Post by John on Jun 10, 2006 1:31:13 GMT -4
Notebook: Believe it when Coughlin says Giants will be good
By Pete Prisco
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin isn't much for self-promotion or propping his team up in the media. That's why when he says something nice about his team, it usually means something.
"I think we can be good," Coughlin said this week. "Yeah, we can be good."
Stunned to hear it? Can this really be the cautious coach who offers little in terms of nuggets to the media?
Shockingly, it was him. It might seem a little out of character for a man who seems so guarded, but this much we've come to know about Coughlin:
He's usually honest when assessing his team.
If it's bad, he'll say it's bad. If it's good, he'll say it's good.
The Giants must be pretty good.
Coming off a division title in 2005, surprising many before losing in the playoffs to Carolina, Coughlin has reason to think his team will be even better.
Reason No. 1 is a huge one: Eli Manning.
In his second season with the Giants, and first full one as a starter, Manning played well at times before tailing off late in the season. He had two fourth-quarter comebacks to win big games and showed that he will be a future star. Yet late in the season, he stumbled. He forced passes. He made off-balance throws. He was awful in the playoff loss to the Panthers.
The New York media ate him up. That might have broken another man.
Eli Manning simply went back to work.
"I can't say enough about what he's done in the offseason," Coughlin said. "He was here a full two weeks before the program started."
Manning has spent his days working on his body, but, more importantly, working on the cerebral part of the game. Like his brother, Peyton Manning, Eli is an avid film watcher. Coughlin said the quarterback spent many a dark moment in the film room by himself this spring.
"He studies so much in the offseason," Coughlin said. "I think he'll be much better because of it."
Manning completed just 52.8 percent of his passes last season, ranking him near the bottom of the league's passers. He also threw 17 interceptions to go with his 24 touchdown passes. But 12 of those interceptions came in the final eight games. He topped that off by throwing three more in the playoff loss to the Panthers, the fall-off setting off the can-he-be-any-good talk.
The book on Manning was that he was a passer who forced the ball instead of taking a sack or throwing it away. When he got in trouble, he would throw off his back foot, leading to sailing passes and turnovers.
"I think a lot of that has to do with his competitiveness," Coughlin said. "He believes he can get the ball there. He's got to do a better job of dealing with people in his face, making better decisions. Don't put it in harm's way. Don't make a mistake. He's learning that. I think he'll be better at it."
Coughlin's also excited about the addition of second-round pick Sinorice Moss to the offense. The Giants already had good receivers outside in Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, but Moss gives them a smaller, quicker player on the inside.
"He gives us that dimension we didn't have," Coughlin said of Moss.
Then there's Tiki Barber. He had an MVP-like season in 2005, but he's getting up in the years at 31. Coughlin said you can't tell.
Barber maintains a stringent workout regimen that has him poised for a couple of more big years.
"We tell him he's 25," Coughlin said. "That way he doesn't realize how old he is."
On defense, the Giants have to improve the way they defend the pass. With two outstanding pass rushers in Mike Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, you would think the Giants would be good at keeping the other team's passing offense in check. Instead, they were 27th in pass defense last season, giving up 224 yards per game.
"We didn't play the ball in the air very well last season," Coughlin said.
The addition of veteran corner Sam Madison and the growth of second-year corner Corey Webster should help alleviate that problem. The Giants have also added another pass rusher in LaVar Arrington, who will come off the edge at linebacker, giving underrated defensive coordinator Tim Lewis another vital piece.
Even with the improvement, the Giants will be hard-pressed to equal the 11 victories from last season. Why? The division is brutal. Washington, Dallas and Philadelphia will all be worthy challengers.
"Everybody got better in the offseason," Coughlin said. "It's like the old days in the 1980s. That's what it reminds me of. (Redskins coach) Joe Gibbs said the problem with this division is, will we have any players left after we beat each other up? It's a challenge, that's for sure."
