Here is some of what the New York Giants were saying after Monday night's disappointing 17-3 loss to the New York Jets.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin assessed both the good and the bad of what he saw.
"We did some decent things in the first half. The two interceptions and the long kickoff return but our defense played solid football. The turnover thing hurt us and the kick returns hurt us," Coughlin said. "I was happy with the way the defense played."
Coughlin on the two interceptions by quarterback Eli Manning.
"The first one was a blitz and we didn't get a sight adjustment by either the tight end or the Z. Unfortunately there was no time for him to do anything about it and he threw the ball and it was picked off. The second one, I don't think he saw the linebacker at all," Coughlin said. "I'm not concerned. Would I have liked to have done better? Yeah. I'd like to think that we would have put some points on the board. Until tonight, he's been very good with the ball; very conservative with the ball."
Here is how Manning assessed the interceptions
"One was fourth down. Had a good blitz on and tried to hang in there and wait for Victor [Cruz] to open up. It just took a little longer than expected, but one of those deals," Manning said. "You don't want to throw it away or take a sack in that situation. Tried to time it out and it looks like the ball may have floated on me a little bit.
"The next one, they had a good blitz on again. Tried to back-shoulder Ahmad [Bradshaw], but the linebacker played it pretty well. That one's on me. Just have to throw it away, make a better decision right there."
Manning makes a fair point about the first pick having come on fourth down. He has no choice but to try to squeeze the ball in somewhere. He simply made a bad throw.
Running back Brandon Jacobs on the fact that the offense could not generate a touchdown.
"We're close, I mean we have just got to get a few things knocked out, you know the little mistakes we made during the game. Like I said, it's not like they stopped us. Everyone could see, everyone in the stadium, everyone watching on TV, they could not stop us, we stopped ourselves," Jacobs said. "Not taking anything away from them, they are a good football team, good coaching, it's just that we can do better."
By the way, I'm sure Jacobs was asked after the game about his scuffle with Muhammad Wilkerson of the Jets. Nothing about it on the transcript we were provided with, though. Disappointing.
Giants center David Baas, also on the lack of points.
"We have to correct some things. We really slowed ourselves down. That is basically the point right there. We were moving the ball and doing some good things," Baas said. "There are some good things to take away from this game. We have to learn from it and move on. It's frustrating because we did some good things but we just didn't score points."
Long snapper Zak DeOssie on the poor special teams play.
"It's important to keep in mind it's the preseason. We have the young kids out there and we're trying to learn it. It's the preseason and we have to learn from it," DeOssie said. "The way we played last week and the way we played this week, it's up and down and we have to be more consistent than that."
Well ... the point is a lot of those young guys are going to be on the team and on the coverage units. Jerrel Jernigan on punt returns? That's another story.
Justin Tuck on the state of the injury-depleted Giants defense.
"I think we're pretty ready. Considering the injuries we've had and the guys we've brought in and things of that nature, I feel as though we're flying around, and we showed some great things," Tuck said. "Once we get to game planning a team like we will, watching them, for that first game, you'll see us really get a whole lot more comfortable with our schemes, and fly around. That's the only thing I ask from my defenses, no matter what the call is, just make sure you're running fast and I think in preseason we've done that."