The Giants are looking to tweak play calls, not change play-callers.
Blood-thirsty fans hoping that Joe Judge would sacrifice Jason Garrett on Monday because the winless Giants are averaging 18.7 points per game and stalling in the red zone did not get their chum.
“On offense, defense and in the kicking game,” Judge said, “the coordinators will still be making the play calls this week.”
The ugly truth is the Giants have bigger problems than Garrett in terms of a top-heavy roster, limited salary-cap space, poor return on major investments, conservative game management, injury-prone playmakers and so on. But he has become a poster boy for the 6-13 record since Judge took over because the Giants only have scored more than 20 points in six of 19 games in today’s offense-crazed NFL.
There is a logical alternative to Garrett because Freddie Kitchens’ role as a senior offensive assistant is mostly undescribed, and he called plays for the Browns in 2018 before a one-year stint as head coach. But the Giants had Kitchens call plays for one game in 2020 when Garrett was out due to COVID-19 protocols, and they managed just six points.
“We’re going to stay consistent with what we’re doing and keep improving as a team,” Judge said. “There are a lot of things we can clean up coaching-wise and execution-wise. We’re going to stay on track with it and make sure we get those things right before making radical changes.”
The Giants are tied for No. 30 in the NFL with a 33.3 percent rate of scoring touchdowns from the red zone (3 of 9). They have five touchdowns in three games, though one was a meaningless final-play tack-on in Week 1.
“Game plan-wise, we will make some adjustments and do some things we think are to our advantage,” Judge said. “We have a couple different focal points to make sure we finish better in the red zone. That’s something we have to do better as a team.”
The Giants sent “a number of plays” into the NFL office for review. Judge declined to say how many or which specific plays, but it’s a safe bet the “pointed” list includes the shoulder-to-shoulder unnecessary roughness penalty against safety Xavier McKinney to give the Falcons a first-down at the 8-yard line on a first-half touchdown drive.
“There’s that fine line of turning something in to complain and whine about it,” Judge said. “My thing is always, ‘Just tell me how you are ruling this so I can teach the team properly.’ When we turn plays in, I don’t want an apology. I just want clarification.”
WR John Ross and OLB Elerson Smith have missed the required three games and are eligible to be activated off of injured reserve.
“There’s a chance for either guy, or both guys, to come off this week,” Judge said. “Wednesday will be the day we look to get them rolling with the team, so we won’t make any decisions immediately but we’ll see where those guys are over the next 36 hours.”
The Giants re-signed DB Jarren Williams — who was cut with an injury settlement on Aug. 21 — to the practice squad. He was on the practice squad, with two game-day elevations, all of last season, too.