(The Giants announced QB Eli Manning will start. Your reaction to that?) – “(He’s a) good quarterback. He played last week (and) played well. It’ll be a tough test. They’ve got a lot of good players, so I’m sure Eli’s going to try to get it those guys – Saquon (Barkley), (Darius) Slayton, the rest of the group, (Sterling) Shepard, Golden Tate, (Evan) Engram – we’ll see about that one, too.”
(Do you think there’s any emotional element to this for Giants QB Eli Manning considering this could be his final game in the Meadowlands?) – “I can’t speak for Eli. I have no idea.”
(In terms of – Giants TE Evan Engram is not going to be playing as well. How does that change things for you guys matchup-wise?) – “Was that announced? I’ve been out here (at practice).”
(It was.) – “So (Engram’s) not playing?”
(Yeah.) – “Okay. (Evan Engram is a) good player, a very good player. If he’s not out there, then they’ve got other players at the position who’ve actually played – (Rhett) Ellison – guys who have gone in and played and been productive, so it’ll still be a tough test. They’ve got guys all over the place. You’ve got to play well to stop this group.”
(If TE Evan Engram doesn’t play, does that change maybe what you do with a guy like CB Eric Rowe or some of your DBs?) – “I think we’d have some discussions about whether we’d want to do that or not. We’ve practiced a specific way the entire week. There’s always – we leave room to make adjustments and to make changes, so potentially. I would say we could change a few things, but I would say right now we’ll probably stick to the script.”
(Rod Graves put out his list for coaching candidates for next year. Assistant Head Coach/Quarterbacks Jim Caldwell was on his list. He said that he was fully healthy. Is he in a position where he can come back and help you guys at some point?) – “I’m not going to speak about Jim’s situation. He’s a great coach. He’s been a great coach for a long time. He’s been someone who – Jim I’m talking about – is someone who’s been a mentor and someone I can bounce ideas off of the entire season, which he’s been that. He’s a great football coach. I’ll leave it at that. (He’s a) great, great coach. He’d be very worthy as a head coach in this league. I’d say that over and over and over and over again. I have nothing but praise for him.”
(With RB Patrick Laird, obviously he’s dinged up a little bit. Does that alter how you approach the running back position?) – “Yeah. Whether it’s Myles (Gaskin), whether it’s De’Lance (Turner), those guys will be obviously the next guys in. Patrick is doing everything he can to get himself ready to play. Those other guys are ready to play, as well. We’ll have somebody out there. We’ll see if we need to cut reps or change some roles. Those are things we talk about really throughout the week and we try to practice the situation guys will be in. We’ll see.”
(With the concussions, when will you get a final word on WR DeVante Parker and WR Albert Wilson? Is it tomorrow when they go through the final testing?) – “The protocol is, it goes day-to-day. Right now those guys are still in concussion protocol and we’ll just wait until they get cleared. It’s really more a medical thing more than it is my decision. It’s not my decision at all, so when they give me the call whether it’s today, tomorrow – it’s the protocol. I don’t know. It’s out of my hands.”
(I know we aren’t expecting to see him this week, but what have you seen QB Josh Rosen that makes you think that whenever he’s able to hit the field again, he’ll be more successful than he was early in the season?) – “He’s doing a really good job in the huddle, taking command of the huddle, going through his progression, making the right reads, putting the ball where he needs to put it whether it’s a check down or throwing the football away, sliding when he has to slide – we do that in practice. I think he’s made a lot of progress. He made a lot of good throws today. The kid’s talented. He’s got a big arm. You watch him out in practice fire the ball in there from time to time – actually a lot more consistently now. I think he’ll be ready when his number is called, but at the same time he’s a team player who wants to see ‘Fitz’ (Ryan Fitzpatrick) and guys in the quarterback room have success. When Jake (Rudock) goes in there, he’s happy for him. When he makes a couple plays, he’s fired up for him. He’s a team guy, but I think he’ll be ready when his number is called.”
