Tom Coughlin, 12.31.09

Q:  You felt the need to sign Rhett Bomar and Sha’reff Rashad?

A:  Well, to be honest with you, when the unfortunate – I call it an accident – we were almost through with practice when Chris Canty hurt his medial collateral.  It kind of changed some things because of the numbers.  We needed some help.  So we wanted to get some guys in here that could help us practice.  And so we did a couple of things yesterday in advance of the end of the week.

Q:  He is out for Sunday?

A:  Yes, yeah, he is out.

Q:  Are the guys that you signed from the practice squad guys that you wanted to protect anyway?

A:  Yes, we want back, sure. 

Q:  That insures that, obviously.

A:  Yes.

Q:  Is Canty an MCL – nothing major?

A:  Yes, thank goodness.

Q:  Did Justin Tuck work today?

A:  No, he did not.

Q:  Does he have an injury?

A:  No, he came in this morning and his knee was sore and swollen.  So we’ll try to help him get to the game.

Q:  Do you think he will play Sunday?

A:  I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Q:  Are Corey Webster and Kareem McKenzie not playing Sunday?

A:  I’m not going to go that far.  I’m just going to say they are not practicing; they did not practice.

Q:  With Ahmad Bradshaw, is it the usual?

A:  Yes, he is going to work tomorrow.

Q:  We didn’t get a chance to talk to Chris Canty yesterday.  What exactly happened?

A:  He was in the line of play and one of the guys coming off got kind of shoved a little bit and tripped and went into the side of his leg.

Q:  You said at the beginning of the week your goal was to get the spirits up.  Have you sensed anything yet?

A:  Yeah, I think it was a good day today.  I think they practiced well.  I think they wanted to.  I think they had good enthusiasm.  They were happy to be out here practicing.  This is a good time for me, too, to be out here practicing.  But I did think that we had good energy today. 

Q:  You said last week when asked about threatening guys’ jobs and things like that, you said, "I don’t want to stoop to that." 

A:  I don’t know if that is what I said.  It is close to what I meant.  I don’t think you need to.  I think everyone knows exactly what is going on, although it is difficult sometimes for an individual to look at himself and be totally objective. I think most of the people that are on this team are pretty good at that.  And we don’t pull any punches when we talk about the pluses, the minuses and that kind of thing.  Guys understand, they understand.  

Q:  Fred Robbins is coming to the end of his contract year.  I know there is a lot of uncertainty – even moreso this year because of the CBA – with everything.  But he is one of a handful that has been with you from the beginning here.  What kind of credit do you give him over these last couple of years for what he has done?

A:  He has been a great --- not only asset to our football team as a player --- but as a young man.  He has been just a solid guy.