Big Blue Kickoff Live 10/7 I Turning the Page to Washington

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0:29 Welcome to another edition, an episode of Big Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the New York Giants. I'm Mark Malousis, being joined by Super Bowl champion Sean O'Hara, coming to you live from the Giants podcast studio, presented by Hackensack Meridian Health.

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0:45 201-939-4513, and archive of this show and our entire podcast network on the Giants mobile app, podcast platforms everywhere, the Giants YouTube channel, and at Giants.com slash podcast.

0:59 Sean, good to see you. I saw you in the parking lot as you were coming in, and I waited for you. You must have been on a phone call because it was like five, six minutes. I was like, oh, Sean's got something going on. And then I see you in the mess hall cafeteria as we were both getting a coffee and a water and everything like that. It's good to see you, brother.

1:17 Good to see you. It's always great to see you on a Wednesday after a win.

1:20 No doubt. Yeah. I'm sorry.

1:22 I didn't know you were waiting up.

1:23 No, it's all good. It's all good because I wanted to be, I wanted to be, I was like, oh, wait for Sean. We'll walk in.

1:27 Oh yeah.

1:28 You're a good man.

1:28 Yeah.

1:30 No, then I was like, oh, he must be busy.

1:32 He's a busy man.

1:32 No, it is.

1:32 It's like driving time is like.

1:34 Yeah.

1:35 That's like, all right, you got to work some things out and try to, that's when I.

1:38 Catch up on. Well, you have kids, right, at home. It's hard to have that time. And when you're in the car, sometimes you're trying to catch up on phone calls, on stuff like that.

1:46 And you're, you know, you have a little peace and quiet because it's hard when you got kids at home.

1:50 Yeah.

1:50 Well, there's always something. There's always something coming up schedule wise. Honestly, it's literally our conversations. My wife and I are like logistically.

1:57 Okay.

1:58 Who's picking up where, who has what activity, this is going here. It's like, you're trying to coordinate like all kinds of, it's like you have to have a game plan for every day.

2:07 No doubt.

2:07 Because the target's always moving.

2:09 And my wife always seems to throw it at me at like the most inopportune times.

2:13 Like, I feel like, like my head is spinning. It's been like a long day. You got so much on your mind. She's like, all right, so Saturday, you need to be here at this time. You need to be there at this time. And you're like, I'm not ready to receive this. I'm not ready to receive it.

2:27 It's like the quarterback is throwing the ball and you're not even out of your break yet. And you like, you turn around and the ball is already on you.

2:33 The game is too fast. Now I can relate.

2:35 You got to have the hands up quick.

2:37 You got to catch that ball. A hundred percent.

2:40 It's probably better that way than like you as a receiver, like waiting, waiting, waiting.

2:43 Yes.

2:44 And then the ball gets thrown late. I feel like my wife a lot of times will hit me with that when I walk in the door or come right down. And I'll be like, you know, can we talk about this in a minute? And it's like, If she doesn't tell me in the moment, she feels like she might forget. Then it gets lost in the haystack of other things that are going on.

3:03 And if you forget it, it's our fault. It's always our fault.

3:06 It's like whose side of the court is the ball? You served to me. I've got to make sure that I'm ready. I've got to return volley. We've got to keep it going back and forth. I can't be asleep at the wheel.

3:17 Well, it's always great to see you, Sean. Always love doing these shows with you. And the Giants are a 3-1 football team in the first place in the NFC East.

3:23 First place.

3:24 I mean, that is refreshing to see when you look at the NFC East standings and you see Big Blue at the top of it. And kind of reinforcing, you know, you think about what the Giants have been through as an organization for the last month. where you lose arguably two of your top three players, most important players coming into the season. When you look at your sacks leader from a year ago and Brian Burns with 16 and a half sacks, your starting quarterback who is in his second year and your franchise quarterback in Jackson Dart, both knee injuries for the season. And yet this team is now three and one. What about the resiliency that you've seen here from the players on the field, from this coaching staff and the buy-in that you've gotten?

4:05 I think it's a complete 180 from the team that we saw last year in terms of how they finish games. How many times last year did we see, man, we've got a lead in the fourth quarter. Hey, this is great. And then all of a sudden the game goes sideways and they end up losing that game. And you walk out of the stadium or you turn off the TV and you say, how in the world did they lose that game? And somehow, someway, they've found a way two weeks in a row to get a stop. Um, I don't think anybody would like for it to be on the final drive of the game.

4:35 No.

4:35 Like everybody's on the edge of their seats, but isn't this what you come for? Like, like for Giants fans, like this is the entertainment and the theater aspect of, you know, you know, we're fighting through tooth and nail and clawing at every single win. And at the end of the day, you, you're three in one and you're like, wow, we're three in one. We have not even played our best football.

4:55 Yep.

4:56 And we're three in one without two of our best players, one on either side.

4:58 Of the ball.

4:59 Um, I think that just, You have to give a lot of credit to John Harbaugh and this coaching staff for how they built this team to win football games. It was never going to be about just our quarterback throwing the ball 45, 50 times. We have built this team to run the football. We're going to be physical.

5:17 We're going to lean on the run game, and then we're going to throw the ball in some play-action passing areas, and we're going to get creative with that. But that's how this team has been built, and that's how they've been able to win these games today. and I feel like the Giants still have room for improvement on both sides of the ball. There were a couple drives in that game against Arizona where they gave up some big runs and some big plays, and then they clamped down, and I think that's when you know you have a smart team, you have a resilient team, when they can put those plays behind them and put the fire out during the game. Offensively, we saw Jameis made some really great throws. The throw to Malik Nabors, up the seam

6:00 for the touchdown was a great throw. The throw to Theo Johnson in the back of the end zone, sick catch. Those were really great throws. And like we have come to expect with Jameis, there's also some bad throws.

6:12 Yes. It's the Jameis experience. Right.

6:15 That's kind of what he has been really trying to eliminate. But I also look at, as I'm watching the film break it down, okay, hey, great throws, and they were at perfect time. When it felt like the game was starting to get away from us and they got back into the game with those big throws. There are also some throws that Jameis needs to make where he just didn't see in the guy. Or I feel like there's been a couple times where he has felt a little pressured in the pocket and there is no pressure. Like the pocket is fine. And he looks like Cole Trickle.

6:46 He just revs the engine and blows the hood because he's not comfortable being back in the cockpit. And, you know, like he starts panicking.

6:54 He didn't want to be there, Cole, in that car.

6:56 And I'm like, please don't let the invisible fire burn my friends.

6:59 Like, there is no fire.

7:00 Like, stop running out of the pocket if you don't have to. Stand and deliver. And there was a couple times that happened in the game where I think if Jameis, if we were sitting here watching film together, he would say, I got to stand in the pocket and I got to make that throw because there was a guy open, Isaiah Likely. He missed him on a touchdown. He was wide open up the seam. It would have been a touchdown, no doubt about it. And he just kind of got a little panicked in the pocket and started moving around and took his eyes off of that. So those are things that I think they can get better at, which is great. But you mentioned first place. Yeah, first place.

7:33 And with the Washington Commanders on the horizon.

7:35 No doubt.

7:35 Who are on their third quarterback now.

7:37 Yeah.

7:39 I think that this is a.