At the league meetings in March, Coughlin was asked if the Super Bowl was the next logical step for his team. The Giants didn't make the playoffs in his first year as coach of the team, won the division the next, so Super Bowl in his third?
He didn't bite.
"You're not going to get me to say that," Coughlin said.
No, but he did say his team would be good. Coming out of Tom Coughlin's mouth, you know it has to mean something.
Around the league
Pressure's on Billick, McNair: What does getting Steve McNair do for the Ravens? It makes them playoff contenders. Whether it can be more than that hinges on McNair's health. If he can stay on the field, McNair has two good years left in him. Maybe not the type of years he had a couple of seasons ago, but good enough to get the Ravens into the playoffs.
Remember, though, this is a Ravens staff that needs to win now. If this team doesn't get into the playoffs, Brian Billick and his staff will be out. A lot of media members would love to see Billick fail because of his arrogant attitude. But I've always considered Billick a refreshing change from many of the stodgy, say-nothing coaches around the league. Yet he has to know his job is on the line this year. That's why it makes so much sense for this team to go out and get McNair.
The Ravens had better get a McNair who is more dedicated to the task than he's been at times in Tennessee. McNair had problems with three of his offensive coordinators with the Titans, with all three questioning his work ethic at some point. He struggled to get his body in shape at times, which could be part of the reason he's had to fight through so many injuries -- although playing through the injuries have helped earn him a tough-guy moniker.
With only three months left until the season begins for real and less than two months until training camp starts, McNair has to dive into the playbook as intensely as possible. A coaching staff's jobs are on the line with how well he plays. All the pieces are in place for the Ravens to become a playoff team around McNair. Now it's up to him to show that the trade to get him -- not to mention the money they paid him in a new contract ($12 million this season) -- was worth the investment. If it's not, the Ravens will have a new head coach in 2007.
Another interesting thing here is that McNair will be reunited with receiver Derrick Mason. Those two had a good connection as Titans. McNair has always been a stand-up guy with the media, making him a favorite in the locker room. He never was one of those quarterbacks who played the big-time card. That could be why his work ethic was never questioned. Maybe a new team will make him more focused. For Billick's sake, that better be the case.
Davis makes the switch: It looks like Thomas Davis has settled in nicely at linebacker for the Carolina Panthers. Now in his second season, Davis came into the league as a safety, although many scouts thought he'd be better suited to playing linebacker. The Panthers tried him at safety early last season, but he struggled in coverage. Part of that is because he doesn't run well enough to play safety. He would have been a perfect safety 10 years ago when the big-hitting safety who didn't cover that well was in vogue. But with more and more teams spreading people out on offense, and the blitz in vogue, it's a must to have safeties who can match up in coverage. Davis isn't that safety.
But as a linebacker, he can run. And that's what the Panthers like from their linebackers. He will take over for Will Witherspoon as the team's weak-side linebacker. In 2005, the Panthers used Davis as a nickel linebacker and he played well in that role. Remember he was a spy on Michael Vick when the two teams met. He's a good tackler, which will help the Carolina defense. And he can run for a linebacker, which is looking like his spot for the long run.
Rams rookie catching on: When the Rams drafted corner Tye Hill in the first round, they thought he'd come right in and show off his cover skills. But in his first minicamp with the team, he looked like anything like a top-notch corner. The Rams coaches wondered if this was the same guy they saw on film at Clemson.
As it turned out, their fears were alleviated in later work with the team. As he's continued to take part in on-field work, Hill has impressed more and more.
"The game has slowed down for him," Rams defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said. "That's the key with a young player. He was thinking so much that he wasn't playing as fast as we knew he could. As he's got more comfortable, you can see he's playing much faster."
The Rams need Hill to be an immediate starter. They struggled at the corner spot in a big way in 2005, and that's why improving it became such a priority in the offseason. The Rams signed Fakhir Brown as a free agent in large part because Haslett recommended him after coaching him in New Orleans. Brown will likely start opposite Hill when the season begins. That's a significant upgrade over what the Rams trotted out on the corner last season.
