The new-look New York Giants offensive line is a work in progress. And coach Tom Coughlin knows that they’ll only make progress if they get more work.
“They need to play,” Coughlin said after Saturday night’s preseason game against the Steelers, via Jordan Raanan of NJ.com. “Those people need to play. They need to work together, they need to communicate. The idea of a set lineup is not really there. They need to play.”
Saturday’s starting lineup, from left to right, consisted of Charles Brown, Geoff Schwartz, J.D. Walton, Brandon Mosley, and Justin Pugh.
Will Beatty eventually will replace Brown at left tackle; David Diehl and Chris Snee have retired. For the preseason, the goal is to get whoever can play plenty of reps in the hopes of helping them play better when the real games start.
The good news is that the offensive line helped spring running back Rashad Jennings for a 73-yard touchdown run.
“I like to see the 73-yard touchdown run,” Coughlin said. “That was fun. Wish I would have seen more of them.”
Every coach does, rare as they are. This specific coach surely knows that the new offense under coordinator Ben McAdoo won’t be able to do what needs to be done unless the offensive line can find a way to work together, and to work effectively.
Especially when it comes to protecting quarterback Eli Manning, who has regressed in the last two years from sure-fire Hall of Famer to an interception machine who can’t find his way to the playoffs.