7:40 Great– Well, you might see Daniels on Sunday, right?

7:42 I think that they're saying– yeah, I mean, they're going to be coy about it no matter what. They're probably saying game-time decision. But Marcus Mariota, who was filling in for Jaden, he got hurt last week, so he's down. You can just kind of look around the division too. Lane Johnson just retired for the Eagles.

7:56 No doubt.

7:56 So, phenomenal career. Unbelievable right tackle. I remember Lane when he was coming out. I remember I was at the combine and I watched him run.

8:03 Oklahoma.

8:04 That kid's a tackle. I'm like, he ran like a 4'7. And I remember thinking, this dude is a stud, had a heck of a career. You know, I think he has Hall of Fame accolades. But as a Giants fan, you've got to love the fact that, you know, they're without him now. I think that helps. from a Giants standpoint, playing against the Eagles team without a guy like Lane Johnson.

8:27 So things are in a really good place right now.

8:29 No doubt.

8:30 And Lane retired and he said he wanted to focus on his mental health at this stage. And he's had an unbelievable career. He's been unbelievable impactful. Just look at the win percentage of the Philadelphia Eagles when Lane Johnson's been healthy, playing right tackle for that offense and when he's been out. So We obviously wish Lane the best, but there are three in one team. And a couple of things is, you know, you look at the pop that that stadium had. Sean, after the Banks interception. It's been a while since that stadium sounded like that. And this giant fan base, I think one of the things that excited John Harbaugh was, you know, how prideful this fan base is that is looking to get behind a

9:12 team that obviously they want to get in an organization that they want to get behind. An organization that's been to five Super Bowls and won four of them. And you were part of it, Sean, but it's been a while since we've seen or heard that stadium sound like that. And it was awesome. I got to be honest with you, as Banks is running into the end zone for the adulation, it was awesome to see. And the other aspect, and the awesome feeling here, the other aspect is, and Sean, you can speak to this better than anybody, coaching matters.

9:42 Like, look at Banks. Look at T.

9:44 Banks and look at when he, and I understand he's been a little bit banged up this year, but Look at the player that he is, what we have seen when he's been on the field this year, as compared to what he was on the field a year ago, where there was a lot of frustration.

9:59 And.

10:00 That is a significant difference, and there's never a doubt the athletic ability of the player, but we always.

10:06 Emphasize, and Coach, and Sean, you know this better than me.

10:09 Because you played in the NFL. There is the impact of coaching to be able to get the best out of players, and you're seeing that. And Banks, who just got named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week, that's a prime example after what we saw a year ago to what we've witnessed this year through four games.

10:26 Yeah, and for him to get these kind of accolades, piggybacking on Arval Reese getting accolades and Javon Holland, you know, so it's not just one guy. So that really goes to show the impact. And Dernard Wilson, the defensive coordinator, you know, defensive back is kind of his specialty. So no doubt about it, that has been impactful. I think the confidence thing with Tay Banks has been huge. And you can see it, his body language looks different. I feel like last year, if there was a bad play or if he got called for a penalty, you know, you could almost kind of see he would go in the tank. And then it was like, he just kind of lost that, that dorsal fin that he kind of showed up on the scene when he was drafted as

11:04 a rookie with. So it's great to see him in that interception at the end. I thought he got screwed. There was the pass interference call earlier on. I thought that was a bad call, and he didn't let it affect him. He stayed in. He was in sticky coverage right there and made a great break on that interception.

11:23 He's one of those guys that I think Giants fans are excited for because, We didn't know. We didn't know where he was going to be coming into training camp. There was a big question mark on it, and I think he's done a great job with that. The confidence comes from coaches are giving you tools and techniques that will help you become a better player. And then when you see that that translates to game day, now you feel great about yourself. You feel great about the way you're being coached. And I think this defense, look, we have six interceptions on the season already. We're leading the NFL right now. We're tied. with Jacksonville and with Seattle for the most interception in the league. That has not

12:02 been something the Giants have done a lot of in the last couple of years. Like that's kind of been one of the things we've struggled with was, you know, getting turnovers. And I think that is huge. That's one of the best ways to win football games. Tom Coughlin, love him. One of his biggest stat, he was like, take the points out of the equation. The number one stat in determining whether you win or lose football games is winning the turnover battle. And he used to have all these Pythagorean theorems and Excel spreadsheets.

12:26 And Spartanism.

12:26 A lot of Spartanism that would show you when you're at home, if you win the turnover battle, you increase your odds of winning the game by like 82%. And so this was something that he drove home. And when you're on the road, it's even more vital as the road team to win the turnover battle because the numbers kind of skew down. Now, there was a couple of times, I'll never forget, Strahan used to bust chops. He's like, coach.

12:48 You got to stop telling us that because if Eli throws a pick, we're over there saying, we only have a 13% chance now winning the game. Like, you know, it's like there's a time when it can work against you. But I think the point was, look, this is a huge factor in it. And the Giants are plus three right now. And that's a big reason why they're three and one.

13:05 Yeah, there's no doubt. And maybe we were talking about Winston before. The great line from Harry Doyle in that movie. No, not Harry Doyle. Harry Doyle was in Major League. But Harry, for Cole Trickles, you've got to drive straight through. Trust me, you can drive straight through.

13:19 We put a special set of tires on that car. I believe it in my heart, Cole. You can drive through it. And then he's like, what was so special about the tires? I don't know. You were just being such a candy ass. I had to get you to calm down.

13:36 I love Days of Thunder. Great movie.

13:38 You know, Sean, as we turn the page and look ahead to the commanders here this Sunday down in Maryland, you know, we saw Giants players and coaches a week ago wearing the 1-0 shirts. The mantra here for Harbaugh, you know, has been, you know, he's here to win football games, right? That's why you see J.J. McCarthy now in that quarterback room. Competition is king. The start to this season, what does that do for a team? The fact that you saw this team respond against Tennessee at the Holland interception. The timeout by Harbaugh right before that Holland interception. After the bad pass interference call, they didn't get the woe is me. They had a great defensive stand highlighted by the Taye Banks pick six to end

14:19 the game and the walk-off pick six. And they beat Arizona 36-24. Those type of victories, what does that do for a team early on in the season as they get set to hit the road this Sunday in Maryland?

14:29 Yeah, there's a belief that I think that starts to cultivate. And that 1-0 mantra every week, hey, we won that game. We had to do what was necessary. Now this week, it's going to be the same formula. It might look a little different. A plus B equals C. This week, A might be something totally different. And the same with B.

14:49 But I think that belief, you can kind of sense it. Look, the NFL is very interesting from a confidence and from a mental standpoint. And I remember early on in my career playing for the Cleveland Browns. And early on, I felt like the only way for us to win games was everything had to go right. We had to do everything right. And the other team had to do something wrong.

15:15 That was the only way we could get a win.

15:17 Fine lines.

15:18 That's hard. It's hard to go through a game like that feeling like, man, you can't make one mistake or, you know, the game is going to get away from you. And it wasn't until, you know, in my third year there, when we started to win games, we started to get good. And it was like, OK, this is how you win. Like, you don't really understand what it takes to win until you start doing it. And then you realize, OK, you know what? It's really not about talent. It's about execution.

