Was this the last straw for Dodge?

I don’t know exactly what Tom Coughlin’s thinking is on the matter, but he must be running out of patience with rookie punter Matt Dodge. Even on a day when the Giants didn’t punt, he still found ways to draw the ire of the coach.

Eventually he’ll have to do something right, no?

“(Coughlin) expects a lot,” Dodge said. “This is a high performance business and when you don’t perform highly there’s no where to hide, that’s for sure. It’s on me.”

Dodge was the holder when the Giants drew a delay of game penalty on a 39-yard field goal attempt that became a 44-yard field goal attempt that became a 44-yard missed field goal. He came off the field to the scowl and yelling of Coughlin. What did the coach say to him?

“There was a whole lot of … I don’t know if I can repeat them,” Dodge said of the words that greeted him.

Later, Coughlin was much more succinct.

“The young holder needs to get us going,” he said.

Lawrence Tynes gave Dodge a bit of an out. He said it was the first time he’s ever gotten a delay of game penalty on one of his kicks, but he thought that the timing was solid.

“Looking at when Rob (Bironas of the Titans) was kicking, they were hitting it at zero too,” Tynes pointed out. “Obviously that crew winds it (the play clock) very quickly.

“I felt like we went out there on time,” Tynes added. “I backed up, I’m not slow getting over usually. It hit zero. I think if you watch back a few of (Bironas’) kicks were at zero. So apparently this crew winds it fast so we’ll just have to be aware of that if we get them again.”

Dodge’s difficulties weren’t just on the holds. He also had a free kick after the safety, a play that should be a chance to for him to display his best asset – a strong leg. Instead he kicked a short line drive that went only 53 yards in the air and was returned 22 yards to midfield.

It was after the season opener – a win, the Giants’ only win – that Coughlin said of Dodge: “Patience is not a good word right now.”

It’s an even worse word at this point. The game clock ran out on Dodge on Sunday. Perhaps the Coughlin clock will hit zero soon too.