To help the pass rush and the coverage, the Rams are also flip-flopping defensive end Leonard Little between the left and right side, although he's being used a lot on the right. Little has been mostly a left end in his career, which is somewhat surprising since he is such a speed rusher, which is usually where the right ends play. The coaches say Little took some time getting adjusted to playing on the right side, but he likes it.
Tony Hargrove, the starter last year on the right side, will move to the left side. The Rams are making these moves in an effort to improve on a pass defense that finished ranked 23rd in the league.
Expect Cards to shuffle line: Look for the Cardinals to move guard Reggie Wells to center before the start of the season. Wells is a more powerful player than either Alex Stepanovich or Nick Leckey, the two centers listed 1-2 on the depth chart.
By moving Wells to center, it would open the left guard spot for second-round pick Deuce Lutui. He would combine with left tackle Leonard Davis to give the Cardinals one of the biggest left sides in the league. That side could be a dominant run side if Davis can become a more consistent player.
Davis has the tools to be a Pro Bowl tackle, but he has not always played with the fire the Cardinals hoped he would when they used a high first-round pick on him in 2003. If Davis can play tougher on a more regular basis and Lutui plays like he did at USC, you can expect to see a lot of Edgerrin James running left. It might be similar to what the Seahawks did with Shaun Alexander the past two years when he ran behind guard Steve Hutchinson and tackle Walter Jones on the left side.
At the car wash: The move by the Patriots to get defensive tackle Jonathan Sullivan in a trade from the Saints for Bethel Johnson could be one that pays off big time. As we've said time and again in this space, the Patriots have a car wash outside their facility that seems to wash the stink off all the veteran players they acquire. If that happens with Sullivan, they've hit a home run.
Sullivan has struggled with his weight since the Saints used a first-round pick on him in 2003, trading two first-round picks to get him, but he played better in 2005 when he got his weight down some. It's not that Sullivan is a bad kid, but rather an immature one. He doesn't always dedicate himself to staying in shape. That led to issues with the previous coaching staff and the new staff wasn't enamored with the idea he wasn't taking part in the team's on-field work, preferring to stay near his home in Georgia. So they made the deal with the Patriots.
Look for Bill Belichick to get the best out of Sullivan. If that doesn't work, the peer pressure will. The feeling here is that the Pats landed a solid player who will help this season for a player who offered little in Johnson. Once Sullivan goes through the car wash, the Patriots will have a different player.
Motown madness: Just a thought, but what does Matt Millen think when he sees the Lions' first-team offense trot out onto the field and the receivers are Roy Williams and free-agent pickup Corey Bradford with Mike Furrey as the third receiver? Then he looks over and sees Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, two of his high first-round picks, working with the backups?
Give new coordinator Mike Martz credit. He's going to play the guys he thinks deserve to play. Mike Williams has struggled with his conditioning and a minor injury while Rogers has had some injury concerns. Mike Williams was also sent home last week for being late for a meeting and treatment. Martz hates receivers in poor condition.
But Furrey as the third guy? We know he played for Martz with the Rams, but there's no way he's better than those other guys. Or is he? If he is, it's another indictment of Millen as a personnel guy.
Commish credentials: We're hearing more and more from league sources that the next commissioner will be somebody who is familiar with the NFL way of doing things. The list of candidates is said to be heavy on business people who have some link to the league. Roger Goodell, the league's executive vice president, is considered a front-runner. But once again, don't discount the name of Eric Grubman, the league's executive vice president for finance and strategic transactions.
The owners plan to meet Aug. 7-9, and the eight-owner search committee Paul Tagliabue appointed to identify his replacement is scheduled to present four finalists to the entire ownership group at that meeting. The owners have set Aug. 18 as their target for selecting a new commissioner, an appointment that requires at least 22 votes among the 32 teams.