15:43 Like they may be a more talented team. They may have more explosive guys. And you know what? Their fantasy football numbers are better than ours, but we can still find a way to win. And I think that's kind of what the Giants are doing right now, and they've got that confidence. And when you believe in each other, when you believe in the team, hey, look, we're going to get the game into the fourth quarter, and we're going to find a way to win. We're going to find a way to get points at the end if we need them, and we're going to find a way to get a stop. That is huge. And the fact that the defense has gone out there two weeks in a row and delivered on that with an impactful play, with a turnover.

16:17 And the defense also made an adjustment as well as that game went along after the sluggish start. That's the one thing that you'd like to not have this Sunday is get off to the start that they got off to against Arizona on Sunday down in Maryland against Washington.

16:31 Yeah, and I think for them to give up some of those big plays on the ground, I think that was something that you know, they've kind of hung their hat on is we're going to stop the run and we're going to make you try to beat us with, you know, throwing the football. So that's something that they're going to try to, they're going to have to correct against Washington because, you know, look for Washington, we don't know if Jayden's going to play. If he doesn't play, it's going.

16:54 To be Nathan Kallik-Manis, Rutgers.

16:55 The Rutgers Scarlet Knight, you know, and guess what? If he's starting, they're going to run the football. They're not going to ask him to throw the ball 35 times. So that's going to be paramount.

17:05 Yeah, there's no question.

17:06 And if Daniels is back in, that presents a danger for that defense because, you know, Jacoby Brissett, more of a pocket passer. He's not necessarily going to beat you with his legs. Jane Daniels, and that is where you have to be. I would say with your pass rush lanes, you have to make sure that you don't present gaps for him to be able to get through and be able.

17:24 To run upfield.

17:25 And he's coming off the dislocated elbow off of his non-throwing elbow, but we do know how dangerous Daniels is with his legs.

17:31 Yeah, and that may be one of those situations that, hey, third and long, we have a spy rusher.

17:35 Yeah.

17:36 And you want to have a spy guy that makes sure that if he does break contain, he's not going to burn you with a big run. You know, how they'll handle that going forward is yet to be seen. But obviously, no Brian Burns, so that's tough. I thought Abdul Carter.

17:50 Carter was great. How about Reese?

17:52 I mean, how about, I mean, Arbel is, I mean, he is, I mean, Sean, like when you watch him, It is, it's amazing how like when people say, well, it's just when you see it and guys are different, you can just tell.

18:06 Like when you watch Arvel Reese- Man, he is different. He just is. The way that he plays, the way.

18:12 That he attacks, how sure of a tackler he is, the fact that he can use them in a variety of different ways. I mean, he's so athletically gifted, but he is one heck of a football player.

18:21 And doesn't necessarily say all that much. Who cares?

18:24 I mean, you know, and it doesn't matter, but on the football field, he's going to show himself to be an absolute game wrecker, and we've just seen the tip of the iceberg.

18:32 He feels like a generational talent, and what's interesting is, you know, on Sunday— playing the Washington Commander, Sonny Stiles, was another guy that was kind of linked with Arvell in this draft. And when you kind of look at Arvell Reese in college and you watch him making plays, he's flying all over the field. And so you knew, wow, Arvell Reese can fly. He can run. He covers all kinds of ground. Let's see how he does when the pads come on. And then you watch him taking on guards.

19:00 I mean, he took a week ago against the Tennessee Titans, he took Peter Skowronski, the highest paid left guard in the NFL right now, And I mean, he just straightened him up. Like he jammed him in his chest, stood him straight up and pushed him over the pile. He is physical. And that's something that's a little bit more surprising to me than his speed, his athleticism. We knew he could tackle on space, but the way he's taken on blocks. I mean, he ran through Tajay Spears, the running back that tried to block him against the Tennessee Titans a couple weeks ago. He trucked him. He ran him over. So he's very physical. He's very explosive. And I really like You know, I like how physical he is at the point of attack and how he finishes tackles.

19:40 He's not ankle biting. He's not grabbing guys and, you know, roping up their ankles. He's running through guys, running through with his hips. So um i think he's you know he's he's definitely adding you know the giants fans giants fans love great defense oh there's like they always they love the pass horse they love their linebackers the big blue wrecking crew yes you just had the 86 team um you know at med life honoring them 40 years i can't believe it's been 40 years but You know, you've got Carson and Banks and.

20:08 Gary Reasons, Pepper Johnson. I mean, Gary Carson.

20:12 I mean, like he just kind of fits that mold. And I think, you know, he had a great interception. I mean, the ball gets kind of deflected and ends up right in his lap. So he just continues to make impactful plays. And I think he's. Look, they're going to ask him to do more. You know, it burns down. But I'm glad that they haven't moved him from the linebacker spot that he's in right now.

20:31 Yeah, I saw Carl Banks yesterday.

20:32 I asked him, because he would know better than anybody, who does Arvel Reese remind him of?

20:37 And he said Patrick Willis. He reminds him.

20:40 Same number, too.

20:41 Yeah, same number.

20:42 He's a heat-seeking missile. He didn't say that. When you saw it on that one play Arizona at third and long... on sunday where they tossed it out to the back in the backfield.

20:52 And it was tons of space tons of space you're like oh no oh no and then it was like oh my there's reese yeah and he and he brought him down and brought him down all.

20:59 Right and like i said he wasn't like hanging from his no it was like all right he closed the gap he broke down and he and he runs through the tackle um you know he he's got the instincts yeah that that ray lewis had early on his career and look he wears the same number too so i'm sure the comparisons are going to continue but um He doesn't take any negative steps. There's a lot of times when you can turn on film and you're watching a young linebacker and the play's going to the left and he may take a step to the right before he reads it, before he sees it. Or, hey, this play is a stretch play, it's a perimeter, and he is taking an angle like it's an inside run, so he's already behind the play. He doesn't take any negative steps.

21:40 He's never behind the ball. His first step is so quick, so that puts him in a great position That's instincts. That's football smarts. He's got it. Patrick Willis absolutely had it. Luke Kuechly is another guy that had it and Ray Lewis. And, you know, obviously those guys, Luke Kuechly and Ray Lewis were playing Mike Linebacker.

21:59 Yeah.

21:59 So he's more of a will. So I think that's why Patrick Willis. um is coming to mind um but i i think you know his his ball skills too like he just you know he's got everything super long arms too.

22:11 Yeah he is he is freaky deaky he's gonna be fun to watch as we move forward here two oh one nine three nine four five one three that's your number to call mark melusa sean o'hara with you a wednesday edition of big blue kickoff live let's head out to uh iowa first up today it's john it's big blue kickoff live johnny what's going on bud.

22:30 Hey, it's an honor talking to Mr.

22:31 O'Hara.

22:32 Thank you for letting him get up in there.

22:34 I appreciate that, as always.

22:38 You know, I wanted to talk.

22:39 A little bit about everything, kind of.

22:42 Arvel in training camp, I knew.

22:45 What he was going to be, and it's just sky's the limit. And then we move over to the defense. Just by watching the way that we've adjusted so far this season, I like how we played Mann against Arizona. I like how we moved Arvell inside and ran him in blitz packages and stuff like that. I think that's kind of how we're going to continue, press and play cover two possibly.

