New York Giants News

Giants news, 11/24: Leonard Williams on Joe Judge’s style, more

Giants defensive end Leonard Williams is frank in assessing who will, won’t succeed playing for rookie head coach

By Ed Valentine@Valentine_Ed Nov 24, 2020, 6:00am EST

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Leonard Williams: “Players who want to win” appreciate Joe Judge

Joe Judge’s style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. He is a young head coach with a hard-nosed, old-school attitude. Want to play or work for Judge? Check your ego at the door and buy in to his team-first mentality and his willingness to, as he says, be brutally honest with those under his direction.

Golden Tate learned that Judge means what he says. Marc Colombo learned. Defensive lineman Leonard Williams, a sixth-year player yet to participate in a playoff game, was blunt Monday when asked about playing for Judge.

“His style of coaching is good for players who want to win and want to play hard, practice hard, and understand that your practice is reflective of how you play. Guys that are willing to buy into a program are going to do great under a system like that,” Williams said. “There’s obviously some guys who are a little bit harder to coach and little bit harder to get to buy into systems. They might be a little bit harder to fall into line.

“At the same time, when you’re a part of this team, you kind of feel the atmosphere of everyone buying in. Even those guys that are a little bit harder to coach, once they see the rest of their teammates buying in, they will come along eventually, too. I think it’s a great way, the way we practice. I think it shows we have a tough team. I feel like after losses or wins we go right back to work. I think it’s a hard-hat type of team that wants to work and grind.”

McKinney, Ximines “have a chance Sunday”

Safety Xavier McKinney and edge Oshane Ximines returned to practice for the Giants on Monday. The Giants have 21 days to decide whether to activate them or leave them on IR for the remainder of the season. Judge said Monday both could be added to the roster for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I think both have a chance for Sunday. Today was the first day getting them both back out there. I’d say both moved well, both were really flying around the field today doing what we had to do,” Judge said. “But it was mostly individual type work today. When we get into Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, kind of see them in a more team setting. Wednesday, we’ll have the pads on, see them pop the pads a little bit and see how their bodies respond to it. That will really tell the story for the weekend. I don’t want to rule anybody out.”