Two Giants players weren’t willing to put their names to harsh criticism of Giants coach Ben McAdoo when talking to Josina Anderson of ESPN recently and that didn’t sit right with many other players on the team.
The anonymous rips of McAdoo were a big topic at the team’s facility on Thursday and there was general agreement among the players that things should have been handled differently. Safety Landon Collins said any unhappy players should “come forward and be a man” and linebacker Jonathan Casillas said that “it’s like a rat” is in the locker room.
“Whoever said it, whoever was anonymous, is a coward. Flat out,” defensive tackle Damon Harrison said, via the New York Daily News. “If you’re not man enough to put your name behind something that you feel because that hasn’t been echoed to anybody in this locker room. I mean, we could have talked it out if you feel that way. It could have went differently, but point blank, whoever said that is a coward.”
McAdoo’s response was less angry as he said that he can’t really address any complaints if players aren’t willing to offer them personally. Collins added that the team believes it was a member of the defense and that the team will figure out who was talking.
Cornerback Eli Apple was the rare outlier, saying “I don’t know what you’re talking about” when asked about his reaction to the quotes about McAdoo losing the team. The rest of the team was on the same page, which may not make the 1-7 record look any better but does suggest that things aren’t going to totally fall apart in the locker room.