Will the Giants step up and start fighting?
After implying that some Giants were not pulling their own weight, center Shaun O’Hara is kind of retreating from that by saying he only meant a few guys but that everyone needs to work harder and that the team is unified and will fight together. That’s my favorite quote actually: “I think everybody on this team is going to fight.”
I haven’t seen much fighting the last few games so why would I expect them to start fighting now?
Q. You said something after the game about guys not taking their job seriously enough. Can you explain what you meant by that?
A. I think guys need to find a way to step it up a notch. When you make a blanket statement like that it is probably only going to cater to three to five guys. Its not 53 guys. There are guys that are out there that are fighting their tails off and doing everything they possibly can to try to win a game. In a team sport like this, your game can be won and lost by one play, one player not doing their job, especially on offense. Everybody is counting on each other. I think at this point in this season everybody needs to dial it up a little bit and do a little bit more. Be a pro about everything. There is always more that you can do in terms of studying, in terms of getting yourself ready. The second half of the season is always a little bit tougher. Teams know you better. You are on film. You have tendencies. You have to be much more aware mentally of what is going on.
Q. Is the locker room at any risk right now of dividing?
A. Nope. I am sorry to disappoint you guys, but, no, I am not worried about any fracture or divide in the locker room. This is a tough team both physically and mentally. You know what? In the NFL you don’t always get what you want, and sometimes you don’t even get what you deserve. We are 6-5 right now and we don’t have anybody that is going to show us any sympathy, so we aren’t looking for any. This is our season. I think everybody on this team is going to fight. There are no losers on this team. There is nobody that is going to hang their head and say, ‘Woe is me.’ We have a lot of character in this team. We have a lot of guys that will put a lot of time, a lot of effort, coaches included who have put a lot of stock into this season and a lot of stock into everything that we do every week. I don’t expect anything to change from that standpoint. Guys are going to come back. Obviously we have a big game against Dallas next week. The tough thing about a situation like this, playing on a short week, is now you have to deal with the results of that game, win or lose, for the next couple of days until we can get in here on Monday and start prepping for Dallas and start getting excited about a divisional opponent at home. Until we can do that, we just have to eat this bullet.
