always striving to have the perfect game, which is very hard to do in this league. But yeah, good. Some good, some bad. Hopefully we can get rid of more of the bad and have more good. 

Q: When you come out of the lineup and you notice a guy gets hurt and you have to come back in, I know you're probably not shutting down completely, but is that a challenge to get back in when you think your night's done?

A: No, I mean, throughout my career I've been a starter, I've been a backup, I've been a role-player, whatever it is, I've, I've kind of done it all. So that's just old hat for me. Going in, getting plugged in at different positions or whatever it is, I'm just here to play football.

Q: You were playing with four other guys who'll likely be starters, what'd you think of the whole offensive line operation?

A: I think it's good. Again, some good, some bad. It's still early in camp, we're still trying to get a feel for each other and everything like that. But we had some good double teams and stuff like that. Good communication. That's really what you want to see in these preseason games is good communication and everybody being on the same page. That's when things go wrong – when different people are on different pages. If we're all on the right page, then we're all right together, or all wrong together.

Check out the best photos from the Giants' preseason opener against the New York Jets.

Wide Receiver David Sills V

Q: You've had a good camp so far and certainly had a big play tonight. How did that make you feel?

A: It makes me feel great. Obviously, we didn't get the outcome we wanted, which at the end of the day is a win, so the big plays don't really matter. So, we got to go back, look at the film, see how we can improve and get ready to get better this week.

*Q: For someone who's trying to make the back end of the depth chart to get so many reps in a game like tonight, I would think you're probably grateful for that. *A: Oh, absolutely. It was awesome being out there. That was my first time being in a game since preseason of 2019. So, it was really good and exciting to get out there. It was nice to kind of get that first catch, first hit, kind of got the nerves going a little bit, but after that, it's kind of like, all right, let's go, let's go have some fun. I thought we did some good things. Like I said, we didn't get the outcome we wanted, so got to go back and look at the tape and see how we can improve.

Q: What is it like going in? You mentioned that you hadn't been in a game since preseason of 2019. For guys who are trying to make a living out of this, it's got to be a weird feeling, right?

A: Yeah, it is. But (Head) Coach (Joe) Judge does a great job of making practices very competitive. So, a guy in my position, you kind of treat practice as a game day because it's very intense as you guys have seen how practices are and how they set up different situations, they make it feel really game like. You simulate practice as a game, obviously there's more adrenaline and a little bit of nerves and there's a crowd, fans, the whole thing, but you know, I feel like the coaches did a great job with just preparing us for the situation. Like I said, it didn't have the outcome we wanted, but I felt great to get back in playing in the game. 

Q: What did you see on that long catch you had?

A: We got man coverage, we checked into a fade and I thought (Quarterback) Clayton (Thorson) threw me a great ball, gave me a chance on it, so it's something I think my teammates, the quarterback and my coaches expect me to make that play. It was nice to be able to make that play, but still didn't come out with outcome we wanted, winning the game. 

Q: Was it frustration at the end of that? Did you think you were going to go the distance?

A: Yeah, a little bit, but when I caught the ball, had a little bit of maybe leaning forward and messed up my stride a little bit, but I thought it was a great ball, gave me a chance to put it out in front of me. The DB did a good job of pushing me down and out of bounds. 

Q: How do you stay locked in if the passing game is going a little tough for you guys to kind of stay in tune with what's going on, on the field.

A: (Wide Receivers) Coach Tyke (Tolbert) does a great job of us receivers taking pride in the run game, so we're pretty locked in no matter what it is. Like I said, that was my first game since 2019, so I was just excited the whole time I was in there. But I don't think we really have a problem staying locked in, it's just going to the sideline kind of figuring out what the defense is doing, what different areas we can attack, what concepts will work against what they're doing on defense. So, there's always talks about where we can improve, how we can improve even through the game and on the sidelines. I don't really think that's an issue if it's not really meshing at that point, but like I said, I take a great deal of pride in the run game as well. 

Q: What's your approach to where you stand in regards to the competition for a roster spot and how much this could possibly help you?

A: Just take it day by day, continue to control what I can control. I've kind of had that mindset of just putting my best foot forward every day. Taking it one day at a time, not trying to look into what's going on with the roster spots or how that plays out, just trying to go out there and do my best every day and Coach Judge and (Offensive Coordinator) Coach (Jason) Garrett do a great job of talking about just controlling what you can control and not really worrying about all the other stuff. So that's kind of my mindset every day and to take it in one practice at a time, not looking down the road, just taking it one day at a time.

Q: Does this game in your mind count more as maybe you're practicing like two practices, three practices?

A: Yeah, it's kind of tough to tell. They obviously, they love seeing it in the game, but I think there were areas that I could have done better out there today. Like I said, just trying to take every day one day at a time and continue to put my best foot forward and get better each and every day.

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