Joe Judge's video gaming plan can help Giants forge relationships
Giants coach Joe Judge speaks at his introductory press conference at MetLife Stadium on Jan. 9. Credit: Corey Sipkin
The Giants aren’t focused only on X's-and-O's during this virtual offseason program. They’re also incorporating the triangles and squares. And the joysticks and triggers and the rest of the buttons that control the action in their video games.
Because while they cannot be together in person, first-year head coach Joe Judge is trying to build relationships among the players by nudging them toward their game consoles for some social and competitive playing.
“As much as that seems like something to pass the time,” Judge said on Wednesday on NBCSN, “it’s as important for team bonding right now as anything.”
That, Judge said, has been the biggest challenge of coaching in the age of coronavirus.
“We’re working virtually, but we have to knock down some of these walls and bridge the gaps for our players and form relationships,” he said. “The one thing we can’t have is for us to walk in to training camp in July or August and we start looking around and introducing ourselves to each other. We can’t have that. So we have to find a way as a coaching staff of eliminating those gaps with our players and just forming relationships. The X's-and-O's are very important, but the things we’re missing right now are the lunch table conversations, the weight room bonds, walking off the field in Phase II and III and just taking our cleats off on the steps together. There are things you can’t replicate through a computer, but we have to do our best as a coaching staff to put the players in a situation where they can start forming some of these relationships.”
Getting them to connect during off hours to play Madden or NBA2K or any other game is one of those tools.
“They can get on an Xbox and play with each other or they can pick up the phone to FaceTime . . . and at least look each other in the eye as they talk,” Judge said. “There are a lot of different modes and we’ve told the players to be inventive. We’re always searching for ways as coaches ourselves that we can put them in positions and try to create competitive situations within meetings. But the more interactions we can promote, the better it will be for us as a team.”
As for Judge himself, he remains at his home in Massachusetts waiting to return to New Jersey. He learned plenty about being a head coach from his days at the knees of Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, but there is no chapter in the manual on how to lead during a pandemic.
“The best thing I can do is just stay as busy as I can day by day,” Judge said. “We’ve got a lot of work leading up to it right now. We’re mapping out training camp already, talking to the staff, trying to get advance scouting reports and everything on the same page. We’re still a new staff, so there are a lot of things we have to make sure we cover without being in the building.”
Like just about everything.
“Look,” Judge said, “there are things as centralized as, all right, we aren’t having spring ball now, first time we go on the field, where are the different position groups going? When I blow the whistle, does everybody know where they are going? So a lot of those discussions we are having through the computer right now so when we get back in the building, we can work faster together.
“There is plenty to keep me busy and manage the anticipation and the energy as far as tapping my foot and waiting, but it will come fast enough and we’re excited for the season to start.”
Jones, teammates will share leadership responsibilities
Judge said he is impressed by Daniel Jones’ leadership, but his years with Tom Brady in New England taught him that having a quarterback with those skills isn’t enough.
“Tom is a great leader,” Judge said. “He is a phenomenal player and his leadership comes in a lot of different ways. I don’t have to sit here and talk about Tom at length for everyone to know how great he is. But the thing that impressed me was it wasn’t just Tom leading, it was all areas of that locker room that stepped up and led. That’s what we need to get from our players. We’re going to have different leaders.”
Clearly, though, Jones will have to be near the top of that group.
“Daniel is going to take on a role because of the nature of his position, and he is doing a phenomenal job setting the tone with the way he’s working right now,” Judge said. “The other guys on our team have to lead as well. Everyone has their own style and everyone will have their own impact on the game, but we can’t rely on one guy to lead.”
That said, Jones has stepped into his new role neatly.
“I think Daniel is off to a very strong start in these virtual meetings by setting the tone in how he’s working,” Judge said. “That to me is the biggest thing. Everything he can do at this point he’s doing, and that’s all we can ask.”
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.
