Giants Head Coach John Harbaugh (Post-Game Transcript)
On the victory in his return to Lincoln Financial Field:
“Appreciate you being here. Really great environment. Really amazing, amazing rivalry. It’s been 19 years and coming back in on the bus, seeing [Lincoln Financial Field], coming down the highway 95, and in a Giants bus, it was really something. I didn’t think it was going to be quite that, but it was all and it was a moment. This is Giants-Eagles in Philadelphia. This is a big rivalry. Our guys played and they played, too. I mean, give the Eagles credit, they played a really good football game, really tough football game. Our guys met the challenge and never flinched and never blinked. We did play winning football, not perfect football, but winning football and found a way to win the game in all three phases, especially starting with the defense. Special teams had some things early, but then got it together. Coverage was great, kickoff coverage and punt coverage. And then just the faith, belief, trust with our team chaplain John Paul talked about heart, God in your heart and we gave God the glory in there at the end, too, just because sometimes you got to get out of yourself and you got to believe in God and you got to believe in your men. And really, for me, in the second half, when I kind of figured that out, and we seem to be better, too, for some reason. So just proud of the guys. It’s a huge win for us. Now we got five days and right back into another gigantic game on Thursday night. So proud of the guys for what questions you have.”
On the team and their ability to find a way to win:
“It’s that. They have it. They have what it takes. I don’t know how to describe it other than that. I think they’ve had it all along and they found it in these games. Sometimes it’s one thing to have it and another thing to find it. And they’ve been able to find it in the way they play. They played hard. They played hard, they played [tough] and physical, but they also played really smart. We didn’t give up big plays. We didn’t turn the ball over. We did winning things, kept everything moving forward for the most part. We punted the ball, we tackled. All those things were really good.”
On how the team adjusted well this time versus another time when there was a quarterback change after getting hurt:
“That’s a great point. That’s a great point. I hadn’t thought about that until you just asked the question in a comparison sense. I mean, maybe it’s the fact that [Giants QB] Jameis [Winston] has been playing so much and now you’ve got [Giants QB] J.J. [McCarthy] who had been in and came back in. But Jameis comes in and then really the throw of the game was a deep sideline route to [Giants WR] Malachi [Fields] in that long yard situation after I think we took a sack and he throws a dime right on the sideline and Malachi was a great route. It’s a great timing route or impossible to cover that route. Just as well executed as you can get for a first down. And that got that drive started. It’s tough sledding the whole way. These kind of defenses, you just got to stay after them. You got to keep them on the field somehow and it’s hard to do that. And they did and then they got it in the end zone. It wasn’t a field goal. So yeah, to your point, you got to give Jameis a lot of credit and the guys a lot of credit around him.”
On Giants QB J.J. McCarthy’s willingness to go back into the game and run for a first down on basically one leg:
“Yeah, I mean, you got to be kidding me. He’s got that and he’s in pain. He’s in pain. Well, he ran fast for that first down though, didn’t he? Next celebration you ever see that I guess German progress going through the veins, but just to come back and he insisted on it. We weren’t pushing him back out there. He was able to play, but he insisted on playing. Even at the end we thought about putting [Giants QB] Jameis [Winston] in there for the last drive and he insisted on being out there. It says a lot about him for sure.”
On what Giants QB J.J. McCarthy playing through an injury meant for the team:
“I think it means a lot because I think it just demonstrates the heart we’re talking about. Every single player has the opportunity to lead and demonstrate that at some point in time. And to your point, the quarterback is doing it and that’s big. That’s big to fight through that kind of thing, fight through an injury, go back in, take care of it, get back out there. Now he’s going to have to fight to get ready to play on Thursday. That’s part of it, too. So pretty impressive. Darn impressive. Very impressive.”
On the play of Giants LB Arvell Reese:
“Yeah, I want to give him the grand slam. He had a bunch of tackles, he had [tackles for loss], he had sacks, he had pressures. But there were like six things he did stat wise that were amazing. [Giants Senior Vice President of Communications] Pat [Hanlon] can lay them out later. He knows what’s going on. A lot. He got the first game ball.”
