Good morning, New York giants fans! Lots of newsworthy tidbits from head coach Tom Coughlin on Saturday during his conference call with reporters.
On a recovery timetable for Prince Amukamara:
"Unfortunately they’re longer than you would like them to be. Depending on how much damage there is, and how much he can tolerate. There are always some lingering effects there. We’ll see, I really don’t know, I don’t have the answer to that."
[Related: Giants Vs. Bears: What We Learned About The Giants - SB Nation New York]
Terrell Thomas recently blogged about his hope to be ready for the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. Coughlin said that isn't realistic:
"Not according to what I’m reading. No. I think you always have to give way to hope."
On whether he expects Thomas to help the Giants this year:
"These things are in the hands of the doctors. I don’t have information other than where we are. He’s been working hard with the trainers in the training room. He feels confident that his knee has improved. I can’t tell you. No one has come to me and said he’ll be ready to go by this time, no medical people. We can continue to encourage and be optimistic, but other than that, there’s not much we can do."
On the possibility of moving a safety to corner:
"We’ve done that with Antrel (Rolle) before, but I would like to leave Antrel where he is, to let him play in that spot, a spot he plays very well. I would not think that’s an option, although we’d be open to try it. Anything."
On whether the Giants would look for cornerback help before the season opens:
"Well, you’ve got a bunch of guys that you’ve worked with since day one, some played well the other night, some didn’t. I thought Michael Coe played well for the opportunity that he had. In particular, coming off of a hamstring. We knew we were going to play him, but we weren’t sure how much. He did well when he had the opportunity. We’ll always scan and look and try to find if there are people out there that can help us. It’s that time of year. It’s difficult to assess if there are people out there that can help us. We will continue to be vigilant. A lot of what has to happen has to come from the inside here."
On starting left tackle Will Beatty and his back problems:
"He’s had four good days in a row. They feel pretty good about his strength, the direction he’s headed in. He’ll probably get some individual time early in this week to see where he is, and hopefully he can tolerate that, and we can increase the workload."
On the health of defensive tackle Marvin Austin:
"He was doing well, and then he had a little setback. It’s an issue again."
On Ramses Barden's play Friday night:
"I liked the way he defined his routes, and the utilization of his hands, and the position of his hands, to make a really nice catch on a low ball, to make a really nice catch on a high ball. Secured the ball, put it away, drew a penalty which put the ball down to the one-yard line. He was also involved in two special teams, which he’s done a pretty good job with the kickoff team, and the punt return team. He contributed last night and made a strong statement."