Giants' Coughlin not going all out to beat Jets
FILE - Giants quarterback Eli Manning and Jets counterpart Mark Sanchez during a preseason game. Credit: Getty Images
ALBANY - Tom Coughlin didn't share exactly how he will handle player rotations for Monday night's preseason opener against the Jets at the New Meadowlands Stadium. But whatever pressures or temptations there may be for his team to go full out and silence the Jets in front of a national television audience are clearly not affecting his decisions.
"If we did something along those lines, I just don't think it would be smart," he said of letting the game and atmosphere influence his plan.
The Giants and Jets usually meet in the third preseason game and the starters will routinely play into the third quarter. Although it is nowhere near the intensity of a regular-season game, there is always a desire throughout the organization to beat the Jets and earn bragging rights.
That significance will still be there, even if the starting players for the Giants aren't.
"You want to win," Coughlin said. "But you're not going to sacrifice the ability to evaluate personnel for that, because that's what preseason is."
Coughlin said he is looking forward to the first preseason game, but the fact that it is against the Jets and in a new stadium has very little to do with that anticipation.
"I'm always looking forward to taking a group and seeing how these people play under game conditions," he said. "I'm looking forward to that part of it. It's just a part of preseason for us, just an extension of training camp."
Tell that to the other guys.
