Tom Coughlin had a press conference today after practice, with it came some great comments about the offensive line, Shawn Andrew, the running game, Kevin Boss… check it out:
On the Offensive Line injuries:
"Q: O’Hara’s status for Sunday?A: Doubtful.Q: How did Koets look?A: Okay, yeah. He’s done a good job.Q: In making the calls and everything?A: Yep.Q: Because of O’Hara’s experience, is he a guy who could play if he feels okay even though he’s missed practice?A: Oh, yeah, we’d consider it. No question. That’s why I say it’s day to day. You never know. Q: I think that it’s only something like ten games lost by your starting offensive line since 2006. How blessed have you felt?A: It’s always nice to have that unit intact. We’d certainly like to get back to that. I will say this now, we’ve had quality reps for a lot of guys out there. Shawn Andrews has gotten a lot of work, Petrus has gotten a lot of work, so those guys are…one side of this that may be looked at as a plus is that those guys are getting a ton of work.Q: What takes the longest for guys like that to come along? Is it physical? Technique? Mental?A: It’s a tough job, I mean the guy is this far away. They’re not just sitting there. They’ve got to be able to handle things full speed, on the fly, all of the adjustments, all of the movement, the multiple protections, the multiple run schemes, all the techniques that are involved…it takes time.Q: With the injuries in that area, how tough is it to maintain your confidence in the running game as far as the play calling goes?A: Well, we’ve got to go. I mean, this is what we’ve prepared for and Koets has played in there before. He’s played in there with big people on his nose and done a good job."
Shawn Andrews and Adam Koets should see time this week. The lesson we can take from Victor Cruz making the team is that if Coughlin goes out of his way to mention your name to the press the way he’s mentioning Andrews here — it’s a good thing. Koets will HAVE to step in for O’Hara if Shaun can’t go, but Andrews and Petrus are mentioned like that out in the open, you know the message is being sent that Coughlin likes what he sees and a switch may be coming at any moment on the offensive line to get some execution going.
On Kevin Boss returning:
"Q: What does Boss mean to your offense?A: We’ve got our starting tight end back, a guy that’s played in an awful lot of big games and made an awful lot of big plays for us. He and the quarterback will get on the same page a lot quicker.Q: How about also in the running game with him as the blocker?A: Well, he gives us the size dimension at the tight end spot and allows us to…there’s no run from the standpoint of a power run that we would not run with Kevin over there.Q: Last week you sent Koets in as the eligible tight end. With him at center, do you have other linemen who could go in there?A: Possibly.Q: Do you need that if Boss is back?A: It’s nice to have the multiplicity."
Boss is the key here — not because he’s the best blocker ever in history but because he is a bigger threat AFTER he chips than most people give him credit for. He is so often utilized in the blocking aspects of the offense that he really flies under the radar when his number is called out in space down field. He has great hands and somehow always gets open for big plays when Eli needs it. If only they used him more as a vertical threat…
On Justin Tuck’s injury:
"Q: Is that an issue for Sunday?A: I hope not.Q: Is that related to last year?A: No.Q: When did he hurt it?A: I don’t know. He was just sore this morning.Q: Wasn’t his shoulder bothering him after the game?A: Yeah, he had a little burner the other night. I’m not sure that it’s the same thing."
I hope he’ll play too…. but Tuck is officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. If so, perhaps JPP and Linval Joseph finally make the dress list together.