By Pete Prisco
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin isn't much for self-promotion or propping his team up in the media. That's why when he says something nice about his team, it usually means something.
"I think we can be good," Coughlin said this week. "Yeah, we can be good."
Stunned to hear it? Can this really be the cautious coach who offers little in terms of nuggets to the media?
Shockingly, it was him. It might seem a little out of character for a man who seems so guarded, but this much we've come to know about Coughlin:
He's usually honest when assessing his team.
If it's bad, he'll say it's bad. If it's good, he'll say it's good.
The Giants must be pretty good.
Coming off a division title in 2005, surprising many before losing in the playoffs to Carolina, Coughlin has reason to think his team will be even better.
Reason No. 1 is a huge one: Eli Manning.
In his second season with the Giants, and first full one as a starter, Manning played well at times before tailing off late in the season. He had two fourth-quarter comebacks to win big games and showed that he will be a future star. Yet late in the season, he stumbled. He forced passes. He made off-balance throws. He was awful in the playoff loss to the Panthers.
The New York media ate him up. That might have broken another man.
Eli Manning simply went back to work.
"I can't say enough about what he's done in the offseason," Coughlin said. "He was here a full two weeks before the program started."
Manning has spent his days working on his body, but, more importantly, working on the cerebral part of the game. Like his brother, Peyton Manning, Eli is an avid film watcher. Coughlin said the quarterback spent many a dark moment in the film room by himself this spring.
"He studies so much in the offseason," Coughlin said. "I think he'll be much better because of it."
Manning completed just 52.8 percent of his passes last season, ranking him near the bottom of the league's passers. He also threw 17 interceptions to go with his 24 touchdown passes. But 12 of those interceptions came in the final eight games. He topped that off by throwing three more in the playoff loss to the Panthers, the fall-off setting off the can-he-be-any-good talk.
The book on Manning was that he was a passer who forced the ball instead of taking a sack or throwing it away. When he got in trouble, he would throw off his back foot, leading to sailing passes and turnovers.
"I think a lot of that has to do with his competitiveness," Coughlin said. "He believes he can get the ball there. He's got to do a better job of dealing with people in his face, making better decisions. Don't put it in harm's way. Don't make a mistake. He's learning that. I think he'll be better at it."
Coughlin's also excited about the addition of second-round pick Sinorice Moss to the offense. The Giants already had good receivers outside in Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, but Moss gives them a smaller, quicker player on the inside.
"He gives us that dimension we didn't have," Coughlin said of Moss.
Then there's Tiki Barber. He had an MVP-like season in 2005, but he's getting up in the years at 31. Coughlin said you can't tell.
Barber maintains a stringent workout regimen that has him poised for a couple of more big years.
"We tell him he's 25," Coughlin said. "That way he doesn't realize how old he is."
On defense, the Giants have to improve the way they defend the pass. With two outstanding pass rushers in Mike Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, you would think the Giants would be good at keeping the other team's passing offense in check. Instead, they were 27th in pass defense last season, giving up 224 yards per game.
"We didn't play the ball in the air very well last season," Coughlin said.
The addition of veteran corner Sam Madison and the growth of second-year corner Corey Webster should help alleviate that problem. The Giants have also added another pass rusher in LaVar Arrington, who will come off the edge at linebacker, giving underrated defensive coordinator Tim Lewis another vital piece.
Even with the improvement, the Giants will be hard-pressed to equal the 11 victories from last season. Why? The division is brutal. Washington, Dallas and Philadelphia will all be worthy challengers.
"Everybody got better in the offseason," Coughlin said. "It's like the old days in the 1980s. That's what it reminds me of. (Redskins coach) Joe Gibbs said the problem with this division is, will we have any players left after we beat each other up? It's a challenge, that's for sure."
