If Sunday night was his final post-game press conference as head coach of the New York Giants, Ben McAdoo wasn’t going out admitting that the 1-8 Giants had become an embarrassment.
“No,” McAdoo said flatly when asked if he was embarrassed to see his team dominated by the previously 0-9 San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
“I’m not embarrassed by this team.”
The players, though, were embarrassed.
Olivier Vernon on getting run over by the 0-9 49ers: “Embarrassing!”
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) November 13, 2017
Justin Pugh: "Lose to an 0-9 team, it doesn't get much worse than that."
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) November 13, 2017
DRC: “I’m embarrassed for us.”
— Paul Schwartz (@NYPost_Schwartz) November 13, 2017
McAdoo, though? He repeated over and over that he will have to “look at the tape.”
If co-owner John Mara is as angry as many in the Giants fan base, McAdoo will need a Game Pass subscription to get that done. The Giants haven’t made it a habit to fire coaches in-season, but the embarrassment of the past two weeks — the turmoil and the non-competitive results — might be too much.
McAdoo refused to acknowledge that there appeared to be a lack of effort from some players, especially on defense, saying “We had some fight in us and it got away from us at the end.”
The coach also refused to acknowledge that he needs to motivate players for the final seven games, saying “They’re pro football players. They need to be self-motivated. Everybody gets a paycheck this week, and we need to go out and play that way.”
Only, they aren’t. Or, at least, far too many of them aren’t. Losing is one thing, but rolling over and not trying is another.
McAdoo, though, didn’t want to hear talk about his job status.
“What situation? We have to go correct the tape, we have to get ready for our next ballgame. We have a chance to play one of the best teams in football next week.”
Well, yes, the Giants do host the 6-3 Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Whether McAdoo is still the team’s coach is far less certain.