Kevin Gilbride: Struggling offense leaves him 'miserable'

It's hardly a secret that the New York Giants, usually a powerful offensive team, have struggled the past two weeks. After watching his team score only seven points in two games offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride didn't even let a reporter finish a question Thursday about what it's like to go through that kind of drought, finishing the reporter's query by saying "is it miserable? Yes."

"You work 80 to 100 hours a week trying to put together a plan that gives your guys a chance to be successful and then, more importantly, you work with them to help them out on the field and through the meetings," Gilbride said. "When things don't work well, it's very disappointing, so you ask yourself, what do I do next? Let's try this, let's adjust here, let's continue to develop them with their technique, their craft, their knowledge."

Gilbride was asked if the offense has to "stay the course or do you change things up."

"I think you make some adaptations. You do modify, we've been modifying every week because we've had to change personnel, we haven't had the same group yet. If you change too much, you thought you made mistakes before, you make even more mistakes," Gilbride said. "There's no question you do more efficiently the things that you've done more often. That's why our two-minute drill is always nearly a copy. We do basically the same stuff. You have no choice when you lose certain guys, you have to adjust because your whole thing is what can your guys do? Each guy can do certain things better than others. When that guy is gone and the next guy goes in, you say, what can he do, still staying within the parameters of our offense, so we don't confuse or drag down everybody else. It is a challenge. There is no question about it."

The veteran offensive coordinator addressed a number of other topics. Here is some of what he said.

On whether or not David Wilson is ready for an expanded role with Da'Rel Scott having been waived:

"We hope so. Certainly that’s why he was drafted and that’s what we’re looking forward to. Like all of the new guys we have, David is one of many that they continue to progress far enough where we cut down on the mistakes, give ourselves the best possible chance of winning.  Right now, we’re still making too many errors and not making enough plays."

On whether or not there is anything the Giants can rely on offensively right now:

"I think if we give the quarterback time, I think very confidently he'll throw the ball well and give our guys a chance. I think we are getting better in the running game. The last two weeks, as bad as it's been, it's been improving and it's something we're looking for to see continued development with. I think we're headed in the right direction. Unfortunately it's been painfully slow."

On the challenge of play-calling when nothing seems to be working:

"It's a challenge because you have to keep plugging away. What can your guys do? I think the thing that has been encouraging, yet disappointing, is you see glimpses, so you say we have a shot here," Gilbride said. "We're just not stringing enough of them together and that's what we have to get better at. That's that consistency thing and that's where if you can keep doing the same things over and over, you're going to limit or reduce the number of errors and you have a much better chance of stringing together those eight to 10-play drives."

On what the offense can do to improve:

"I think we all have to do everything better. The runners have to run better, the blockers have to block better. I have to call better. That’s all of us," Gilbride said. "We have too many self-induced errors and I think if we can cut down on those things, we’ll be good."

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