On Giants LB Arvell Reese’s development:
“Yeah, I mean, it’s great. I mean, it’s what you hope for. I won’t say we didn’t think it was possible. I mean, that’s what we hoped for and he fell to us. [Giants General Manager] Joe [Schoen] and I were, we were giddy. I think we were kind of beside ourselves. Some of you guys use words like that, ‘giddy’ and things like that. And we were because he’s really a good player and he’s all the other things, too. He’s a great young man, he’s humble, he’s very tough, he works really hard, he’s very coachable. He wants to do things the right way. He’s a great leader in his own quiet way. Couldn’t say enough about him but you know what, he’s still young.”
On the team winning when they’re not having their best day:
“I mean, have there been games where everything’s been going well for us this year? I would like to have one or two of those. I think we need to find out how to win when everything’s going our way and see how we are, see how we handle that. But this is what the NFL is to your point. I mean it’s tough. It’s a crazy town. It’s hard. Every team is really good. These guys were fighting for their lives. You could see it in the way they were playing and we still overcame what we had to overcome and won the football game. It’s a big deal.”
On whether he thought about leaving in Giants QB Jameis Winston:
“We did. We had a conversation, and that was definitely part of the conversation. But the trainers and the doctors said he was good and he said he was ready to go. And so with that we decided to put him back out there.”
On how today’s game affects upcoming trade deadline decisions:
“Yeah, that’s a good question. There’s nobody on our team that we want to trade. We like all of our guys. And somebody’s got to come out that you really want to trade for that makes sense. So short term and long term, it’s got to make sense short term and long term. We’re not just going to go for a short term fix at an exorbitant cost. We’re not going to do that. That’s not where we’re at. And usually when you do that sort of thing, it doesn’t work out for you. You end up paying a hefty price and you don’t get the return. So I never think that you’re one step away, one player away. To me, it’s always just a total momentum kind of a thing anyway. But if the right opportunity comes and there’s a deal that makes sense for us, we’ll do it. I can tell you, [Giants General Manager] Joe [Schoen] does a great job. All these guys, I mean [Director of Pro Scouting] Chris Rosetti, [Assistant Director of Pro Scouting] Nick La Testa, [Assistant General Manager] Brandon [Brown], these guys do an amazing job and they’re working hard at it. So we’re making a lot of calls. We’re calling everybody.”
On whether the Giants are going to pursue a trade for Colts RB Jonathan Taylor:
“Yeah, that’s a good question. I’d say we’re open for any kind of situation, but I will say this, things do change. Things change from day-to-day. So it’s not like one day you may do something and the next day something happens and it changes your position. I’m not saying that report’s not true. Those conversations are taking place and if something happens for any player, I can’t talk about any player because they’re with other teams right now, but we’re not ruling anything out, but I don’t see anything particularly imminent right now either. So we’ll see what happens.”
On his confidence in Giants K Dominic Zvada:
“I should have given Dom the game ball, but you know what he’s supposed to make those kicks too, right? That’s what he does and he did it today. That’s what you said. I mean, does a young guy like that prove himself not only to you, but to the guys in that locker room to know that he can come out here after what he’s been through and do that. I would agree with that. I think it’s important. You always have to prove yourself. The guys trust you and believe in you, but they also, they want to see you do well. They want to see you do what you’re supposed to do. And those weren’t easy kicks. Those were legit kicks in here, especially here, the wind was going from the corner behind our right shoulder back across to the other corner there. They weren’t easy kicks. So to see him make those kicks was awesome. I think he did a great job, but that is what we see him as being capable.
On breaking a 13-game road losing streak to the Eagles:
“Yeah. I think it’s a crazy deal. I mean, it was something that I didn’t know about, but I think it’s hovering is probably a good word for it. The first game ball went to our team owner, our leader, John Mara. [Giants Senior Player Personnel Executive, Board Director] Chris [Mara] accepted the ball and John, he said, he goes, ‘John’s been texting me the whole game, the whole game, but you don’t want to know what he’s been saying.’ So he’s into it every step of the way and to get this win for him and for the rest of the great people in the organization, plus the fans. I tell you the fans, they were great. We had a bunch of fans here, right? Wow. We had a bunch of fans here. They were loud. They were great. And I love our fans. This is a special place. It’s definitely great. You can’t concern yourself with it as far as getting ready for the game, but now it’s over.”