Giants at a crossroads as Chargers loom
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EDITORS: This story may not be used on Web sites () —
By Tom Rock
Newsday
(MCT)
Watching football has not been a fun experience for Giants fans these last three weeks. Imagine being the guy who put the team together, pictured another Super Bowl trophy while sculpting the roster, and then had to sit through three of the worst games the team has played during his tenure.
Welcome to Jerry's World. Jerry Reese, that is.
"I'm concerned," the Giants' general manager told Newsday this past week, the midpoint of the regular season as the 5-3 team prepares for a crucial game on Sunday against the Chargers. "I'm concerned that we are obviously going in the wrong direction at this point. But I do believe that we can get it turned."
The Giants face the prospect of losing a fourth straight game that would not only send them further back in their own division and conference but also force them to grapple with the losing streak during their bye week. It's a game that players, and coach Tom Coughlin, have not been shy about calling significant, even if some stop short of the "must-win" characterization.
For Reese, it's a crucial game because it's a chance for the Giants to get back to winning . . . even if only for small victories.
"We're looking forward to having some positive plays, and if we have to start playing one play at a time, just winning one play at a time, so be it," he said. "But we have to figure out some kind of a way to manufacture a win and stop the bleeding."
The Giants have been more bruised and battered than bleeding this season. The players and coaches have been resistant to attributing their poor play to injuries, but Reese understands that has contributed to this slide.
"We had an unusual amount of injuries early on," Reese said. "We fought through them, we did a good job, but they might have caught up to us a little bit."
The Giants will get some much-needed relief in that area this week; Chris Canty and Michael Boley are expected to play. That would leave Aaron Ross as the lone active player sidelined, and even he expects to return to the practice field during the bye week.
"We're going to begin to get some people back, and that's important to be as healthy as you can moving into the backside of your schedule and into the cold winter months," Reese said.
As for the Giants' position right now, Reese isn't ready to panic. "I don't think it's dire straits," he said. "Obviously, it's an urgent situation for us. We know that when you lose four games in a row in this league, it's hard to overcome . . . It's not the end of the world where we are now, but we need to get it corrected."
Reese also addressed some other specific topics:
—Eli Manning's foot problems as they relate to his recent slump. "I don't think there's any question that the injury has affected him," Reese said. "I think it has affected his rhythm some. It may have affected his mechanics to a degree. But when you go out there and take the reps at practice, we expect you to go make the plays. He's taken the reps at practice. Is he 100 percent? Absolutely not.
"I think he's feeling better as the weeks have progressed. But has the foot bothered him some? I would imagine so because it's not an easy injury to overcome, especially for a quarterback."
—Brandon Jacobs' much-analyzed running style this year. "He gets a lot of attention because he's the lead dog for us," Reese said. "We're still getting eight- or nine-man fronts up there. That's tough to run against. He is running hard. I think he'll continue to run hard. And as the weather begins to get cold and inclement, I think he'll be more effective."
—The lack of depth at safety. "You can't just wave a magic wand and have a safety appear," he said. "Just like at every position, you want to get as much depth as you can. C.C. Brown had been a starter for a long time. He came in as our third safety and now all of a sudden he's running with the first group. A lot of negative press has been thrown at C.C., some of it earned and some of it unearned, because the guys up front have to do their job and the guys in the middle have to do their job so the guys on the back end can get their job done."
—Moving a cornerback to safety when Ross returns. "That's a coaching decision, but we throw all of those things around," Reese said. "All those options are things we talk about. You have to mix and match throughout the season, and that could be a possibility."
—Rookie defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan. "There's always a transition period for anybody," he said. "I think Bill's done a good job. Bill can do better. Our players can do better. I can do better. Everybody can do better."
Above all issues, Reese said, the Giants need to regain their confidence, their swagger. He said a more positive approach will yield positive plays, even more positive calls and bounces.
Just last week, the Giants nearly made two game-changing plays. One was the deflected pass that Justin Tuck nearly intercepted for a touchdown at the Eagles' goal line and the other was a recovered fumble by Fred Robbins, who pitched it to Osi Umenyiora for a touchdown that was called back because of an illegal forward lateral.
"It's probably 90 percent physical and 10 percent mental," Reese said of winning football games, "but when that 10 percent goes bad and you don't have a lot of confidence going, that can cause a lot of problems for you."
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(c) 2009, Newsday.
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Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
