Joe Judge and the New York Giants are facing uncertain times, but the first-year head coach is projecting stability.
New York Giants head coach Joe Judge was grilled by the media during a conference call on Tuesday. What was the most pressing question? How is the team preparing for the season amid the COVID-19 pandemic?
There’s a huge cloud over when NFL teams will be able to report to camp and participate in team activities. There are rumors that training camp may be pushed back, or may take place at a location other than each team’s normal facilities.
This can be a daunting task for any head coach, but in particular for a rookie head coach such as Judge. But the first-year coach seems confident that he and the rest of the Giants staff will be prepared for whatever the late spring and summer will bring.
Judge was asked if he has a plan in place for all possibilities and more specifically, the possibility that training camp must move to a new location.
“The first part, we definitely have a plan. We’re assuming right now that we’re going to continue working virtually with the players,” Judge said on the call. “We’ll wait for further clarity from the league. We were told to plan through May 18, so that’s what we’re doing right now.”
“In terms of relocating, our ops department is doing a great job right now mapping out a lot of different scenarios in terms of if for some reason we have to relocate, they’re making connections around the area, around the country, as to whatever we may need to do. We’re waiting on direction from the league in terms of when we’ll make decisions on that.”
Judge was also asked if he and other first-year head coaches are at a disadvantage with teams being unable to come together for team activities.
“I think the advantage goes to who is most prepared from this point forward,” Judge said. “That’s what we’ve been working on doing and focusing on what we can control. Our IT Department, along with our coaching staff, did a great job with setting up the use of computers. Our players are doing a great job of accessing all of the information and working with us in the allotted time.”
In a surprise move last week, the Giants signed former Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush, and now have five quarterbacks on their roster (Daniel Jones, Colt McCoy, Alex Tanney, Case Cookus, and Rush).
Rush has ties to offensive coordinator Jason Garrett having been with the Cowboys the last three seasons. Knowing the system Garrett likes to run will be beneficial as Rush can assist Jones with learning the new offense. It’s looking as if the Giants are going to go with three quarterbacks this season, likely Jones, McCoy, and Rush.
Judge was asked why the Giants opted to sign the quarterback when they already had so many on the roster.
“Like everyone else in the league, we are looking at the waiver wire every day. We are always trying to acquire good football players for our team. The competition in training camp will sort a lot of things out. When we see a good player out there and we think he is someone that can be an asset to our team and come in here and compete, that’s all we’re considering.”
Despite the fact that the 38-year-old Judge has yet to have his team come together, he seems to be in firm command and ready for whatever the future may hold.