At the league meetings in March, Coughlin was asked if the Super Bowl was the next logical step for his team. The Giants didn't make the playoffs in his first year as coach of the team, won the division the next, so Super Bowl in his third?
He didn't bite.
"You're not going to get me to say that," Coughlin said.
No, but he did say his team would be good. Coming out of Tom Coughlin's mouth, you know it has to mean something.
Around the league
Pressure's on Billick, McNair: What does getting Steve McNair do for the Ravens? It makes them playoff contenders. Whether it can be more than that hinges on McNair's health. If he can stay on the field, McNair has two good years left in him. Maybe not the type of years he had a couple of seasons ago, but good enough to get the Ravens into the playoffs.
Remember, though, this is a Ravens staff that needs to win now. If this team doesn't get into the playoffs, Brian Billick and his staff will be out. A lot of media members would love to see Billick fail because of his arrogant attitude. But I've always considered Billick a refreshing change from many of the stodgy, say-nothing coaches around the league. Yet he has to know his job is on the line this year. That's why it makes so much sense for this team to go out and get McNair.
The Ravens had better get a McNair who is more dedicated to the task than he's been at times in Tennessee. McNair had problems with three of his offensive coordinators with the Titans, with all three questioning his work ethic at some point. He struggled to get his body in shape at times, which could be part of the reason he's had to fight through so many injuries -- although playing through the injuries have helped earn him a tough-guy moniker.
With only three months left until the season begins for real and less than two months until training camp starts, McNair has to dive into the playbook as intensely as possible. A coaching staff's jobs are on the line with how well he plays. All the pieces are in place for the Ravens to become a playoff team around McNair. Now it's up to him to show that the trade to get him -- not to mention the money they paid him in a new contract ($12 million this season) -- was worth the investment. If it's not, the Ravens will have a new head coach in 2007.
Another interesting thing here is that McNair will be reunited with receiver Derrick Mason. Those two had a good connection as Titans. McNair has always been a stand-up guy with the media, making him a favorite in the locker room. He never was one of those quarterbacks who played the big-time card. That could be why his work ethic was never questioned. Maybe a new team will make him more focused. For Billick's sake, that better be the case.
Davis makes the switch: It looks like Thomas Davis has settled in nicely at linebacker for the Carolina Panthers. Now in his second season, Davis came into the league as a safety, although many scouts thought he'd be better suited to playing linebacker. The Panthers tried him at safety early last season, but he struggled in coverage. Part of that is because he doesn't run well enough to play safety. He would have been a perfect safety 10 years ago when the big-hitting safety who didn't cover that well was in vogue. But with more and more teams spreading people out on offense, and the blitz in vogue, it's a must to have safeties who can match up in coverage. Davis isn't that safety.
But as a linebacker, he can run. And that's what the Panthers like from their linebackers. He will take over for Will Witherspoon as the team's weak-side linebacker. In 2005, the Panthers used Davis as a nickel linebacker and he played well in that role. Remember he was a spy on Michael Vick when the two teams met. He's a good tackler, which will help the Carolina defense. And he can run for a linebacker, which is looking like his spot for the long run.
Rams rookie catching on: When the Rams drafted corner Tye Hill in the first round, they thought he'd come right in and show off his cover skills. But in his first minicamp with the team, he looked like anything like a top-notch corner. The Rams coaches wondered if this was the same guy they saw on film at Clemson.
As it turned out, their fears were alleviated in later work with the team. As he's continued to take part in on-field work, Hill has impressed more and more.
"The game has slowed down for him," Rams defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said. "That's the key with a young player. He was thinking so much that he wasn't playing as fast as we knew he could. As he's got more comfortable, you can see he's playing much faster."
The Rams need Hill to be an immediate starter. They struggled at the corner spot in a big way in 2005, and that's why improving it became such a priority in the offseason. The Rams signed Fakhir Brown as a free agent in large part because Haslett recommended him after coaching him in New Orleans. Brown will likely start opposite Hill when the season begins. That's a significant upgrade over what the Rams trotted out on the corner last season.