23:13 And then the offense. What I see from Jameis so far is a lot of like Tommy DeVito, where he sits, he sees his primary is not open, and barely gets on his second, and then he's just scared. As Sean said earlier, he looks down, he senses the pocket's gone, but it's not. So I'm excited to see how he either gets past that and catches up to the speed and getting on to his progressions and or see how J.J.

23:48 McCarthy fills in. That's all I got for you, fellas. Appreciate the Super Bowl, Sean.

23:53 Yeah, you got it. I mean, no doubt. It's more them letting me in the building than Sean.

23:59 Sean's like the mayor when he walks in here. There's no doubt about it. Smiling, everyone's greeting him. He's a mayor. He's a good guy, and he's a Super Bowl champion.

24:06 This is my happy place.

24:07 That's it.

24:08 Especially with a 3-1.

24:10 There's no doubt about it.

24:12 But to the point of James here, Sean, is that Listen, he is, and we discussed it last week, he controls it moving forward. If he plays well and winning football, and some of the, say, miscommunication with the wide receivers, he's going to develop more and more chemistry here as we move along here. And he continues to play good football at the quarterback position, what John Harbaugh is looking for.

24:36 He's going to remain the starting quarterback. I mean, that's what you look like moving forward here. And We mentioned it last week. It's going to take a little while for J.J. McCarthy to get up to speed with everything in the offense. I thought it was interesting that John Harbaugh, after the game on Sunday, admitted that there was.

24:51 A package for J.J.

24:53 McCarthy that they didn't come close to using in the game, but there was some plays in order to get J.J.

24:59 On the field.

25:00 I think what he learned here early on under the stewardship of John Harbaugh is he's here to win games. I mean, by hook or by crook, if you're not doing what we need you to do in order to help us as a team and an organization to win football games, your job is going to be on the line.

25:19 And that's it.

25:20 And you want to talk about setting a culture, setting a tone, setting a temperament, what expectations are. Everything is done with intent. And I think Jameis accepts it and he says, OK, yeah, that's fine. I mean, you want to bring J.J. McCarthy aboard, that's fine. He's still the starting quarterback here. And if they go down to Washington and he plays well, he's going to remain the starting quarterback against the New Orleans Saints.

25:41 Yeah, look, I'm sure, you know, when the Giants traded for J.J. McCarthy, I'm sure they had conversation with Jameis about, look, here's what we're doing and we got to have a plan. Like, we can't not have a plan now that Jackson Dart goes on IR. And I think that he knew we're going to have to bring somebody in because we're one play away from Jameis being out and somebody else having to go in and win football games. So I think Jameis understands, too, it's his job to keep JJ off the field. And you do that by continuing to win football games. For Jameis, he's got to keep making the throws that he made. And he's got to just, you know, like we talked about before, don't get a little jittery in the pocket. make the throws that are there, make

26:21 the plays that are there. But the other thing that kind of flies under the radar, because when we look at quarterbacks, it's like, all right, what's their passer rating? How many touchdowns do they throw? How many yards do they throw for? There's so much more that goes into quarterback. I can't tell you how many times watching film of this past game and even the week before when the Giants come up and they've got a play designed to the right and Jameis is looking at the defense and he's like, nope, nope, alert, alert, alert, we're going the other way. That's just as much your responsibility as a quarterback as throwing the ball is. Can you get us out of a bad play and into a better play?

26:53 Can you handle things at the line? There are times when you call three plays in a huddle and you get to the line, you've got to decipher based on what the defense is doing. Are we going to run the first play called? Are we going to run the second play called? Or am I checking to the third play? So those are all things you have to be able to handle as a quarterback. And that's why I feel like Jameis is going to continue to play until something happens or unless all of a sudden now you know, the Giants start losing games and they feel like they have to create a spark. But J.J., I don't think they traded for him to come in and start. I think they traded for him to say, he's our parachute.

27:26 If something happens to Jameis, if Jameis gets hurt. Now the plan of, we have a package for J.J. McCarthy, 100%. Imagine if J.J. McCarthy had to go into the game for something and they were like, well, we hadn't really, we didn't really have a plan for him. Like everybody would be like, you should be fired. Like that's your job as the head coach and as the coordinators is like, we have to have a plan and they have a plan for everybody.

27:46 All right.

27:47 If our left tackle goes down, what's our plan? Who are we moving over? Are we moving one guy or are we bringing somebody else in another position and now moving two guys? Who's our center? Who's our record? Like they go through every position and it's what happens.

27:58 If So you don't read all that much into that?

28:01 No, and I think the package for J.J. McCarthy is, look, if you have to go into the game, here are the five plays that we would run with you. So make sure you know these plays, you're comfortable with them. Do they have a package maybe in the red zone or on third and one where maybe he goes in and plays quarterback? We saw Jackson Dart do that last year.

28:20 Yeah, we did. As a rookie. That's a good point.

28:22 So Jackson Dart had a package of plays, and they threw him out there. And it was quarterback design runs.

28:27 It was options.

28:28 It was different plays. And, you know, I remember Dable, there was a game where Dable threw him out there just on a whim just to see how he responded to all that stuff. So you have packages of plays for that. It doesn't mean that, you know, you're forcing the issue and trying to get him out there. But I think last week was his first week. So it was, hey, look, we have a couple of plays here. We don't want to use them right now. If we have to, here's what they are. And they will expand upon that. as his knowledge and confidence of this offensive system grow. But that's their job and that's what they're doing right now.

29:00 And this is kind of where like assistant coaches don't get enough credit because they're like, okay, JJ, you got to play catch up. Well, guess who has to be the private tutor now?

29:10 No, the assistant.

29:11 With JJ McCarthy.

29:12 Yeah.

29:13 So like now the quarterback coach has got to spend more time with him, right? Brian Callahan, who is the passing game coordinator and quarterback coach. Now he's got to spend extra time after school spend time with him going over stuff and kind of reinstalling what we did in training camp and making sure that he understands the concepts.

29:30 So there's a lot of extra work that's going into that to making him ready in case he has to play.

29:34 How much additional time outside of the normal time for players to be in the building do you think J.J.

29:40 To get caught up to speed, is in the building?

29:41 Well, quarterbacks spend more time in the building to begin with already.

29:44 Yeah.

29:46 Because once practice ends on a Wednesday, most guys will watch the practice film. You do some corrections, and then you go home. Or you get in the cold tub, or you're doing your physical stuff. And then you worry about Thursday when you come in on Thursday. Quarterbacks will stay. All right, Wednesday practice is over. We correct all that.

30:03 Let's start installing Thursday. Here are things we are going to do on Thursday. Let's get ahead of it so that it's fresh on our brain. We get that on our brain Wednesday. Then Thursday morning when we come in, it's not the first time we're hearing or seeing it, and we can kind of absorb it. And even Wednesday night, maybe go back and watch some of the films. So I used to actually stay on Wednesday.

30:22 With Eli?

30:23 I would stay with Eli and some of the other quarterbacks because I found out that they were starting to watch Third down is what we would install on Thursdays. So on Thursdays, you would always go, hey, here's our third down offensive plays. Here's what the defense does on third down. Here are their tendencies. We would break it up.

30:40 It would be third and two to three.

30:41 Okay.

30:42 Third and four to seven. Third and seven plus.

