Eli: Preparation Is Not The Problem

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"On how much fun it was to see the defense play so well this past weekend:“It was fun watching our defense play great. When the defense is doing that and they’re having fun, it gets the crowd into it and it gets the sidelines alive. You love for both sides to be playing great but if one can go out and dominate, it definitely gets everybody fired up on the sideline and makes you wanna go out there and match that same intensity.”On whether or not anyone had to talk to Brandon Jacobs about fumbling once he finally got into the game:“No. No one had to talk to him. Sometimes those plays happen. I don’t think it was a lack of focus or carrying it loosely. Just took his eyes off for a second and unfortunately with guys getting some penetration. After that, he ran hard. He had a third and short where he ran hard and ran over a safety. A couple of situations in the end, in the four minute situation, he ran hard and got some big plays for us. I think he played well and he knows he’s gonna get carries and have to play well for us.”On whether or not the preparation of the team changed because of the comments that surfaced last week: “No. I thought our preparation was really good this week, but I think every week. So far this season, our preparation has not been the problem. We’ve gone in, we’ve had a great game plan, we’ve made adjustments after everything has happened, and I think our preparation has been the same. If you lose a game or two games in a row, people are going to come out of the woodwork, saying things, and claiming this or that. The team can’t get caught up in that. If we start listening to that, believing that, or start thinking things, it’s gonna kill the morale of the team. We’ve got to focus on our job, focus on our goals, what we need to do, and how we need to improve each week. We trust Coach Coughlin. We know how hard he works. He’s going to put us in a good situation and we have some new guys that have to get used to his rules. For me, it’s my seventh year. I like his rules, I’m used to them, I like his structure, I know what time I have to be there, and I know that everything is going to be on time and run smoothly. I like those things. I thought we had a great week of preparation, we came out with great energy, great enthusiasm, and even on the sidelines when things weren’t going well, we knew what they were doing, we had a great plan, and we just how go out there and execute.”On whether or not he wants to say anything bad about Tiki Barber in rebuttal to his comments:“(Laughing) You know if they’re asking him questions, he’s gonna say something and say whatever is on his mind.  A few years ago, he made comments about me and I kinda fired back and went through the whole deal. Not that I feel bad for Tiki, but it’s unfortunate how everything has happened. My brother told me that when they introduced him last night there were a lot of boos. It’s just unfortunate because he was a great player for the Giants, had a great career, and was a great player in my first years here and helped us win a lot of games when I wasn’t playing particularly well. It’s unfortunate how it’s all happened, but I think he’s definitely deserving of making the Ring of Honor. It’s unfortunate how people view him now because he was a great player for the Giants, but things have happened that are unfortunate.”"

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