There were many, many words said by Giants players last week.
There were, however, no points scored by those players.
So coach Tom Coughlin’s message to his team Monday was clear — shut up and play.
“Coughlin has already preached the ‘Talk is cheap; let your shoulder pads do the talking,’ ” defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said, via Bob Glauber of Newsday. “We had a lot of meetings [Monday], and it’s been reiterated that [the talk] didn’t get us a win. We have to focus all of our energy only doing things that will help us win. We understand the message.”
They better, because things aren’t getting any easier for the Giants.
Just as it seemed they were getting the hang of this new offense, they’re forced to try it without star wide receiver Victor Cruz, lost for the year with a knee injury.
And a defense that couldn’t stop the Eagles Sunday night now has a string of games against the Cowboys, Colts, Seahawks, 49ers and Cowboys again.
So while they might not stop those teams either, they at least won’t be adding any more cheap motivation via trash talk.
“From the very beginning, this has been a first-class organization, especially when it comes to respecting your opponents and never doing anything to cast a negative light on this organization,” Kiwanuka said. “We get it. We understand it. We’ll move on from it.”
They better start quickly, or the moving on will only just be beginning.