The Giants have found a lot of mileage over real and perceived slights over the last couple of years and they got a little more material from Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green on Thursday.
Green was a guest on New York radio station WFAN and answered a question about the Bengals’ chances against the Giants defense. His answer will likely be brought up at some team meeting between now and Sunday.
“I feel like they’ve got a lot of holes in their defense,” Green said, via Jorge Castillo of the Newark Star-Ledger.
There’s plenty of statistical support for Green’s position. The Giants rank 26th in the league in pass yards allowed per game and their secondary has struggled to stop several opposing receivers this season. They’ve also given up 118 rushing yards per game, which ranks them 19th in the NFL, so the holes Green has observed could come in any segment of the defense. There’s been plenty of discussion about the offensive issues for the defending champs this week, but those problems might seem less dire with a different defense.
The Giants are still 6-3, of course, so it’s not as if the existence of these holes is the same thing as the other team being able to exploit them often enough to win games. Green and quarterback Andy Dalton will take their shot on Sunday.
UPDATE 2:00 p.m. ET: And, as expected, the Giants have responded. Safety Antrel Rolle said, via Tom Rock of Newsday, “I’ll talk with my pads” when told of Green’s comments. Rolle, who complained that the NFL’s rules about hitting defenseless receivers led to him injuring himself in the Week Eight game against Dallas, also said that if Green sees him “he better duck.”