Giants GM Jerry Reese thinks offense plays cautious at times
New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese speaks to the media during training camp on July 27, 2013. Credit: James Escher
Giants general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Tom Coughlin seem to be in a tug-of-war over the best way to utilize Eli Manning.
Reese said on Monday that he wants to see the offense and Manning in particular be more aggressive in the second half of the season, even though Coughlin and his assistants spent last week saying they were happy with the level of Manning's cautious play because of the reduced number of turnovers.
"I think at times we're a little bit almost too cautious with what we're doing offensively," Reese said in his midseason press conference Monday. "This is the National Football League. You have to go out there and you have to win the game. You can't expect something is going to fall in your lap. You have to go out and take the games and I think we have to be more aggressive offensively. I appreciate Eli taking care of the ball and not turning it over because that correlates to wins a lot of the time, but you can't be too cautious. You have to throw the ball down the field and you have to score points in this league to win."
Reese went on.
"You can't turn the ball over," he said. "If you turn the ball over you're going to lose in this league. But you still can't be too careful. You have to throw the ball down the field, you have to be more aggressive, you have to give your receivers a chance to make plays, you have to trust in your receivers, you have to trust in your running back. You've got to score points. If you don't score points, it's hard to win."
Reese noted that that "may be" the next step in the evolution of the offense, which was brought here this offseason with new coordinator Ben McAdoo.
"I'm not a coach but I think that's probably part of it," he said. "I'd like to see us be more aggressive going down the stretch here in the second half of the season."
Reese also was critical of the number of snaps defensive end Damontre Moore has played so far (he'd like to see more).
So far, Coughlin seems to be winning the debates. Or at least his side of the debates is winning out since he's the one who calls the plays. And that's the way it should be. Even Reese is on board with that. Before any of it could be interpreted as a fracture in the upper levels of Giants leadership, Reese conceded that as general manager his job is to get the players on the roster, not determine how they are utilized after that.
"I'm just giving you what my opinion is," he said of his critical remarks about the offense and the quarterback's place in it. "Coach and I, we talk every day about how you win the next game, what's the personnel situation. Every Monday we meet. We don't sugar-coat anything. We go in and talk real talk -- how do we win the next game? So we've had conversations about all of this, yes."
He also said he would never bet against Coughlin.
"I don't coach the games," Reese added later. "It's the heat of the moment and those guys, they've been coaching a long time. They know who to play and who not to play."
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.
