Coughlin Corner: Coach looking for continued improvement

After four games what are the New York Giants? Are they the mistake-prone team that lost their first two games? Are they the juggernaut that rolled to two victories over four days this week?

"I see us 2-2. ... For a couple of weeks we're told that we're not very good, etc., etc., and we don't believe that. We've battled our way, at least right now, into a 2-2 season and we've got to continue that attitude about having a chip on our shoulder and having a lot to prove," head coach Tom Coughlin said Friday. "I do know this, in order to accomplish what we would like to, the improvement meter has got to go up weekly and hopefully we can continue to do that."

Here are some of Coughlin's other remarks from his Friday post-game press conference.

On improvements made the past two weeks ...

"When you go plus-five and you're playing with the lead, you're forcing people to try to play catch-up. Sometimes good things happen and in this case, to become plus-five in one game I thought was outstanding. I think one of the things that I would share with you is in the last two games combined, we've had 10 drives start in the opponent's territory, six touchdowns and two field goals, and the opponent has started zero drives in our territory, which tells you a little bit of something about doing a better job with ball security, taking care of the ball and then also on the other hand, the takeaways have improved tremendously in the last two weeks."

On Eli Manning ...

"There isn't any doubt that he is growing in confidence in the system."

On Trumaine McBrdie ...

"He's had a very good season coming off of a very good season for him, so we knew we could count on him and he's going to have to continue to be in that role."

On the passing game ...

"The protection has been good for the most part the last couple of weeks and certainly we've benefitted from that because Eli has had time to recognize his keys and make a decision on his progression. He's gone there very well and of course last night he was very accurate in terms of his over-the-shoulder throws, his back shoulder throws, so I see a lot of those things coming together and am very hopeful that we can continue to make progress."

On the status of Jon Beason ...

"We want to be able to utilize his talents and his ability when he can help his team. He does have an injury that we have to deal with and we're going to have to take a look at this on a weekly basis."

On when the Giants realized Larry Donnell could become an exceptional player ...

"We've always had that in the back of our minds because of his athleticism. Grooming him into being the all-purpose tight end, there's a lot of responsibilities there. There's a lot to have to accomplish, the blocking part of it, the knowledge of the game, the routes and how to run them from that inside position against defenders, whether they be big, strong linebacker types, safety types, whatever it might be. There's a young, inexperienced player that's eager to learn and has athleticism, has speed, has outstanding hands, so we've always had a high level of expectation for this player and how he can develop. He's gotten started along those lines. There's a long way to go, but it doesn't change what we think this player can be."