30:46 Okay.

30:47 You would kind of break down third downs based on down and distance. Here's their coverages. Here's what they're at. Here's when they tend to blitz. Here are the fronts that they're in in all of those situations. And we would sit there and go through the whole film. And it was like, all right, third down, you see this, you see this. And anytime there's a run play, Eli would fast forward. And I'd be like, hey, run that back.

31:05 I want to see how they block that.

31:06 No, no, no.

31:07 I'm not wasting time on run play. We're only watching coverages. But that was how we kind of got ahead of things. And then that way Thursday when we came in, it was like, okay, here are a couple of things, a couple of looks that gave this other team some issues.

31:19 How much did that benefit you? Here's how I'm going to solve it.

31:21 Oh, it made me a better player just because I was so much more aware. Of what was going on.

31:26 Yeah.

31:26 I thought, I remember my rookie year, I started watching with the quarterbacks. And, you know, Eli came in and I was like, all right, I'm going to have to hold his hand. I'm going to have to teach him. Like, here's the mic, this and that. He was like, give me the remote. And I'm like, what do you mean?

31:41 He's like, I want the remote. And I never got it back.

31:43 And that was it.

31:43 Like, he never gave it back. I ended up learning a lot from him. And I remember... Like he and Tim Hasselbeck, we would always stay after and watch and we would go through the coverages. And, you know, I think I ended up learning more football from him.

31:55 That's cool.

31:55 Than he actually did for me. But it was so paramount because we would stop a play and he'd be like, all right, how do we get this picked up? What are we going to, how are we going to block this? And I'm like, all right, well, here's what I think we would do. You know, and he's like, all right, we need a word for that. And like we would, if we didn't have that slide in or if we didn't have that nomenclature already in, we would come up with a word and then he would go tell Coach Gilbride or Or we would tell flats, our off-the-line coach, hey, here's how we want to block this. What do you think?

32:20 And they would kind of do the same thing. So we were kind of getting ahead of all that on like a Wednesday. And then that way Thursday you came in and did that. And then Thursday we would do the same thing for Friday practice.

32:30 That's awesome. That's great.

32:32 Bradley in Brooklyn is up next on Big Blue Kickoff Live.

32:34 What's going on, Bradley? What's going on, Bradley? Bradley. Hey, sorry about that. You got him. What's on your mind, buddy? Hello.

32:42 Hello.

32:43 For sure.

32:43 For sure.

32:43 Hey, Mark, Sean, pleasure chatting with you. First time caller looking forward to the season ahead and also the show. Appreciate you guys. But the question I wanted to ask, well, first off, I think it's understated that we're three in one. We got to celebrate that. I want to continue that the wind street that's happening there, which is pretty cool.

33:01 But looking back at the, you know, the win.

33:04 Against the Cardinals, you guys mentioned the sluggish, sluggish defensive start.

33:08 And really how crucial the turnover battle will be against Washington, right?

33:10 So considering how the defense settled down and Taye Banks stepped up on that.

33:15 Final goal line stand, I'm curious if you think.

33:18 This bend-but-don't-break mentality is really sustainable, or do we need to see better early-down execution to avoid those 14-3 deficits going forward?

33:28 Well, Bradley, listen, I think you saw the Giants have a defensive game plan early on and it wasn't working. And then you saw them make an adjustment and the pressure rate got significantly better as the game went along. And I mentioned yesterday with John, I didn't understand some of the play calls from Arizona on their third drive where they were having such success running the football and they might have made an adjustment in Brissette. at the line of scrimmage based on the defensive look that they were getting from the New York Giants. But yeah, you don't want to put yourself in that hole. And yes, I think the idea of continuing to have your defense have to make a defensive play at the end of

34:05 the game to cement a victory is That's only sustainable for so long. Eventually, that's not going to work. So I think you have to take the positives. The Giants need to score some points on Sunday.

34:16 They did.

34:17 Winston looked a lot better at quarterback. You saw guys like Fields. Neighbors had himself a game. Theo Johnson with a big catch, as Sean just mentioned. You know, outside of the Harris fumble, the Giants took care of the football. Special teams continues to be a weapon for this team. And there's a will where you find, and I think it's the mentality, and Sean mentioned it earlier, the mentality of this team where they're not getting too down on themselves, even when a bad call comes their way. And you saw that from the defense. Are they going to have to be better on Sunday against Washington in the divisional game?

34:47 Yeah, for sure. Are they going to have to get off to a better start? Absolutely. If Daniels is back in the game, is he a statue in the pocket? No, he is not.

34:54 And that's going to present other areas of pressure on this defense to be able to contain him and what he can do outside of the pocket.

35:02 Yeah, listen, I'll take yards all day long over points. You know, I also think like you ski kind of at the end of the game. That's when defenses are kind of like really locking in. Like, OK, we understand what the offense is trying to do. We're seeing some of the tells. And that's when you kind of read some of the plays a little bit better. So, look, obviously, you don't want to give up, you know, 400 yards of offense. But if you hold them out of the end zone, that's really all you care about.

35:27 What else you got, Bradley?

35:29 A hundred percent.

35:30 Yeah.

35:30 I mean, listen, I'll take a W all day, every day.

35:33 I'm definitely just looking forward to see how we continue to get better.

35:36 But gentlemen, great show.

35:38 Love to hear what the other callers have. And thanks for taking my call.

35:40 You got it, Bradley. Appreciate you making it. Let's head up to a beautiful Cape Cod.

35:44 It's John. It's big blue kickoff live. What's going on, Johnny?

35:48 How are you most Sean? Good afternoon.

35:52 Good afternoon.

35:53 I've watched, I watched the game twice, uh, so that I could look at all the different plays. I just hope that the quarterback continues to settle down because it looked to me, at least from television, the giant receivers were running open in that zone all day long. And some of them he connected with and some he didn't. Sean, you've been watching this game, I'm sure, for a long time.

36:25 Sean had to step out for a second here, John. He'll be back with us here momentarily. Oh, okay. Yes.

36:33 I hope also that they continue to use Tyrone Tracy and get him out of the doghouse. I don't know if anybody talked about it, but he had a spectacular kick return from They got the giant offense jump-started. So, you know, I think the Giants, the one thing they seem to be lacking is a runner who's a home-run hitter.

37:04 And he's a home-run hitter. I think when he gets loose in the secondary, he can be the guy that delivers that 30-, 40-yard touchdown. The runners they have are terrific. They're strong runners. But, you know, they're power runners. I haven't seen any of the slashers that we've had over the years. The other point I wanted to ask Sean.

37:30 Yeah, fire away. Yeah.

37:33 I think that maybe they ought to give Coach Coughlin a call and have him do the Tiki magic on Tyrone Tracy to end the fumbling problem once and for all. Because what he did with Tiki Barber was just game-changing.

37:52 Yeah, I mean, listen, I would tell you this.

37:55 As far as John Harbaugh has mentioned, there's not necessarily a doghouse when you wouldn't define it that way when you're looking at guys putting the ball on the ground. But ball security is a big-time key for any coach, whether your name is John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Andy Reid, whatever it might be. And John, thanks a lot for the call. You know, it's a matter now for Tyrone Tracy is that when you get into the game, and that's why when on Sunday Najee Harris put the ball on the turf, that was the last you saw of Najee Harris in the game against the Arizona Cardinals because it's a big-time key. And Sean, John was asking about, you know, what Tom Coughlin was able to do for Tiki in terms of curing his fumbling issues. And he'd

38:41 like to see Tyrone Tracy get more burn here because– He represents something a little bit different in that Giants running back room.

