McAdoo Storyline to Watch: New York Giants at Buffalo Bills
By Curt Macysyn
The New York Giants play a matinée preseason game on Saturday, Aug. 20th, as Big Blue takes on the Buffalo Bills in western New York. Normally, there is no love lost between the G-Men and Rex Ryan, and this week gives us a glimpse at Ben McAdoo’s leadership skills. Heading into Buffalo, the main Giants’ storyline clearly revolves around its head coach.
Naturally, McAdoo gets compared to his predecessor, Tom Coughlin, at most every turn. Coughlin coached in a tough, resilient manner, and McAdoo seems to emulate this quality. Of immediate concern, is the manner in which McAdoo benched quarterback Eli Manning last week. In addition, McAdoo lacked a truly thoughtful response to the suspension of kicker Josh Brown, and the team unraveled last week against the Miami Dolphins.
The Win the Game Storyline
Rarely are preseason games a must-win, but do the Giants want to head into their week three preseason game against the New York Jets at 0-2? Fans and analysts indicate preseason is meaningless, but part of what McAdoo has to change is the losing culture surrounding Big Blue. Sorry folks, the Lombardi trophies are getting a little tarnished these days, when your team appears on the outside looking in for four consecutive seasons .
It becomes easy to blame injuries, but that becomes a fine line after a while. Once upon a time, the Giants lost their star quarterback under Bill Parcells and still went on the win Super Bowl XXV. Also keep in mind that the “Big Three” free agent acquisitions of Damon Harrison, Janoris Jenkins and Olivier Vernon; all came from teams that did not qualify for the post-season last year.
The Manning Benching Storyline
No doubt that McAdoo has had a bad week. Reading between the lines, Manning’s benching last week appears to have blindsided his quarterback. According to the New York Post on Aug. 18, 2016, the franchise quarterback was likely not consulted by the head coach. “Well, I have had games where I have been on the sidelines,’’ Manning said Thursday after practice. “Not the first one, but you have to listen to the coach’s orders.’’
“Everything kind of got a little thrown off,’’ Manning said. “I was told that I wasn’t going to dress at all and so I came in here early that day and got a full workout in and a run and did some things, so I was going to go out and just do a pre-pregame and do some throwing with Odell [Beckham Jr.] and a few guys and then I was told that I had to dress and go through warm-ups, so it changed my plan a little bit.’’
“Everything kind of got a little thrown off,’’ Manning said.
There are several storylines worthy of scrutiny here. First, it seems that McAdoo did not personally tell Manning of the benching. Secondly, the entire situation seems to have been handled recklessly.
Having interviewed Manning several times personally, I will say that he has always been a team-first guy, and that he always protects the “circle of trust”. His comments about the benching, are the equivalent of a Dez Bryant rant.
Hopefully, McAdoo just handled the situation poorly, or will he become another coach who plays head games with his players?
Josh Brown Suspension Storyline
As far as issue two, McAdoo’s terse answer about Josh Brown’s suspension indicated that this was supposed to be a one and done storyline in Giants-land. It has become anything but that. A quick review on NJ.com shows, a perfunctory story filed about the one-game banishment on Aug. 18, 2016. After Brown’s interview with the media, and some deeper digging, the Giants’ kicker has a more shady past than previous thought.
How much of a story has Brown’s tale of woe become?
“My stance [on domestic violence] stays the same. I’m a father, I’m a husband, and my stance on personal conduct stays the way it is. Stays consistent, and it stays strong. But I think it’s important for an organization and the locker room to take it on a case by case basis,” McAdoo said in a transcript posted by the team on Aug. 18, 2016.
McAdoo also stated that whether or not Brown’s past was vetted is a question for general manager Jerry Reese. Whether or not Reese feels obligated to respond is anyone’s guess right now. Neither McAdoo, nor Reese, nor John Mara can now claim a lack of awareness of Brown’s history. And from my perch, it is a history that absolutely should put his roster spot in jeopardy.