For all the attention being paid to rookie running back David Wilson’s fumble, it was some of the Giants veterans that drew some scrutiny from their coach as well.
Coughlin told Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com that he was disappointed in the lack of attention to detail following last week’s loss to Dallas, which was different than what he saw during the Super Bowl run.
“I just finished in February with some of the best practices I’d ever been around,” Coughlin said. “For me to go out and be disappointed like that, I wasn’t a very happy camper.
“You’ve got a third of the team that’s new or thereabout (in 2012). But what I’m always after is for the veteran players — the guys who have been there, the guys who know what it takes — to reach out and grab a hold of these people who have no idea and sometimes, quite frankly, don’t come out here and help us set the tempo the way we want it. The veteran guys have to take over.”
Right guard Chris Snee said he can tell when practices aren’t going right when “I can hear Coach yelling a lot.”
And the message was received.
“I think the mentality of the guys when we came in (last Thursday) was, ‘Hey, we’ve got to pick it up. We’ve got to play better. The things are correctable,’” quarterback Eli Manning said. “That’s a good attitude to have.”
Keeping the old guys focused after they’ve won is a harder challenge than selling it the first time, which makes Coughlin’s job this week more difficult.