david dieHl - New York Giants

Coughlin: “Year in and year out. Outstanding, physical, strong, fast, skilled. A good punter (Sam Koch)
and a good kicker (rookie Justin Turner). The returner (Jacoby Jones) leads the league (with a 32.5-yard
kickoff return average). He’s got three touchdowns, one on a punt return and two on kickoff returns.
He’s a 215-pound man. Punt it long and out of bounds is what I say. And their coverage teams are both
in the top 10. They have lots of linebackers in play.”
Q: On their coverage teams?
Coughlin: “On their team, you have a bunch of linebackers. They’re nicked a little bit, but that’s how
they’re built. They have plenty of guys that are physical and can run and meet all those requirements of
special teams.”
Q: You do so much studying in the offseason of upcoming opponents and now all of a sudden the
Ravens have a new play-caller (Jim Caldwell) who has never called plays before. How did that affect
your preparation?
Coughlin: “It’s obvious that you’ve done all your studying with one play-caller and now you have another
one, so there may be a reference toward things that have been successful for him in the past that you’re
relatively unaware of. But I don’t think that really offsets (your preparation) unless you see a game going
in a different direction. But you have the most recent game. He called last week’s game, so obviously
you’re heavily involved in that.”
Q: I know Ed Reed is a little older now, but does he still roam center field as well as he used to?
Coughlin: “He’s all over the place. He’s not just in center field. He’s down. He’s back. He’s in the half.
He’s strong side and, all of a sudden, he’s weak side. He’s all over the place.”
Q: You usually don’t hear players talking about current events, but they were very emotional about
the tragedy last week in Newtown, Conn. Did you speak to the team about it?
Coughlin: “We had a moment of silence, which was probably two minutes which could have been five.
We all stood. I talked probably for 30 or 40 seconds and then the rest of the time was silent. But the
players were talking about it themselves. They were talking about it in the morning when they were
coming into work (on Saturday). I know exactly what they were thinking, because I was thinking the
same thing. I was thinking about my children and how they were affected because they have young kids.
I know that these players, as if I was thinking about my own children, with young kids and what their
thoughts are. How in the world can you think that you have to have reservations about your child going
to school? Your kid is at school. He’s safe. He’s going to be taught. That’s what you’re mindful of.
“We all have feelings. We all have emotions. We all would like everything to be right in the world. It’s
difficult for people to understand how evil can exist in the world at this extent. But I wanted us as a
family to recognize the families in what they were going through.”