JUDGEMENT TIME
GIANTS COACH HAS LONG LIST OF PROBLEMS TO FIX
IT IS a great time to be a Giants fan. Go out and embrace your freedom. The weather, seasonal and sun-splashed, presents myriad outdoor opportunities, whether your desire is to cling to the vestiges of summer or embrace the refreshing hint of autumn.
Be emboldened that you cannot get hurt this Sunday. Not by your Giants. They cannot lift you up only to drop you on your head. They cannot kick you in the stomach. There’s no need to fear that anger or frustration or disappointment will infiltrate your psyche, no chance the team you cannot quit will do something on the field that leads to derision and scorn. You are free. The Giants cannot touch you this weekend. There is serenity in the Giants bottling up and pouring out their latest losing formula on a Thursday night. This is a welcome respite. There are 10 days between the ridiculous (Is there any other word for how many ways this franchise finds ways to fail?) 30-29 loss to Washington and the next time they are required to play. This is good for everyone who cares about the Giants. Misbehaving preschoolers often need a time-out to settle down. Consider this, thankfully, a timeout on the Giants.
It is not, however, a timeout for Joe Judge. He is 18 games into his head-coaching tenure with the Giants and faces for the first time … something. A crossroads? Not exactly. A crisis point? Not really. An inflection point? He sure hopes so.
The Giants are now memes to get mocked around the league. There were more cringeworthy moments to deride in this latest debacle than should be seen in a month, capped by Dexter Lawrence ever-soslightly lunging offsides as Dustin Hopkins missed a 48-yard field goal that should have assured the Giants went home 29-27 winners, making them 1-1 and restoring order to their universe. Where Lawrence lined up, he was the closest Giants player to the snap of the football. It was right there! All he had to do was watch for the snap and then move. It is not as if he were coming around the edge and trying to gain a split-second advantage for an attempted block. For that penalty to happen on a team coached by Judge — a special teams specialist — is another chapter in the “How The Giants Lose” manual.
Lawrence faced the music on Friday (“I’m supposed to move when the ball moves,’’ he said.), as did Darius Slayton, the speedy receiver who dropped what should have been a 43-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Jones on an absolute bust in Washington’s coverage.
“It’s a play I 100 percent expect to make,’’ Slayton said.
If he had made it, the Giants would have been ahead 30-20 with 6:18 remaining.
There is so much here for Judge to figure out.
The too-conservative approach he approved with 2:16 remaining, too eager to settle for a field goal after James Bradberry’s athletic interception.
The demise of a defense that was supposed to be so much better than this.
The optics of Kenny Golladay screaming at Jones on the sideline. This is nothing much. Golladay is new here, he is frustrated with his slow start (seven receptions for 102 yards) and perhaps more of this emotion will add some attitude to the offense.
The strange non-use of Kadarius Toney, the rookie receiver, who did not get targeted once while on the field for 19 of the 69 offensive snaps. This is disturbing and far more worthy of investigation than analyzing the social media posts of the 22-year-old rookie as if they were Bob Dylan verses.
There is a sense of inevitability beforehand and a numbness afterward to all this losing. Giants fans want to believe Judge is the answer, but new questions arise every week.
“I say it all the time, I think it’s important we talk about the process,’’ Judge said. “Regardless of the outcome, you’ve got to come in and really view it objectively, understanding what do we have to correct and what do we do well enough to go ahead and build on?’’
Judge can talk about the process all day and night, but that process, eventually and quickly, has to include winning games.
“I don’t know if there’s anyone more conscious of that than me,’’ Judge said.
The Giants now have had 0-2 starts in eight of the past nine seasons. Judge is only responsible for the most recent two, but do not expect the fan base to compartmentalize any of this. It will be more of the same until it is not.
At least there is comfort in knowing the Giants cannot mess anything up this weekend.
It was almost enough to make the Giants yearn for simpler times of a diva wide receiver fighting a kicking net.
Kenny Golladay erupted in the direction of quarterback Daniel Jones and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett during the final minutes of a 30-29 loss, which came on a finalplay do-over by Washington. Hours later, Kadarius Toney posted a meme on his Instagram story that read, “I don’t be mad s--t just be lame to me fr,” and an unidentified source close to Toney was quoted by NJ Advance Media saying, “no use having a sports car and not driving it.”
The two premier playmakers added to the fold this season (ironically enough to fill the void that has existed ever since the Giants traded the former kicking-net “distraction” Odell Beckham Jr. in 2018) both caused headaches at the first sign of adversity. Or so it seemed.
But Dana Toney told The Post that nobody in his son’s inner circle is upset with the Giants over Kadarius’ role or limited playing time. He claimed to know for certain the anonymous quote was outdated and taken out of context, though he could not speak to the reason for the Instagram post.
“We just have to trust the process of the organization — and I’m not wavering from that,” Dana Toney said. “None of that other stuff is true. We enjoyed ourselves at the Meadowlands last Sunday, and I look forward to coming back. The Giants were beautiful toward us. Our team is going to be good.”
Shortly after Giants coach Joe Judge was pressed by the media about Toney’s criticism, the rookie receiver was back on social media.
“Y’all try to turn anything into something,” Toney wrote on Twitter. “SMH [shaking my head] we good over here,” adding facepalm and heart emojis. Later, on his Instagram story, Toney posted video looking out an airplane window with the words: “Media sum clowns…but I’m above dat .... Literally,” with a sleepy face emoji.
Toney wasn’t a receiving target on any of his 19 snaps in the loss and was seen on the sideline taking an earful from Judge and then standing away from teammates, seemingly sulking. He has two catches for negative two yards over the first two games of his NFL career.
“In terms of trying to gauge somebody’s emotions, I judge them based on their actions — and I’ve seen a guy that’s come to practice every day and the meetings and been attentive,” Judge said. “He’s worked hard on the field. He’s going to continue to improve as a player and build himself in as an intricate part of our offense.”
One year ago, veteran Golden Tate — the first attempt to replace Beckham — was suspended for a week by Judge after yelling “Throw me the damn ball!” at the Giants’ sideline and into the television cameras. Judge does not see an apples-to-apples comparison with Golladay.
“I talked to the players, talked to the coaches that were involved, and everyone has kind of dismissed everything in terms of there was no conflict,” Judge said. “It was more just emotions on the sideline, talking through situations. Our guys have good relationships. They work together. I don’t really see any issue with that right there.”
Jones and Sterling Shepard said after the game that Golladay was upset at the circumstances and wanted an opportunity to do more. Golladay and Toney were not made available to the media.
“During games, we’re all highly competitive people and games are a high-intensity, high-emotional environment,” receiver Darius Slayton said. “It’s nothing but passion for the game. There’s no ill will towards anybody in the room or ill will amongst us and the coaching staff. We’re just all out there trying to win.”