38:47 Yeah, and I think, you know, seeing Tracy return kickoffs and, you know, I think that they want to see him succeed. And, you know, I think he's going to garner more reps. And the way you build that confidence from the coach's standpoint is in practice. Like, how are you handling the ball? How are you handling running through on contact? Are you covering it with two hands? Tiki's situation was a technique thing where he would run and the ball would kind of come away from his body. So Coach Coughlin kind of came in and said, you know, if you want to play running back for me, you're not carrying the ball like a loaf of bread. Like it can't be away from your body. So all of a sudden, if you look at film of Tiki, up until 2003, the

39:33 ball was out here. 2004, when Coach Koff came in, he taught him to hold the ball right here and it was more upright. And that Tiki made it an absolute, like it was his point of emphasis.

39:45 High and tight.

39:47 High and tight. He ran right here. And he said, you know what? I may get caught from behind. It may cost me yards, but I'm not going to give this ball up. And to his credit, he completely fixed that. And he went on to have three of his best years of his career under Coach Goffin. And having that ball up here, you could see the way he ran.

40:05 It was a totally different way of handling that football. So look, those are some of the things that Tyrone Tracy can implement as well.

40:12 Sean, when you look at the Giants and the emphasis on the ground game, and we mentioned it and we haven't talked about it yet, the play of the Giants offensive line against Arizona and obviously what they're looking to try and do against Washington, being a point of emphasis is trying to run the football each and every week.

40:29 And I want to say congratulations to John Michael Schmitz and his wife for welcoming in their first baby. He's wearing the dad hat and everything like that.

40:36 That's a special moment.

40:37 There's no doubt about it.

40:39 100%.

40:39 There's nothing like it. Life changes forever. Yeah. There's no doubt. And all for the good. I mean, the kids will drive you crazy, but all for the good.

40:48 But you saw Hudson in at center on Sunday for the New York Giants.

40:51 Yeah.

40:52 Coach Harbaugh was asked about it. He said we have two centers that we really, really like. What did you see from Hudson Sunday against Arizona in playing along that offensive line and trying to gain chemistry, which I think is difficult to do if you're a backup all of a sudden getting thrown in with the starters, no?

41:09 Yeah, it's always tough whenever you're kind of the new kid on the block and you come in there and guys are used to playing with somebody else. I thought Hudson did a great job stepping right in. First and foremost, no issues with the snaps whatsoever. Shotgun snaps were fine. No quarterback center exchange issues. I felt like, you know, the other thing that you worry about is like, OK, protection wise, are we all on the same page? You know, if we're sliding right, do we and we need to change something? How is that communication being handled? So I thought he did a great job with all that. I thought Hudson looked very athletic. He looked very fluid. I thought he did a great job in the passing game,

41:44 you know, passing off twists. He was he was Very good with his hands, very good with his anticipation of any time there was going to be a stunt. If a guy was lined up over here, it seemed like he was very quick to redirect when that guy slanted or stunted in the opposite direction. I thought he did a good job at the second level and climbing up to the second level in some of the combo blocks.

42:08 So I was very impressed with Hudson. He started the first preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings for the Giants. I think JMS, I think he had a concussion in training camp, so he missed a few days. And I really liked Hudson. I thought he he's got very good hip dexterity. He does a great job reaching to the right and the left. His lateral movement is really good.

42:30 So I thought he looked natural. You would not have thought watching that game that that was his first start.

42:35 Yeah, and I saw one highlight, and how difficult is it for a center, Sean, is that I saw one highlight where people were doing a little bit of a breakdown of Hudson at center where he engaged the defensive tackle and then was quickly able to get to the second.

42:51 Level and get to the linebackers. How difficult is that for a center?

42:54 Yeah, I mean, that's a big part of it. You're kind of combo blocking with one of your guards, and you're either chipping him on your way up to the backer or pushing him over, and The key is when you get up to that backer, you've got to have some power too. So I think you've got to bring your feet and you've got to be a good athlete.

43:09 There's sometimes when you're just trying to take a little bit and you're chipping up and you've got to take that linebacker on an angle. So that's when you've got to be a good athlete. But I think he does a great job of keeping his hips square when he does get up to the second level. He looked really good.

43:22 I think JMS is probably a little more physical. He's definitely bigger. I think JMS is probably a little more impactful in the run game. But it's like downhill running with JMS. JMS's forte is not perimeter runs, getting to the second level. I'm going to reach block this wide defensive tackle. That's really not his forte, whereas I think Hudson, he's got a little more range from that aspect. He's not as heavy-handed, but I think there's ways that you can combat that. I did it my whole career. I was considered an undersized center.

43:58 Yeah.

43:59 You just have to get really good with your hands. You got to get really crafty. And sometimes you got to just go right to the trachea. You just got to use that as part of your weapons.

44:05 But make sure you don't go underneath and get the penalty, right?

44:09 Yeah, don't go under the face mask. Just go right to the bottom of the throat. That slows them down real quick.

44:17 I'm sure it would.

44:18 When they can't breathe, they get worried.

44:21 I would imagine, yeah, breathing is important. I would imagine that. It's necessary.

44:24 I'd imagine that'd slow you down. Johnny Mac, who else we got? Steve, let's welcome aboard Steve on Big Blue Kickoff Live.

44:31 What's going on, Steve? Hey, what's going on, Moose?

44:33 Sean, how you guys doing?

44:34 Good, Steve. How you doing, buddy?

44:37 Doing great. Lifelong Giants fan. Really excited about the start of the season. Unfortunately, of course, we lost our starting quarterback and Burns, but I wanted to talk about Winston here. We hear about the Jameis experience on the news and everything. The three touchdowns were beautiful, but the two interceptions I wanted to pinpoint You know, one of them I saw likely was, you know, going in on a short route there, and I think Mooney was going, and he just threw it right to the corner back there for the safety. And, you know, how do you correct those wrongs on those mistakes?

45:13 Because I think we're getting J.J. You know, we want to get him also learning the offense. And, you know, now that Jameis is a starting quarterback, you know, how are we going to be able to correct those wrongs?

45:26 And.

45:28 Yeah, I just wanted to see, you know, what do you guys think about, you know, the Giants outlook looking forward, moving forward with the team. I love the coaching. I'm really excited about the season, and I'll take this out the air.

45:40 Well, I mean, Steve, you have to be excited. I mean, you've got to be smiling year to year if you're a Giant fan. with the start to this season. And you've got another game on Sunday that, you know, that is a winnable game against the Washington Commanders. As far as, and I might be wrong, Sean, it seemed like on the interception that he was referencing, there seemed to be a little bit of a miscommunication between Jameis and his wide receiver to where I thought he thought likely was going to sit down in the zone and he didn't.

