Ben McAdoo’s fumble philosophy differs from Tom Coughlin
Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz fumbles the ball against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at MetLife Stadium on September 18, 2016. Credit: AP / Kathy Willens
Tom Coughlin and Ben McAdoo share an abhorrence for turnovers. But when it comes to dealing with the players who commit them, they seem to differ.
Coughlin quickly would lose faith in players, especially young ones, who fumbled the ball or made a mistake that led to giving it away. Many found themselves in his doghouse on the sideline for a series or two — or longer — after their gaffe.
McAdoo?
The Giants had three fumbles against the Saints last week and all three perpetrators were back on the field for the next drive.
“To me, you want to get them the ball as soon as you can afterwards,” McAdoo said in an interview published on Giants.com Friday morning. “I think great players, professional players, the sooner you can get the ball back in their hands the sooner everyone can move on.”
To be fair, McAdoo was not going to bench Eli Manning or Victor Cruz over their fumbles and Shane Vereen has proven himself to be a steady ball carrier. And Coughlin often stuck with veterans who fumbled such as Ahmad Bradshaw. He also was credited with “fixing” the fumbles by Tiki Barber.
Despite the three miscues against the Saints, McAdoo said the idea of ball security — “protecting The Duke” as he says — was barely more of an emphasis this week than in past ones. While coaches and players took it upon themselves to ensure correct handling of the football, McAdoo said the drills and their significance in the practices remained pretty much the same.
“We’re not going to overreact to one week and panic,” he said.
Rookie shuffle. The Giants swapped rookie defensive backs on their roster, promoting safety Andrew Adams from the practice squad Saturday and waiving cornerback Michael Hunter, who had been promoted from the practice squad earlier in the week.
The move was necessitated by the injury to starting safety Darian Thompson, who hurt his foot in last week’s game against the Saints and could miss several weeks.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
