Kevin Gilbride: Offensive struggles were unexpected

We may all have our suggestions for how to fix what has been ailing the New York Giants' passing attack, but the ideas that matter are the ones that belong to head coach Tom Coughlin and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.

Gilbride shared some of his thoughts Thursday on the recent struggles of quarterback Eli Manning and the offense, admitting that "jarring" is a good way to describe the reaction to the offense's recent difficulties.

"It wasn't something we expected to happen. We certainly appreciate the ability level of the two defenses we've played, but we thought, and expected, to perform a lot better than we did," Gilbride said. "Was it jarring? Yeah, it was. There's no question about it."

The real question, though, is what will Gilbride, Coughlin and Manning do about it?

"We're working at it. As you know, it's a continual process. You're tweaking here, tweaking there and hope that you get some things that were not performed at a high enough level, corrected," Gilbride said. "You look forward, we all are, to playing better this week than we did last week."

Gilbride answered "absolutely" when asked if he would consider some use of the no-huddle offense.

The offensive coordinator also admitted that there are times when he has been unable to call plays he believes have a chance to work because of the physical limitations of wide receiver Hakeem Nicks and running back Ahmad Bradshaw.

"You have, 'these are the plays you like,' and you like them because, A) your players perform them, and defensively, this what they're vulnerable at. The problem is now, certain guys can't do those things, even though you intellectually say, that's the way the scheme (works) and they're vulnerable. It's good, but guess what, he can't do it. Whether it's through injury or a guy that does different things well, there's no question that it impacts, no question about it," Gilbride said.

We will find out Sunday if the Giants have found some answers.