Video Playlist: NY Giants Press Meetings

Next up, Kevin Gilbride on the use of TE and the state of the run game right now:

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"Q: Are you trying to get Ballard more involved with the passing game? A: I’ve been very impressed with his ball skills. To be honest with you, I thought last year we had a guy that would be an effective blocker. That’s what I thought and I said ‘here’s a big strong kid, he looks like he’s a tough kid.’ Until you go out and play live against somebody you’re never sure how they’re going to show up. But I felt good that he could do that part of it. He looked like he caught the ball well. I just didn’t expect him to be as effective getting open as he’s been. But he’s done a tremendous job. You know what he is, he’s very attentive, he listens, he tries to employ the things that you talk to him about. There’s no question that he’s been a pleasant surprise in that aspect. Again, I thought he’d be a good blocker. I thought he’d catch the ball, but I did not know he would be as good at uncovering himself as he’s been. We’ve tried to include him and we’ll see what happens. Sometimes people load up on him and it opens up opportunities for other people. Right now that shows that they’re trying to play some of the deeper throws and what’s happening is it’s created some deep crossing routes for him. Q: How would you assess the way Bradshaw has been running? A: He’s been okay. He hasn’t been as successful as we had expected. I think that’s a combination of a lot of things. I don’t think the holes have been as open as we would hope. I think sometimes if you’re not careful as a runner you can get impatient and you actually come out of holes that were there because of your hurriedness to make something out of nothing. I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. But right now as a group, I wouldn’t say it’s Bradshaw; as a group, that’s one little issue. Q: Has he been sucked into that impatience? A: Yeah. No question. That’s normal. That’s like anything else. You have to stay within the dynamics of the play, the scheme and just trust that the blocking is going to open up, it’s going to get you to where the hole is supposed to be and designed to go. You have to believe it’s going to happen. If it hasn’t been there for a few times, it’s easy, it’s natural, it’s human to say, ‘I’m going to make my own play.’ If you do that, it usually leads to more problems."

[clip via Giants.com]