david dieHl - New York Giants

The Coughlin Corner
Week 4
By Michael Eisen
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Coughlin Corner, Giants.com’s exclusive weekly interview with
head coach Tom Coughlin:
Q: Your team has played exceptionally well in its last five quarters. Are you a big believer in
momentum carrying over from one week to the next, or is each game a separate and distinct
entity?
Coughlin: “I’m big in building from one thing to another. Some of the things that you build upon
are not exactly what you like to build from, but nevertheless it happens. That’s our game. When
you’re not very good at something, you stress it and by and large, your players will respond to
that, and when you play well, you want to continue to play well. I think that the thing that’s very
interesting for me as we go forward now is we had a couple of unusual schedules and we’ve
adapted to them fairly well. I’m not going to tell you we were great from the end of camp to the
first Wednesday night game, but this past week I thought the guys really, really came off the
Tampa Bay win and were focused for the Carolina game (on the following Thursday night). First
of all, you have to see the big picture. You have to know what your circumstance is and then the
next thing that we did is we approached it with optimism. We didn’t approach it as an issue. We
approached it with optimism.”
Q: Like it wasn’t a chore?
Coughlin: “As an opportunity to play against a team that had just put almost 500 yards on New
Orleans, so we going against a very good team that was extremely productive in that game.”
Q: Because you were playing what seemed to be a hot team in a short week on the road, I
think the general consensus was you would lose. Does this team play its best when its back is
against the wall?
Coughlin: “I think that’s a great characteristic of a team, but it’s not the only characteristic of
this team. I think you have to look hard at our mental toughness, our belief in one another. We
had a couple of key individuals that weren’t going to play and the guys that did play performed
just as you would say in a meeting: 'Guys have to step up and play well and be responsible and
realize that they’re on the team for a reason.' They’re outstanding players, they can and they
must contribute in these kinds of things and if you are truly a team, you’re going through 16 of
these, you’re going to have your ups and downs when people can’t play for one reason or
another. And in the case of Ramses Barden and Andre Brown, those guys really did step up at
Carolina.”
Q: Brown didn’t make the roster until his fourth training camp here and Barden waited just as
long to make a significant contribution. When they’re waiting, do you say to the players, You
have to be ready, because we’re going to need you at some point?”
Coughlin: “Absolutely, all the time. I say it all the time to them. When a guy makes your team,
you say it and some guys, quite frankly, develop at different times. Now, do they persevere? In
the case of these two, yes. Sometimes there are guys that are in it for a long time that get a
chance and their chance is over and they’re no longer a part of it.”