Just as Dave Gettleman remains as the general manager, there is no hue and cry (inside the building, anyway) to replace Jason Garrett as the offensive coordinator. Garrett has attracted interest from the Chargers about their head-coach vacancy. Barring Garrett getting a job elsewhere, it appears Joe Judge and the Giants are hoping he returns.
“The possibility of Jason leaving, of course it makes you a little antsy,’’ Gettleman said.
The preference is for Daniel Jones to get a second year in Garrett’s system and not subject the 23-year-old quarterback to a third offensive playbook in three years.
“We’ll adjust and adapt and do what we have to do,’’ Gettleman said, referring to a scenario in which Garrett is elsewhere. “Anything we do moving forward, Daniel is a big part of it and we’re certainly conscious of that piece.’’
Mara said he did not reach out to anyone with the Eagles after Doug Pederson’s quarterback switcheroo Sunday night helped cost the Giants a playoff berth. The Giants needed the Eagles to defeat Washington but the move from Jalen Hurts to Nate Sudfeld compromised the Eagles’ chances to win.
“The reason we didn’t make the playoffs is we didn’t win enough games,’’ Mara said. “We had to win one more game to get into the playoffs. That’s on us. We can’t blame that on anybody else. I’m very conscious of where the division was this year, what the final record was.’’
Gettleman seemingly had no complaints with Judge’s comments.
“As far as what [Judge] said the other day, he said what he said. At the end of the day, it is what it is,” Gettleman said. “Obviously, it’s about playing 60 minutes. It’s about giving the fans their money’s worth. It’s really how you live your life. He said what he said and it’s time to move on.’’
Mara said walking into empty stadiums all season was “a very strange feeling, and not a good one’’ and called it “an eerie feeling each week.’’ Playing eight home games without fans at MetLife Stadium meant no ticket money coming into the franchise for a full season.
“It was a huge financial hit for us this year, no question about it,’’ Mara said. “We did suffer some pretty significant financial losses, but it’s not going to affect our ability to be active in free agency or to do what we have to do to improve the team. Hopefully this is a one-year thing and we’ll be able to have fans back in the building next season. I don’t think there’s any guarantee about that, but we’re optimistic that particularly as these vaccines get rolled out, people will start to feel comfortable about coming back into the building again.’’
As for how much of a financial blow it was to the Mara and Tisch families, Mara said “We’ll be OK. We’re not ready to put a padlock on the door just yet. I think we’ll survive just fine. It’s been a tough year from that point of view. But listen, there are people all over this country that are suffering. I’m not out here complaining or anything. We’ll be fine as an organization going forward.’’