To help the pass rush and the coverage, the Rams are also flip-flopping defensive end Leonard Little between the left and right side, although he's being used a lot on the right. Little has been mostly a left end in his career, which is somewhat surprising since he is such a speed rusher, which is usually where the right ends play. The coaches say Little took some time getting adjusted to playing on the right side, but he likes it.
Tony Hargrove, the starter last year on the right side, will move to the left side. The Rams are making these moves in an effort to improve on a pass defense that finished ranked 23rd in the league.
Expect Cards to shuffle line: Look for the Cardinals to move guard Reggie Wells to center before the start of the season. Wells is a more powerful player than either Alex Stepanovich or Nick Leckey, the two centers listed 1-2 on the depth chart.
By moving Wells to center, it would open the left guard spot for second-round pick Deuce Lutui. He would combine with left tackle Leonard Davis to give the Cardinals one of the biggest left sides in the league. That side could be a dominant run side if Davis can become a more consistent player.
Davis has the tools to be a Pro Bowl tackle, but he has not always played with the fire the Cardinals hoped he would when they used a high first-round pick on him in 2003. If Davis can play tougher on a more regular basis and Lutui plays like he did at USC, you can expect to see a lot of Edgerrin James running left. It might be similar to what the Seahawks did with Shaun Alexander the past two years when he ran behind guard Steve Hutchinson and tackle Walter Jones on the left side.
At the car wash: The move by the Patriots to get defensive tackle Jonathan Sullivan in a trade from the Saints for Bethel Johnson could be one that pays off big time. As we've said time and again in this space, the Patriots have a car wash outside their facility that seems to wash the stink off all the veteran players they acquire. If that happens with Sullivan, they've hit a home run.
Sullivan has struggled with his weight since the Saints used a first-round pick on him in 2003, trading two first-round picks to get him, but he played better in 2005 when he got his weight down some. It's not that Sullivan is a bad kid, but rather an immature one. He doesn't always dedicate himself to staying in shape. That led to issues with the previous coaching staff and the new staff wasn't enamored with the idea he wasn't taking part in the team's on-field work, preferring to stay near his home in Georgia. So they made the deal with the Patriots.
Look for Bill Belichick to get the best out of Sullivan. If that doesn't work, the peer pressure will. The feeling here is that the Pats landed a solid player who will help this season for a player who offered little in Johnson. Once Sullivan goes through the car wash, the Patriots will have a different player.
Motown madness: Just a thought, but what does Matt Millen think when he sees the Lions' first-team offense trot out onto the field and the receivers are Roy Williams and free-agent pickup Corey Bradford with Mike Furrey as the third receiver? Then he looks over and sees Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, two of his high first-round picks, working with the backups?
Give new coordinator Mike Martz credit. He's going to play the guys he thinks deserve to play. Mike Williams has struggled with his conditioning and a minor injury while Rogers has had some injury concerns. Mike Williams was also sent home last week for being late for a meeting and treatment. Martz hates receivers in poor condition.
But Furrey as the third guy? We know he played for Martz with the Rams, but there's no way he's better than those other guys. Or is he? If he is, it's another indictment of Millen as a personnel guy.
Commish credentials: We're hearing more and more from league sources that the next commissioner will be somebody who is familiar with the NFL way of doing things. The list of candidates is said to be heavy on business people who have some link to the league. Roger Goodell, the league's executive vice president, is considered a front-runner. But once again, don't discount the name of Eric Grubman, the league's executive vice president for finance and strategic transactions.
The owners plan to meet Aug. 7-9, and the eight-owner search committee Paul Tagliabue appointed to identify his replacement is scheduled to present four finalists to the entire ownership group at that meeting. The owners have set Aug. 18 as their target for selecting a new commissioner, an appointment that requires at least 22 votes among the 32 teams.