SERBY'S SUNDAY Q&A WITH ... Ben McADOO

Giants coach Ben McAdoo takes a timeout for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby before Sunday’s season opener at Dallas. Q: Do you think you know what makes every player you coached last season tick? A: The locker room and each player is a moving target, and I think it changes year in and year out — I think the players change year in and year out. Hunger changes year in and year out, and that’s something you have to stay on top of. The pulse of the team is probably the most important job for the head coach. Q: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the camaraderie on this team? A: Right now, I think going through preseason, heading into the first game ... probably a 7. And I think with each quarter of the season we have a chance to jump that thing up a notch. Q: On a scale of 1-10, leadership? A: Same thing. I think we’re in a position where each quarter of the season as we get better and as we improve and as we find ways to win, we have a chance to up a point each quarter of the season. Q: On a scale of 1-10, physical and emotional toughness? A: Same thing. We’re in a good spot, but thank goodness, we’re not where we used to be, and we just keep trying to get better. Q: This is a better question for Lawrence Taylor, but why do you think Lawrence Taylor might like this defense? A: I think that Lawrence Taylor would like this defense because there are a bunch of players who play the game the way he played the game. And that’s to hunt. Q: What was your thinking in acquiring Brandon Marshall? A: Brandon Marshall is a big man with a chip on his shoulder and he’s motivated to win. Q: Same question about tight end Rhett Ellison. A: Rhett Ellison is a physical, heavyhanded football player, pound-forpound one of the better players on this team. He may not show up on the stat sheet like you want him, but he’s a great team player. Q: Giants fans are concerned about the offensive line. Why won’t it be an Achilles’ heel? A: They’ve played together a while now. They know each other. When you have five men working together, it takes a lot of work to be on the same page, and I believe the third year will be the charm there. Q: Ereck Flowers, in particular? A: He loves football. He works hard at football. He worked hard to be in the best position he’s been in in his third year in the league, and I look forward to seeing him play Sunday and for him to take a jump. Q: In 25 words or less, describe Jason Pierre-Paul in 2017. A: JPP in 2017 is a man motivated to put the fifth trophy in the case. Q: Olivier Vernon. A: O.V. will be more comfortable playing with the players around him, and I feel he’s going to have an excellent season. Q: Damon “Snacks” Harrison. A: Snacks ... will emerge as the Alpha dog of the defense. Q: Janoris “Jackrabbit” Jenkins. A: A true competitor that has a very short memory. Q: What can Landon Collins do for an encore? A: Landon Collins is just starting to scratch the surface of his potential. He’s all about football, and a very focused player, and I’m excited to see him continue to grow. Q: Eli Manning at age 36. A: I think he’s getting younger. Q: How so? A: He has a renewed energy, passion and enthusiasm for the game. He’s dialed in. I think he’s excited to get out there with this offense. Q: The growing process for Odell Beckham Jr. is where? A: He’s continuing to grow as a player and a person ... Q: He’s got to tightrope that fine line between the way you want him and the way you don’t want him, right? A: I want Odell like I want all the players, I want them on the edge. I want them playing physical, I want them playing combative. I like players playing physical and aggressive and combative and right on the line. Q: Why do you like the pressure of great expectations? A: Because that’s why you do this. I feel like I hit the lottery, so to speak. I feel like it’s a blessing every day for me to be here, and I feel that we have good people around us and talented players and coaches around us, and I’ll do anything I can do to put them in a position to be successful. There’s only one goal in this business, and that’s why we all got into it, and that’s shooting for the stars. Q: How and why will you be a better coach in Year 2? A: I work hard at coaching, trying to get better myself each and every day. I’m my biggest critic. It’s important for me to improve, as well as for this football team to improve. Q: What was the biggest lesson you learned from a year ago? A: The most important thing is I can’t make this about myself. It’s not about me, it’s about the people around me and how I can lead through service. We put a lot of time and effort into evaluating the program outside of schematics to find ways to make it better. We found over 100 things we could change and improve and we continue to find ways to try to make it better and more effective and efficient and we can never be satisfied. Q: What have you learned about what it means to be the head coach of the New York Football Giants? A: I realize that the fan base for the Giants has the same goal that we all have, and that’s to put the fifth trophy in the case. The fan base is very similar to myself, and the rest of the building is brutally honest with what they see, and they’ll give that to you. Q: What is it about this job that gets your blood boiling? A: Just getting a chance to be around coaches and players who love the game, and just being around that locker room environ- ment and having a chance to just dig and find ways to get a little bit better at something, whether it’s taking a step a little bit better or whateverw the case may be. Q: Wellington Mara once said: “I’d like to have a team that says, ‘Buckle up your chin straps, pally. We’re gonna knockk your jocks off.’ ” Do you haveh that kind of team? A: We have a physical, heavyhanded football team. We feel that as we practice and as we continue to grow together and get better, that will really show itself. QQ: I’ve heard you use the word combative. Is that a word that you want this team to aspire to? A: Absolutely. Physical, heavyhanded and combative. That’s the type of style we need to play with. We don’t want to be reckless, but we want to be relentless. Q: How and why do you think this team is better equipped than a year ago to win a Super Bowl? A: I don’t know that we’re better equipped. I would say that it’s just another opportunity for us. Q: How and where did the whole thought of empathy begin for you? A: I was in Florida, spending time with my wife and kids and watching the news unfold last year heading into the first season as the head coach, just seeing that the world was in a little bit of a different place it seemed like to me at the time ... but I don’t get out much. I guess I just took notice, and felt that we needed to address it as a team. Q: What does that do for a team, to have empathy on a football team? A: I think that you have players and coaches and staff members from all walks of life, all different ethnic groups, you have different ages, different backgrounds, socio-economic status growing up, whatever the case may be. So I think that it’s important that we try to put ourselves in the shoes of others and what they have gone through or maybe what their parents have gone through for them to get to where they are today. Q: The last leadership/management book you read. A: “Simple Rules” [by Donald Sull]. Q: What did you get out of that? A: That most effective businesses and companies can explain their rules quite simply rather than making them complex. Q: What is your message to Giants fans about this team and this season? A: Keep making it loud for our defense in MetLife Stadium, and they’ll reward you. Q: Your thoughts on MiniMcAdoo? A: Smart young man. He may need to rethink the way he dresses in public (smile).