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Giants offense shows 'a sign of progress' against Jets

The Giants have a long way to go before becoming a smooth, efficient offense. They did, however, take a step forward Friday night.

Rueben Randle celebrates a touchdown catch
Rueben Randle celebrates a touchdown catch
Rich Schultz

The New York Giants entered Friday night's preseason game vs. the New York Jets looking for progress with their first-team offense. While the effort was far from perfect, they did get some.

"That last drive in the first half was very welcomed, obviously. It put the score at 10 - 7, but it also gave us the idea that we could move the ball," head coach Tom Coughlin said.

Coughlin was referring to the 11-play, 91-yard, 1:48 drive that Eli Manning punctuated with a  15-yard scoring pass to Rueben Randle.

Manning completed 12-of-21 passes for 139 yards and the touchdown. He was sacked twice, fumbled twice and was hit far too often. Coughlin felt good about what he saw from Manning.

"He re-established himself as a tough customer tonight because he got drilled a few times and bounced right back up and made plays," Coughlin said. "You never want to see him hit, but he got hit and he got back up and made some plays down the stretch at the end of the half."

Manning thought the Giants play on offense was "definitely a sign of progress."

"I thought there were some good things. We still have to get better," Manning said. "There are still too many mistakes and too many times we are having a penalty or a sack or something that just keeps us instead of going forward, we were going backwards on some plays and you get bad down and distance."

The biggest issue for the Giants Friday was pass protection. The Giants ran the ball well, though, with Rashad Jennings averaging 5.2 yards on 13 carries, got the ball to Victor Cruz a few times and did protect Manning well enough to put together that end-of-the-half scoring drive.

"I think it was progress. I definitely do," Coughlin said.

Was it enough progress for you, Giants fans?