BIG BOSS BEN
Channels late Yankee owner to reach Giants
McAdoo channels Steinbrenner in blunt press conference as Chargers await
Giants head coach Ben McAdoo sounded like he was trying to channel the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner Friday, when McAdoo told reporters what message he’s conveyed to the 0-4 Big Blue players this past week.
“We talked about adversity introduces a man to himself. That’s where we find ourselves right now,” said McAdoo, who gave a blunt press conference that lasted five minutes and 19 seconds. “It’s a people game. It’s a game of character.”
Steinbrenner once told a gaggle of reporters outside the old Yankee Stadium in 2003 that “one acorn does not a fall make,” and The Boss was trying to brush off a loss to the Red Sox, even though Boston had inched closer to the Bombers in the standings.
The Giants will try to inch upward — hey, it can only go up from here, right Giants fans? — in the NFC East standings when they take on the 0-4 Chargers Sunday, but already this past week there has been another mini-Odell drama, when Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said Tampa Bay cornerback Vernon Hargreaves told him Big Blue’s offense was predictable and that opponents know what’s coming. McAdoo called Beckham’s comments “a non-issue” Friday.
“Like I said, and (Giants offensive coordinator) Mike Sullivan talked about it (Thursday), it’s part of scouting, part of gamesmanship,” said McAdoo. “Again, we’re focused more on ourselves. It’s not something I’m concerned with at this point. We have things to counteract it.”
Last year, the Giants started 2-3 before ripping off six straight wins and making the playoffs. McAdoo said Friday that his current 0-4 team is not “really too different than it was through the first four games last year.” The exception is that the 2016 Giants won the first two games of the regular season.
“I think a lot of things have improved over the last couple weeks. The games that went down to the wire, we found a way to win a couple of those games early last year. The difference is we found a way to win a couple games that were tight early in the season last year. We haven’t done that yet,” said McAdoo. “That doesn’t mean we’re lesser of a football team at this point. That’s where we are, where we find ourselves.”
The Giants’ defense last year was also more consistent, while this season Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has been torched, surrendering four leads and giving up two game-winning drives against the Eagles and Buccaneers.
“We’ve practiced well the last couple weeks, better than the first two weeks. I thought we put ourselves in a position to win games in the end. We fell short the last couple weeks,” said McAdoo. “We worked a lot on the fundamental part of the game in practice this week, simplifying things, playing faster, tackling better, blocking better, catching better. Hope to cash in on Sunday.”