Don't judge Giants coach Joe Judge for running physical, intense practices
Giants head coach Joe Judge talks to running back Wayne Gallman Jr. during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Tuesday. Credit: Brad Penner
Joe Judge hasn’t so much as set foot on the sideline for a regular-season game — or even a preseason game, for that matter — and already there are skeptics who question whether he’s the right man to be the head coach of the Giants.
“This isn’t going to end well,” said Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, now a commentator on Fox Sports.
Former NFL receiver Brandon Stokley called Judge “Josh McDaniels 2.0,” a reference to McDaniels’ quick flameout as a head coach in Denver — where Stokley used to play.
Barely a week into the Giants’ first contact practices, which came after months of relative inactivity because of the coronavirus, and Judge is being taken to task for running practices that are considered too physical and for — gasp! — making his players and even his assistant coaches run a lap for mistakes.
Can we please let this man coach an entire season — if not two or three — before we make pronouncements about his fitness for the job?
Look, I’m not saying Judge will be the next Bill Belichick or Nick Saban, his two most important mentors. But I will say that in the time he has been the Giants’ coach and has discussed his football philosophy and vision, he seems to be a man very much in control of his situation.
He’s demanding — of his players, of his assistants and of himself — and he doesn’t appear afraid of the New York stage on which he now performs.
Steelers linebackers Devin Bush and Robert Spillane participate in a drill during practice at NFL training camp on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. Credit: AP/Keith Srakocic
And if he has come out of the gate making sure his players know who’s boss and fostering an intense and competitive atmosphere featuring — gasp! — physical practices in this most physical sport, then that’s actually a positive sign.
After all, it’s much easier for an NFL coach to be a disciplinarian who can loosen the reins as he goes along than to be the opposite.
Remember Tom Coughlin, who was similarly criticized in Jacksonville and later with the Giants, for being too tough on his players in the early going?
Being on time to meetings means being there five minutes early. No sitting on your helmets in practice. He even forbade his Jaguars assistants from wearing sunglasses.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick watches from the sideline during the first half of an NFL game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., on Dec. 29, 2019. Credit: AP/Elise Amendola
But Coughlin succeeded in both places, taking the expansion Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game in their second year and taking the Giants to two Super Bowl championships.
Judge can only hope to approach Coughlin’s accomplishments, and chances are he won’t get that far, if for no other reason than only a handful of coaches produce that kind of career. But to simply dismiss the 38-year-old Judge as being a misfit in today’s game and with today’s athlete is simply not warranted.
There already is buy-in from the players, who know they’re better off with a coach who demands more of them. And Judge himself is unmoved by the suggestion that he’s not equipped for the job.
“Everything we do has a purpose,” he said. “And we’re very intent on explaining to our team why we’re doing things we’re doing. I’m a big believer in educating our team in why we’re doing things. That we’re not just blindly out there winging it, trying to go ahead and enforce punishment. I explained the other day, when you make mistakes on the field, there’s consequences . . . This isn’t a punishment. It’s a reminder that we have to draw our attention and be more detailed in how we approach things.”
It’s a perfectly sensible approach, especially for a coach who is dealing with the never-before-seen limitations because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Judge is a straightforward, no-nonsense coach who believes that you need to be tough and tough-minded to play football.
Washington head coach Ron Rivera holds up a helmet during a news conference at the team's training facility in Ashburn, Va. on Jan. 2. Credit: AP/Alex Brandon
He’s right about that. And while there’s simply no telling how his coaching career will go, this much is guaranteed: Expecting too much from his players won’t be a reason for failure.
Rivera soldiers on despite cancer diagnosis
Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera told his players Thursday that he recently was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes he detected in a recent self-care check.
Rivera plans to continue coaching and wants his team to keep things “business as usual.”
It came as a major shock to the team, but as we have become accustomed with Rivera, he has dealt with his situation with the composure that makes him one of the league’s most respected coaches.
