EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. The New York Giants’ offense has struggled in the preseason, and no group more than the line.
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“The pocket integrity needs to improve in the pass game, and I think it has gotten better”, he said”. He put a good deal of blame on the tight ends as well, especially second-year player Will Tye.
As time begins to run out on the preseason, there is a sense of panic among Giants fans that the offensive line is beyond fix.
McAdoo is concerned about the blocking in general. “I know we are”. “We need to have better effort to finish”. Two of the four Giants running backs who handled the ball in the game finished with negative yardage.
Despite his calm demeanor toward the offense, McAdoo is unaccepting of the team’s performance.
“No one is happy with the way the first offense operated yesterday”, said head coach Ben McAdoo. “We need to improve”. “Going forward, we’ll talk about it as a coaching staff and we haven’t talked about it yet”.
Even though the Giants managed to start off with a 10-0 deficit, they pulled out a few solid plays to creep up and get ahead.
The coach’s answer spoke volumes not just about the starters but also about the depth competing to make the roster.
– After nearly two seasons away and a handful of setbacks, receiver Victor Cruz finally took his first live action snaps since October 12, 2014, when a torn patellar tendon sidelined him for that season. Although he threw two incompletes on his first two passes, he woke the remaining crowd with four straight completions, ending in a 10-yard touchdown to the rookie Robby Anderson. “We moved the ball a little bit and got stalled”, Bowles said. We added a couple of different pieces, and just the creativity and things [offensive coordinator] Chan’s [Gailey] going to be able to do, stuff we haven’t really done in the preseason or practiced much in training camp he’ll think up. “And I think that’s an opportunity right there just to show respect”.
“I just wanted to see myself get open, continue to go out there and do the things that I’m accustomed to doing and I felt that way, I felt good about the things that I was putting out there. Those things can be corrected, and I was encouraged by that”.
Cruz smiled when asked about what that first reception was like for him. The starters tend to stay in the game longer and it is as close to regular season action in August as you will see.
Christian Hackenberg took over the reigns, getting his feet wet in the game after Petty early in the fourth quarter.
The Giants’ (1-2) final preseason game will be against the New England Patriots Thursday at MetLife Stadium.
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“The flag is the flag”, Cruz said.
