Judge’s commitment to long-term rebuild keeps Giants humble and competitive in short term

Joe Judge’s most endearing quality might be that he’s one of the only people not jumping on his own bandwagon.

While a starving Giants fan base basks in the glory of finally playing relevant December football again, Judge knows his team hasn’t accomplished anything yet. Judge’s name is starting to come up in coach of the year hot takes, but the first-year coach frankly doesn’t care.

“Those things are all very complimentary,” Judge said Friday. “You start reading those things and believing those things, you’ll find yourself in some different headlines pretty soon.”

The Giants (5-7) undoubtedly are on a roll, winners of four straight entering Sunday’s visit from the Arizona Cardinals (6-6) at MetLife Stadium (1 p.m., Fox)

Judge unquestionably is doing a great job in Year 1, too, from an improved offseason of roster construction to noticeable player development and results on the field. He has not forgotten, however, that the Giants are on a long-term rebuild and not a short-term fix. It is that humility and commitment that have the Giants challenging for a playoff berth in 2020 anyway, despite a still-deficient roster and a long road ahead.

Go to the defense, which has carried the Giants, and it’s the same grounded message.

Defensive coordinator Pat Graham suddenly is on everyone’s shortlist to be a head coaching candidate, but Graham knows one bad game against

Cardinals QB Kyler Murray could have all the front-runners headed for the hills.

“I’m not smart enough to think ahead of today,” the jovial Graham said Thursday. “I’m trying to get better today. I need to get ready for third down versus Arizona on Sunday.”