46:08 And that's what led to that interception. But I do think, and listen, Winston, you can, I mean, was unbelievably gifted coming out of Florida state, won a national championship, everything like that for what Jimbo Fisher and everything. And you look at what he was able to do and what he's been done in the national football league. The thing that has been a hindrance to Jameis Winston over the course of his entire career is, has been turnovers. I mean, that's it. It was down in Tampa. It has been throughout the course of his career. It has been turning the football over, and you got the full experience on Sunday.

46:40 The Giants were able to come away with the win against the Arizona Cardinals.

46:44 Believe me, he's not trying to throw.

46:46 Interceptions, and he wants to take care of the football, but I think some of those miscommunications, if they are there, will go away with the more chemistry he develops with his wide receivers.

46:55 Yeah, listen, Jameis, you go back to he's drafted by the Bucs. He has an unbelievable year. He throws for over 5,000 yards, 33 touchdowns, and I think like 30 interceptions.

47:06 Exactly right.

47:07 So it was like he led the league in touchdowns that year and also interceptions. And look, he's honest with himself. We've heard People talk to him and they say, like, why aren't you a starter? He's like, I know I'm not a starter because of the turnovers. Like, that's why I'm not a starting quarterback in the NFL right now.

47:24 Of course, now he is due to injury. But I think for Jameis, you know, there have been times where I feel like he's a little gun shy to throw the ball because he is so worried about throwing the interception. Like, he knows it and he's very guarded with it. I thought he was excellent in the preseason at protecting the ball.

47:41 There are some times when you throw the ball into tight windows and you hope your receiver makes a good play. And there's times in a game when that's okay. It's okay to be aggressive, but you've got to minimize the risk. With regard to the interception that he's talking about to likely, I didn't see any miscommunication with the receiver. I saw a bad throw.

48:01 Okay.

48:02 Jameis completely missed him. He had both guys open. He had likely running.

48:07 And he threw in the middle of both.

48:08 Yeah, and he threw at him in the middle. I think he was trying to hit likely, and I think he overthrew it because I think he was trying to get over that forehand. first level defender and I think he overthrew likely but he also had Mooney I think it was Mooney I don't know if it was Mooney or Malachi Fields on top of him who was wide open too so if he had put more air on it he could have completed it up top as well but the ball was thrown right to the defender I think he overthrew likely that's one of those things where you know I think it's just a miss and sometimes I think when Jameis does miss he misses high like that's kind of been his miss and he also had an overthrow earlier in the game because he kind of

48:48 stepped up in the pocket. And a lot of times as a quarterback, when you step up, it's almost like a crow hop. It puts a little more juice on the ball. And I think that's just kind of where that was. So, you know, I think Jameis, there was a couple throws I'm sure he wishes he had back and he could be more accurate. Some of that's footwork.

49:05 You know, it's not his arm. He's got plenty of arm.

49:07 The arm is still there. Some of the Aaron throws you've seen where, you know, he does have his feet set.

49:13 Yeah, I think it's, you know, and he tends to spray it when he throws into the ball, which some quarterbacks do, but I think that's just kind of, those are things that he can correct and he can fix. But look, there's guys open. He sees it. He knows he's got to get the ball to them. Some of it's timing, some of it's accuracy.

49:30 Yeah, and listen, he's going to get another opportunity Sunday against the Washington Commanders. It's so awesome that the Giants are 3-1 in first place in the NFC East. And I haven't even hit you about the cookies yesterday.

49:40 The Victory Monday cookies. How many did you have?

49:44 I had one.

49:45 One?

49:45 I had one. I only had one.

49:47 Do you not know how this works? You have to eat the same amount as you did the week before.

49:50 No, I understand that. I can't. I'm asking you about workouts before we hop on the airwaves today.

49:56 You've got to keep your end of the bargain up. You were supposed to eat two cookies.

49:59 I understand that. I didn't.

50:01 Next week, I'll eat two if the Giants are victorious against the Commanders on Sunday. Now, I had a little bit of a, you know, Schmelt came in before the show yesterday and was eating one already, and it was the s'mores cookie.

50:13 Oh, those are my favorites.

50:14 Which was.

50:15 That's next level.

50:16 Which was amazing. Like, it was an amazing.

50:20 So that's the one you had?

50:21 That's the one I had the s'mores.

50:22 Okay, all right. That makes sense.

50:23 It was an amazing cookie. It had marshmallow, the graham, chocolate. It was just... You know, I already had the chocolate chip the week before. I had the s'mores cookie yesterday. It was.

50:33 Schmelke built it up, and John was dead on correct.

50:36 It was a fantastic cookie.

50:39 The s'mores... I mean, you can't go wrong with s'mores. I love regular s'mores, but the s'more cookie... Yeah. It's like you're blending a cookie with the actual s'more treat. I mean, that's heaven. That's heaven in a circle.

50:52 Now, you have not been here on Tuesday for Victory Cookies yet.

50:55 No, I feel I'm missing out.

50:56 Now, next week, do you want me to save some for you and bring it in?

51:00 No, I think it's worth the trip.

51:01 You got to come in for them.

51:01 I think I got to find a way to get in here.

51:02 You got to come in. You got to get in here. I mean, you got to put down the electrolytes. I know you're working out. You've got the hot yoga. I'm not scared of cookies. You're down about 70, 75 pounds from your playing day. You look like basically you just stepped out of the gym. That's why I feel bad about talking about eating cookies in front of you.

51:20 What's the point of working out if you can't have a cookie? I'm definitely going to have a cookie.

51:23 I think you eat very clean.

51:25 I try to eat clean, and then because I eat clean, I can have a cookie.

51:30 Next Tuesday.

51:32 Next Tuesday.

51:32 Date.

51:32 Next Tuesday. Game on. You got to be here.

51:34 Game on.

51:35 We got to share a cookie.

51:36 But I want a s'mores cookie. I definitely want that.

51:37 I don't know if that's going to be it. That was the first time I've seen a s'mores.

51:40 I'll settle for chocolate chip.

51:42 The chocolate chip, that seems to be a staple.

51:43 They had the sugar cookie, the red velvet, and they had the s'mores, which was, I think the week previous, they had the double chocolate, which I didn't go with.

51:50 Yeah, I'll take the s'mores over the double chocolate.

51:52 And then one of the chefs in the kitchen were saying that all the cookies, they've gone through trays upon trays of cookies. Everyone was enjoying them. Giants are 3-1, Sean.

52:01 As they should.

52:02 When you look at this game on Sunday, well, give me some keys against the commanders. Obviously, your old coach, Tom Coughlin, would say you've got to take care of the football. Outside of the turnover battle, Sean, you know, if that's even or if the Giants are plus one, plus two, you're going to probably end up on the right side.

52:19 Of the scoreboard at the end of it.

52:20 But what are you looking for the Giants to accomplish Sunday to walk out of Maryland with a victory?

52:25 Yeah, I think for the Giants, you know, it's offensively, it's the same kind of mindset. Like we've got to be physical up front. I think Washington's got a really good defensive line. They've got a good front. So this will be a big challenge. I still... I still don't feel like we've played a great game running the football.

