That was a tough game for us to lose. I thought we had some chances and had some opportunities; obviously we didn’t take advantage of the two point plays. We had some dropped balls that hurt us. I thought David Carr played well for his part in the game. We had some big plays, and yet, we dropped some big plays. We had two turnovers, which hurt us. We kicked some field goals that should have been points on the board, in terms of touchdowns, we were in position to do that. I was disappointed in that. I thought we played hard. We obviously made some errors, but on the other hand, we had a chance right there at the end to do something about it and we didn’t quite get that done. I saw some things that gave me some encouragement.
Q. What did you learn about your receivers tonight?
A. I learned that there were some inconsistencies, obviously, and we can’t have that. We had some opportunities for big plays that we didn’t convert. We dropped balls, so that has to improve. I thought Hakeem Nicks played well. I thought he made some plays, he created some opportunities for us to see him and his contribution and how he might be utilized. Manningham had a couple of plays, but then he dropped a ball there on the sideline late in the game. We just keep working, what can I tell you?
Q. How did Brandon Jacobs come out with the forearm injury? Did he leave the game because he was hurt?
A. He was fine. He played up until that point and he was to be replaced at that point. The x-rays were negative.
Q. Your receivers have not had many drops in most of your practices. How concerning is it that they had the drops tonight?
A. Obviously it’s very concerning. You are competitive, you’re in a game situation, you would like to see none of that happen. I am sure once they see this on tape they’ll recognize the opportunities that they had. Of course, that could have been the difference in a game with that score. That could have been a difference.
Q. Defensively, how far does the unit need to go to get where you want it to be?
A. We are not anywhere near where we need to be. I think we did a little bit better, I didn’t see the stats, but I think we did a little bit better against the run, although I may be wrong there. We didn’t get the pressure on the quarterback that we would have liked to have. We gave up some plays in the secondary that we just shouldn’t give up. The one touchdown on the crossing pattern should not have happened. It was a heck of a play by the young quarterback just to stay alive, but the receiver never should have been that open.
Q. (Steve) Smith said something earlier in the camp about catching balls over his shoulder. Has he expressed that to you? Is that something you guys are working on?
A. He is working on that, and it did happen once in training camp, too. We weren’t able to bring it in. He started to catch the ball over there and I am sure there will be more.
Q. What is the issue there?
A. I am not sure what the issue is. I’m going to take a hard look at it.
Q. Is this the game at this point in the preseason where you hold your breath injury-wise?
A. They have to play, let’s face it. We gear them up, bring them into these games, they’ve got to go play. You do have that in the back of your mind always, particularly as a head coach. Then again, you are trying to get ready for the season. It is a very fine line, but the guys have got to play themselves into top flight competitive ability and there is only one way to do that.
Q. You were able to get your first string offensive line out there tonight for the first half. How pleased were you with what you saw?
A. I think that it was good. From a continuity standpoint it was very good that we got a chance to play. I think we will see some things that we could have done and improved upon. But just getting those guys to play together, communicate, let the quarterback work with them, let them communicate back and forth about protections, that is all good stuff. We needed that badly, we haven’t had that.
Q. Sinorice Moss didn’t get involved in the offense. Any reason why he wasn’t involved?
A. No, we wanted to take a good look with those two young guys, so we tried to create that scenario for ourselves. We had a good, long hard evaluation of those couple of rookies and Manningham.
Q. Since Eli (Manning) only had 91 yards passing while he was in there, might you have to play him a little more or will you play him at all next week?
A. We’ll see, we’ll see, we’ll see. I thought the first drive was a good drive. The rally drive was a good drive. He stuck a couple balls in there. The big post ball, you’re not going to throw it any better than that. You add another 70 yards, and then get the pencil out and subtract it.
Q. It seems like that play kind of unraveled things?
A. No, I don’t know if it unraveled things. I wouldn’t say that. You are talking about being in the hole. Now, all of a sudden, you’re at least at plus-forty, maybe down inside the 20, who knows.
Q. Last year, a bunch of times you were asked about the tempo offense, about starting games with it. Why today did you start with it?
A. Well we have worked on it. I have kind of been excited about it. I wanted to see that in action during the preseason and so it became one of those situational objectives.
Q. Was the plan to play David (Carr) so much in the second half?
A. Yeah, sure.
Q. Danny Ware?
A. I don’t know. Danny has played well for us. He just got nicked up, but I am not sure what it is.