Friday is last real chance for Tom Coughlin to size up NY Giants' problems

Tom Coughlin isn’t one to panic, no matter what kind of tornado is swirling around him, and he sure isn’t going to overreact to a couple of ugly preseason games. But he won’t ignore the obvious, either. So far this summer, his team just hasn’t been very good.

 

So before that leads to another miserable start or sets the tone for another disappointing season, Coughlin did his best this week to shake the Giants out of their summer slumber. The game against the Jets on Friday night is likely the last chance for his most important players to see significant preseason action before they start preparing for the opener on Sept. 8.

So he told them it was time to get serious, to play with some sense of urgency. And he told them it’s time to show everyone — including themselves — a little of what they really are able to do.

“We got the message,” Victor Cruz said. “We understood. He has a way of saying it that makes it very loud and very clear, so we got the message and we understood that. He didn’t even have to say anything for us to know that we had to play better and we had to perform better from an earlier standpoint in the game. We understand that and hopefully we can change.”

Coughlin even threatened to play his starters longer than usual next week against the Patriots in the preseason finale — a game most first-stringers usually either sit out or just play a light series or two. It’s hard to believe he’d actually do that and risk injury to his critical players, especially in a summer where he had an extra preseason game. But his point was clear that he was willing to go to greater lengths, if necessary, to kick his team into gear.

So far it doesn’t look like they’re in any gear at all. The offense, even by preseason standards, has been a disaster. The starters have produced just two touchdowns in six total quarters of action — one on a 73-yard Rashad Jennings run, and one against the Buffalo Bills’ second-team defense. The offensive line has been so bad, Coughlin was like a mad scientist tinkering with the lineup this week. And Eli Manning, in his first season learning a new offense since his rookie year, has completed one of his last nine passes for just six yards over the last two games.