52:44 There's too many yards being left out there. And, you know, it's a combination of things, you know, on, on one or two plays, it's Cam Scadaboo, not hitting, not pouring it up in the gap. He's kind of, he's, he's bouncing it outside. So we've lost some yardage there. You know, there's been a couple of times where there's been a little bit of a leak and, and up front, somebody kind of shows color and it scares the running back into, into a cutback. So they're, They still have not had that, like, man, we hit every hole and we're just humming. So I think there's still a lot of room for improvement in the running game. There was a screen play to Isaiah Likely last week that would have been a touchdown, and

53:22 the ball kind of got tipped as Jameis kind of tried to lob it to him. And those are the type of plays you look at and you're like, man, if we hit on those, like, we could have easily scored 30 points. So I think this game, you know, offensively, the challenge is start fast. Get up on this Washington Commanders team and force them to have to throw the football.

53:39 You know, Terry McLaurin, he was kind of banged up.

53:43 Didn't play last week in London.

53:45 So I think he'll probably be back. You know, obviously, Stefan Diggs is there. I'm not sure what his status was.

53:52 I don't know if he's... No, I think he's good to go.

53:54 But those are, I mean, those are two stud receivers. You know, Stefan Diggs can still get open. He's very physical. Terry McLaurin, I feel like, has always done a good job against us. He's kind of their bell cow. So You know, the question really defensively is who's in a quarterback? You know, if it is Jane Daniels, now he presents a whole lot of different problems. You know, are they going to be a little gun-shy running him and calling quarterback design runs if that's his first game back? Probably.

54:19 But he can scramble. And I think the scrambles, you know, we've played Jane Daniels, you know, twice the last couple of years. And the one thing that I feel like has happened is we've gotten pressure. Somebody, you know, looks like they've got him dead to rights. And he finds a way to squirt out. Like he's very slippery. Um, so I think that's defensively contain him. And when you get a chance, if you got a chance to sack them, make sure you get them down. Don't let them squirt out. Um, but I think the turnovers have been big. If they, if defense can keep that up, I think that's huge.

54:48 Yeah. And, and listen, I, I, I think all of that for sure. Go out there.

54:52 If you can win, get, get yourself to two and O here in the NFC East. Um, it would be, it would be an awesome accomplishment early on here and continue kind of cement home. Sean, what we were talking about earlier, uh, You know, it's one thing to have the intent, the accountability. When the results follow, you get more and more buy-in from your players. And then the players are willing to go above and beyond and do a little bit extra. Because, you know, I used to do a lot of shows. Your old live mate, David Deal, on WFAN, right? And he said there was nothing like Vitamin W. and what it does for a team. And this Giants team and this organization has not felt like that in quite some time in a number of years.

55:30 And now you look at this team, they're off to a three in one start and you continue to get more and more buy-in to where you start to do a little bit more above and beyond because you want to continue to have that feeling moving forward.

55:41 Yeah.

55:42 And I think that's, you know, it kind of gives you a little bounce to your step.

55:45 Yeah.

55:46 You know, when you're winning, it's like, hey, Tuesday's an off day, but you know what? I'm going to go in and I'm going to do some extra stuff. I'm going to get in the cold tub. I'm going to, you know, get some extra treatment, stay ahead of things. And it's kind of like everybody looks forward to being in the building. And then Wednesday you come in and you got to pep to your step because you're like, all right, hey, let's go get another one. The key is once you start winning games, don't lose sight of what got you there, right? You're putting in all that extra work. Don't all of a sudden now think, all right, hey, we're a good team. We're three and one. We're winning games.

56:13 We don't have to watch the film that we did. We don't have to put in that time. You know, you've still got to be humble enough to prepare, which is another Coughlinism. Um, but I, I think that's really the biggest thing. You know, sometimes the hardest thing to do is when you're having success and people are patting you on the back to make sure you're, you're still keeping up with all the things that you need to do, um, to get there. Um, I, I think the big factor that we kind of saw show up late in that game was the pass rush started getting home. and the impact that that has. So I think that in this game could be very big.

56:45 Yeah, making sure to contain Jaden Daniels. If it's not a design run where he's not beating you with those scrambles. Last one for you, Sean, would be, you know, we've referenced Tom Coughlin a lot here. You've been around this team with John Harbaugh throughout the course of training camp on a weekly basis and know this organization backwards and forwards and good relationship with the head coach.

57:05 What's the similarities? When you look at Coughlin and I know they're friends, but.

57:09 Is there a trait, a characteristic to where, you know, good coaches find ways to win games. The Giants found ways to beat Tennessee and Arizona. Bad coaches find ways to lose games. Is there a characteristic or trait when you look at Coughlin, when you look at Harbaugh that is similar in nature, anything like I understand they're very attention oriented, attention detailed, cross the T's, dot the I's.

57:33 Is there anything else?

57:34 I think they're both very good on the mental toughness aspect of like focusing on the things that are important and not letting other things distract you. That's obviously Coach Coughlin was very big on being mentally tough, you know, and the discipline of doing what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it, those type of things.

57:54 But I think Coach Harbaugh, the one thing I always appreciated about Coach Coughlin was He would tell you what you're doing well or what you're not doing well. He didn't pull any punches. He wouldn't lie to you. Here's what you need to get better at. And I think as a player, I always appreciated that. Like, all right, these are the things that we need to improve on, and that's what coaching is. Coach Coffey used to have a quote up in the team meeting room on the back wall, and you'd look at it every day. Coaching is making men do what they don't want to do so they can become the men that they want to become.

58:23 That's a great line.

58:24 And it's, I remember the first time I read it, I'm like, that's a dumb quote. Making us do what we don't want to do.

58:30 We want to win. What are you talking about?

58:32 It's like, yeah, okay, dummy. It's not that.

58:34 Success lies in the being uncomfortable. Yeah.

58:36 It's like, everybody wants to win, but here's what it takes to win. Are you willing to do that? And people will be like, oh, I don't know if I want to do that. I want to win, but do I want to do all that? So that's what it was. It was like coaching, coaching, good coaching is making men do what they don't want to do so they can become the players that they want to become. And that's, I think where you kind of see that, I think Coach Arbaugh is frank with the guys. Like, hey, look, this is how we're going to win the games. And if you don't do this, then you're going to lose the games. And I think he's also established a good trust with the players that, like, if you're not playing well, I think he's going to come up and tell you

59:08 this is what you need to do better.

59:09 Yeah. And listen, you appreciate honesty.

59:11 And that's the worst, because the worst thing as a player has got to be if you're being told, hey, you're great, you're great, you're great.

59:16 And then all of a sudden you're no longer starting. They're like, oh, you should have been done doing this, should have been doing that. And it was like, well, why didn't you tell me?

59:22 Yeah.

59:22 I wish I knew that two weeks ago.

59:23 I know. Hey, Sean, I had a blast.

59:25 This was great. Always a good time, man.

59:27 Johnny Mac, you guys on the phones as well. That does it for this Wednesday edition of Big Blue Kickoff Live. Hopefully, I think the Giants get themselves to 4-1.

59:34 Do you? Absolutely.

59:35 Let's do it.

59:36 Let's do it. Victory cookies. Victory cookies. I want some more. If Sean... We want some more. We want some more. We all want some more. There's no doubt about it. And I'll eat two next week if the Giants win on Sunday. Utah. That's it. Give me two. Give me two. The meatball subs. They're beautiful. Anyway, enjoy your Wednesday. Back with you tomorrow at noon for another edition of Big Blue Kickoff Live.