Q: What was wrong with Jacquian Williams?
A: Coughlin: He did step in something and then his hip is sore. They sent him in and they X-rayed him. I don’t think there’s anything to it but they didn’t let him go today.
Q: What about Will Beatty?
A: Coughlin: His back was bothering him.
Q: Is that more precautionary than…
A: No. He was kind of slowing down a little bit. So I think they’re going to look at that.
Q: Got a little more action out of the two-minute drill today. Is that pleasing to you?
A: The execution wasn’t… Watch out what you ask for. It wasn’t as good as I thought it… Well you know, it was the second group. It’s all new to a lot of those guys.
Q: You put such a high value on practice, the fact that Ahmad Bradshaw now practices everyday for the first time in a very long time, how much more sharp do you think he’ll be when it comes time to play?
A: He’ll be real sharp. Now obviously the opportunity for him to practice, he hasn’t been able to do that for any number of years. I think it’s going to make a big difference for him. If we can get through this period, and him being here every practice, focusing every practice, being able to go through some plays full speed.
Q: You did everything you could to get him to the games, did you see a little bit of rust sometimes because of his "non-practice?"
A: No, not a lot, but occasionally. Just a little bit here, a little bit there. Just didn’t see it the way you say it kind of stuff.
Q: When you signed Herzlich last year, sort of a "feel good" story, the kid who was coming back from cancer. When you look back on it, do you think you may have gotten a steal out of this?
A: We said that in the very beginning. We thought that last year might’ve been one of those years for him, and then he made our team, rather than our practice squad. That was a real plus. We really felt that with a year under his belt, and a chance to be in the offseason program, that this would be an opportunity for him to really come in and know what he’s doing, and be the player that we all think he can be. So far he hasn’t disappointed.
Q: How do you convince a team that won the Super Bowl after being 9-7 that 9-7 isn’t going to be good enough to do it again this year?
A: Well, I didn’t put it that way. What I did was go through what we call a worst to best and show the way down and it took a long time to get to the things that were good. We covered all of that and the goal is to improve all of those areas so that we might start faster, sustain, and then finish. I don’t want to forget the word finish.
Q: How do you get guys to focus? There’s always naturally in any sport, when a team’s won a championship --?
A: These guys have been good about that. I’ve seen good focus on the jog throughs and good leadership. The right things are being said and I think that they’ve been very good about that. The frustration that you have as a coach is that it’s been seven practices and you’re wishing that it was looking like it was in February and it’s not going to happen. There are so many new people.
Q: How do you see Ahmad stepping up into this leadership role? What skills do you see in him as the veteran?
A: He’s always been a competitive guy. I really enjoy that aspect of it. The games, the competition, the challenges, that type of thing. I think he’s real good at converting that into, whether it’s a practice or… I think it comes from the maturity level. He had a good spring, last spring. He’s on the field now in the fall. Those are real strong elements that help a guy, more than just when he plays on game day.
Q: He’s never really been in a mentor role. How is he doing with David Wilson? Do you see a relationship there?
A: I’m not sure about that yet. I’m sure he’s advising, and they’re in the meetings together all day long. So, there isn’t any question that he’s helping. I think if David’s smart, he’ll take a little bit more of that.
Q: What do you think about Will Hill’s performance so far?
A: He’s played pretty well. He’s played well. I’d like to see him… We look forward to seeing him play and competing in the preseason games, on special teams and defensively.