“This cancer is in an early stage and is considered very treatable and curable, providing a good prognosis for Coach Rivera for a full recovery,” the team said in a statement issued Friday. “Coach Rivera has consulted with leading doctors and oncology specialists and is establishing his treatment plan in conjunction with the team’s medical staff and his outside physicians. For now, Coach has asked that the team keep things business as usual and remain focused, but a ‘Plan B’ is in place if it is determined that he should take some time off.”
Former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo. Credit: Steven Ryan
Our best wishes to Rivera in hopes of a speedy recovery.
McAdoo’s next stop
It was a tumultuous two years for Ben McAdoo, who once was viewed as the Giants’ long-term solution as the head coach but flamed out spectacularly and didn’t even last the entirety of the 2017 season.
McAdoo replaced Coughlin and led the Giants to their only playoff appearance since Coughlin won Super Bowl XLVI after the 2011 season. But McAdoo presided over a disastrous Year 2, including the poorly handled benching of Eli Manning. He was fired on Dec. 4 after going 2-10, the first Giants coach to be fired before the end of the season since Bill Arnsparger in 1976.
But it is a new beginning for McAdoo, who sat out the last two seasons. He’s now the quarterbacks coach for the Jaguars, getting back to what he truly enjoys doing.
“I’m a coach, and that was my first love,” McAdoo said. “I just wanted to get back in, I wanted to coach. It didn’t matter what I was coaching. I told guys the other day I would have taken a job coaching a monkey to do hopscotch if I had to.”
Washington head coach Ron Rivera holds up a helmet during a news conference at the team's training facility in Ashburn, Va. on Jan. 2. Credit: AP/Alex Brandon
McAdoo said being away for so long gave him a unique perspective that included some important benefits.
“I had a chance to learn who my kids are, their personalities,” said McAdoo, who moved to Florida in 2018. “When you sit out a couple years, you have a chance to sit back and reflect. I’m just trying to be the assistant I wanted guys to be for me in New York. I’m trying to be that for Coach [Doug] Marrone.”
Cam’s job to lose?
Knowing Bill Belichick, he’ll wait until the last moment to disclose his starting quarterback for the season opener against the Dolphins on Sept. 13. But we can at least start connecting some dots, and there is a growing belief that it will be recently signed Cam Newton who gets the call.
Newton is competing with veteran Brian Hoyer and second-year player Jarrett Stidham. And while none of the three quarterbacks has set himself apart in a significant way, the fact that Stidham hasn’t separated himself is important to note.
What may be an even bigger factor is a nagging hip ailment that Tom Brady’s former understudy is dealing with. NFL Network reported the problem could linger for several more weeks.
Former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo. Credit: Steven Ryan
As for Stidham’s uneven play so far, Belichick said not to draw any conclusions.
“I don’t think it’s really good for us as a coaching staff to over-evaluate an individual play when we have so many plays to work with,” he said. “Every player makes mistakes out there, every player gets corrected, every player gets coaching points on things that they can do better, differently. I would say ultimately we’re going to reach a point where we have to really evaluate what the performance is.”
That point hasn’t come just yet, but it’s getting closer.
Steelers linebacker expects second-year jump
The Steelers are counting on 2019 first-round draft pick Devin Bush to make significant improvement in Year 2. Bush expects the same.
“Last year was my first year, and it was just getting caught up to speed with everything changing around me,” said Bush, drafted No. 10 overall out of Michigan. “Leading up to year two, everything has slowed down a lot more for me. I’m a lot more familiar with who I’m playing with and the scheme I’m playing in. My comfortability has definitely gotten a lot better and a lot stronger based off of last year.”
Physically, he’s leaner and stronger. It’s the mental part that has improved most.
“I definitely picked up the playbook a lot easier,” he said. “I’m a lot more comfortable with who I’m playing with and what scheme I am playing with. I have a good foundation that I laid down last year to build off. It should be a lot easier for me this year.”
He’ll begin to find out in the opener, when the Steelers visit the Giants in a Monday night game on Sept. 14 at MetLife Stadium.
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
