Tell Us How You Really Feel, Kevin Gilbride
Let’s play a game I like to call ‘Who Said It?’
I’ll give you fine GMEN HQ readers a quote and you have to tell me who said it. Your options are:
- A) Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride
- B) A disgruntled New York Giants fan
All right, are you ready for this? I sure hope so…
"Quote #1: “The powers above me made that decision [that] we needed to add this additional receiver.”Quote #2: “We had wanted all along Steve Smith back, and that was the objective, that was the hope and the expectation…”Quote #3: “…But when that didn’t happen, then we have two young guys [Cruz and Jernigan] that we think can do it.”Quote #4: “I think [Stokley] will bring something to the table that we are looking forward to having and what we were really in need of since Steve Smith’s injury.”"
Okay, ring the bell, the game is over. Now let’s get to the scorecard.
If you answered B to any of the above questions then you would be absolutely dead wrong. Well, I imagine some Giants’ fans out there have said variations of the above quotes, probably with much saltier language, but they didn’t say the exact words that were uttered by Gilbride about the Brandon Stokley signing.
It seems that Gilbride may be calling out Jerry Reese over the way the Steve Smith situation was handled and resolved over the off season and doesn’t really see why newly signed wide receiver Brandon Stokley was even brought into the fold.
If it were up to Gilbride, Smith would still be a Giant and barring that not happening the young guys such as Cruz and Jernigan would be stepping up to fill the giant slot holes Smith’s departure created.
When your offensive coordinator is calling out the front office that can’t be a good sign and doesn’t really do much for morale in the locker room. If Gilbride was unhappy with the Giants’ front office then subtlety saying so in public is not the right way of going about it.
Plus it’s a little too late. Smith has long been gone from this organization. Even though he was a non-factor in Week 1 for the Eagles the fact that he was on the field shows that he will be back much sooner than the Giants and their medical staff expected. That probably irks Gilbride a bit. He knows his job would be much easier and probably more secure if Smith had stuck around.
But he didn’t and it’s time to work with the guys you have. The thing about players like Hixon, Cruz and Jernigan is that they have all the speed and potential but don’t have the track record that a player like Stokley has. If I were Gilbride I’d be pumped to be getting a veteran receiver with sure hands that can teach the young guns a thing or two.
Hopefully Gilbride will call up some plays for Stokley to see what the 35-year old receiver has left and that the signing proves to be a very good one for Reese and the front office but if Stokley doesn’t pan out and he doesn’t do much to help out the Giants’ offense Gilbride can just say ‘told you so’ and wash his hands of the signing.