"I don't worry about our schedule, I feel like our schedule needs to worry about us."
The quote above came from Antrel Rolle on Wednesday when the New York Giants' talkative safety was asked about the difficult of the team's remaining schedule. There are times that I cringe when Rolle speaks, but this is not one of them.
This I loved.
This is a player simply expressing confidence in his team. Rolle is not calling anyone out, being critical of any of the Giants' opponents or guaranteeing a victory on Sunday against the New England Patriots. He simply found an entirely appropriate way of expressing his belief in the Giants. It's the same reason I had no problem with Eli Manning saying he believes he is a top 5 quarterback. You want players to believe in themselves, and their team.
Now for some other news and notes about the Giants this morning.
Eli: No regrets about 'honest answer' | New York Daily News
Manning still has no regrets about the bold statement he made on the radio in August that set up a storyline for his entire season. In hindsight, he said, he was simply being "honest" when he said he was a Top 5 quarterback who belonged in Tom Brady’s class.
"I’m usually not into the business of ranking and rating quarterbacks and comparing myself to other guys," Manning said Wednesday on a conference call with the New England media. "Looking back, I thought I gave an honest answer, and I don’t regret anything."
Giants' Kenny Phillips echoes Rolle's confidence | NJ.com
"I mean, we’re not really worried about what the outside people feel about us," Phillips said. "We definitely feel like we’re a good team and we play for each other, we play for our coaches. Whatever’s being said, we really don’t care.
"But if we win this, which I feel we will, the outside world will say the Giants are now a great team."
Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger top QBs so far this season - Jim Trotter - SI.com
My Take: Look at these and you find Manning No. 8 on the list. I can't disparage anyone in front of him, but I have a hard time believing seven quarterbacks have played better than Manning this season.
NFL Season Midway Predictions: Can Anyone Take Down The Pack? - SBNation.com
Who are your playoff teams for the 2011 season? Here we''ll break down every division and predict who comes out on top.
NFL News Updates - CBSSports.com RapidReports
Rookie MLB Greg Jones made five solo tackles (including one for a loss) while starting last Sunday, but admitted he made several mistakes. "When you get in there for the first time in a long time, you don’t have a good feel," he said. "I had to get that back a little." Jones split play-calling duties with WLB Michael Boley.
My take: The interesting thing is that Jones played 34 snaps after having played only a total of eight snaps in the previous two games. Fellow rookie Jacquian Williams did not play at all after having played 45 snaps in the previous game against Buffalo. That tells you a lot about where the Giants' coaching staff feels some of the breakdowns in run defense have been coming from -- not that it helped against Miami.