The Giants showed last night they are still the talk of the town in the NY / NJ area. Victor Cruz, who was the talk of last night — Coach Tom Coughlin believes that we all should have been praising Cruz from the start of camp for his incredible play making ability. The way Coughlin praises the young WR, it looks like there will be plenty to talk about as Cruz looks to make the final Giants roster.
Coach Tom Coughlin said after the game:
"We’ve got a lot of work to do. There’s no doubt about it but we were plus-three (in turnovers) and I was pleased with that and justice has been served. A young man, Victor Cruz, really has had an outstanding camp. He has worked his tail off every day, he’s made a lot of plays this past week and the writers who were following practice have asked and kind of smiled when we mention Victor Cruz and he was truly outstanding tonight. I thought we got better as the game went along. Our ones didn’t play all that well and we had a little trouble getting the ball back in the first half. We just hung in there. We were plus-three in turnovers and that was a big factor in the game. Didn’t like the penalties down the stretch there. It looked as if we were trying to sabotage ourselves right at the end but we overcame it and Rhett Bomar made the nice scramble run against 2 man coverage and it was a heck of a quarterback draw so it’s nice to win. It always is."
Coughlin ended the thought on a more realistic and somber note though:
"There’s an awful lot of work to be done. We need some more continuity."
Eli Manning left the game in surprising fashion with a huge gash over his left eye after a botched hand-off attempt to Brandon Jacobs where two Jets crashed into Manning, throwing his helmet off in the process. Coughlin elaborated on the huge error:
"There was a run called and Eli just went for the fade ball with the wide receiver without really making any type of an alert or changing the play so he was just going to go ahead and communicate with the receiver and throw the ball. The only problem was that the play that had been called was a middle burst by Brandon Jacobs and Brandon thought he was getting the ball.Q: How was Eli afterwards?A: He seemed…he has been sent home so I don’t know. But he – just like he always does – he handled it well. I was a little surprised at how quickly the helmet came off. He’s got the four posts on his helmet and the thing still came flying off so. The first thing we’ll do is make sure that there is no swelling. If there’s no swelling then I think we’ll be able to go ahead and get the helmet on and practice."
When asked to clarify his thoughts on Victor Cruz’s performance, Coughlin couldn’t help but gush.
"He’s an everyday guy. He does everything. He’s on special teams. He’s on scout teams. But he emerged during the week as making some spectacular catches and one day, as a matter of fact, I said to the media people that we should celebrate the guy. Why not? Why not write about him? He had a great day at practice – write about him. And I’m sure you guys did. He had a good game and I’m glad for him that he did. Real good guy."
It sounds like he’s going to make the team more and more every day. The Giants truly have a problem at WR now, a good problem — too many to choose from. Cruz tried to say humble as he shared his thoughts after the game.
Cruz said:
"You never come into a game thinking you’re going to have three touchdowns and all that, but I just wanted to come in, work hard. I’ve been working hard all camp and just wanted to come in and kind of show what I can do on the main stage.Q: What does it mean to you to play for the Giants?CRUZ: It means a lot. It’s definitely a surreal feeling to even be up on this podium talking to you guys. It’s just growing up watching the Giants, seeing that blue all my life and things like that. I feel like I’m dreaming right now.Q: Were there any jitters?CRUZ: Definitely. There’s always jitters before every game. I had the butterflies. I come out, and I see all the lights and everybody. Everybody is cheering and definitely-you always get the butterflies. But once the ball is kicked off and I got a chance to touch that field, I felt good."
Here are some other random quotes that sum up the night:
RB Brandon Jacobs
"How frightening was that incident out on the field?A: Could you ask me questions about the game? Eli is fine. No, there is nothing frightening. Eli is fine. He is going to wake up in the morning, and he is going to come back to camp in the morning ready to work. There is not going to be an issue. At all. Is that ok? We just beat the Jets, the hard knock life. It solidifies who the stadium really belongs to. That’s what I want to say. on the misplay with Eli Manning"
P MATT DODGE
"Q: What happened on the blocked punt?A: I have no clue. I have yet to watch the tape. I don’t think that I took too long, but I very well could have. I looked up, and he was coming right at me.Q: How do you feel about your first kick?A: Pretty crappy. I don’t know. I was very amped up, and very excited to play. I might’ve rushed myself a little too much, just the first time jitters I guess. I feel fine."
RB Ahmad Bradshaw
"Q: What about the offensive line, you guys are trying to shuffle the line. How difficult is it to find chemistry there?A: It just takes repetition in practice. All that helps, and as far as those guys up front, they all know what they’re doing. They’re all good enough to do it, to the best of their ability. It’s a tough job up front, and we understand that. It takes a lot, and you have to give them time and be patient with it, and then everything will be great."
S Antrel Rolle
"Q: Overall, were you satisfied with your performance?A: Yes. I would say so. There is always room for a heck of a lot of improvement, which we will definitely get to, but it was the first preseason game. I didn’t feel the part, I felt a little sluggish. At the same time, I was able to go out there and produce on the field. I’m pretty sure a lot of guys felt that way. It’s the first preseason game, so everyone is just trying to feel things out right now."
Here are video highlights of the game:
[pro-player width=’467′ height=’353′ type=’video’ image=’image.gif’]http://ll.video.nfl.com/films/s2010/nflcom/p02/100816_pre_wk1_ghl_nyg_nyj_700k.mp4[/pro-player]