Super Bowl XLVI – Wednesday, February 1, 2012(on Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s advice about elevating his game) “I think it was, more or less, him seeing that I wasn’t mentally where I needed to be as a football player. He knew what I’d been going through the whole year as far as the injuries, family issues off the field and things like that. It was more of one of those father-figure things where he called me in his office and just had the conversation like a man-to-man type thing. It wasn’t necessarily about football, but just about how he wanted me to be perceived in the locker room and throughout our players. I just took that to heart as far as going out there and not necessarily worrying about the things that had happened off the field, and just trying my best to put that in the past.”
(on the bond among the 15 Giants players who were members of the Super Bowl XLII Championship team) “We consider that probably one of the best games ever played. We were very fortunate to be a part of it. To win a Super Bowl in that fashion – a lot of us were young in our careers (at that point). The last couple of years, we have just continued to grow and I think this year is evidence of that, considering some of the roller coasters we’ve been on this year. We just always believed in each other. That is the core of this team, those guys who have been around the last four years. We just know how this feels, how this is supposed to turn out. It’s fun to be around those guys, because we’ve played in a lot of meaningful football games, and it’s like we never worry about it. We never get too high with the highs or get too low with the lows, and that has a lot to do with the experience in that core group of guys.”
(on the practice schedule beginning) “We are excited about getting on the football field. It’s been a couple days now, and guys are starting to chomp at the bit. We’re ready to get back to preparing to win a game on Sunday. A lot of us wish we could play it today, but we’ve got to wait until Sunday. Today will be the next step toward getting ready for the game.”
(on what it means to the defense to have a reliable quarterback) “Eli (Manning) has had a great year for us. The Giants have always been built on defense first, it seems like, and this year, the offense has been the part of the football team that has been most consistent. It starts with Eli and his play. You just feel so confident in the fact that, in the end of the game, regardless of the fact of how things have been going, he is always going to find a way to get us in that position to get a game-winning score or whatever we need at that point. As a defensive player, getting the opportunity to watch him as he drives us down, it’s exciting. You definitely want that. It’s hard to get a quarterback player like that. There are only a handful of guys that can do it like that, and he’s definitely one of them.”
(on what it takes to get to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady) “Just consistency. They’re going to do some things early in the game to try to throw off our rhythm. I expect to see screen passes, I expect to see draws, I expect to see him just getting the ball out of his hands quickly. It’s going to be a team effort. I think a lot of times people think the pass rush comes just only from the front four, but it is intertwined between our corners (and) our D-backs rerouting their wide receivers, with us giving them different looks so Brady doesn’t know where to go with the ball right at the snap. At the end of the day, somebody up front has to be somebody. You can watch as much film as you want to, but if you are able to do those things, you are going to be successful against a guy like Tom.”
(on whether he brought his ring from Super Bowl XLII along on the trip to show the younger players) “It’s funny. A lot of us don’t wear our rings. I don’t wear mine. I always say that I have nine other fingers that I’m trying to fill up. So, I don’t know. I know I didn’t bring mine. I haven’t seen a lot of guys wearing theirs around. The younger guys have seen the ring. Some of our training staff guys brought theirs. But we’re hungry for another one. That ’07 ring can stay in its secret place for now.”
(on if his success against Patriots guard Logan Mankins in Super Bowl XLII makes a difference for him psychologically) “It was four years ago. I’m a better player than I was four years ago and he’s definitely a better player than he was four years ago. I really don’t think anything we did in ’07 is going to help us win this game on Sunday. It’s two completely different teams, two different schemes. We have to play our best game on Sunday and not rely on what we did four years ago.”
(on what it takes to be successful against quarterbacks) “You got to hit them. You can’t let them stand up and look downfield all game, especially when you have one as good as Tom (Brady). It always starts with making sure he’s uncomfortable in the pocket. That being said, even when we hit Tom, it just seems like he (isn’t) rattled. You just keep pounding away. It’s kind of like pounding away at a rock: sooner or later, it’s going to break. We haven’t gotten to Brady’s breaking point yet, but hopefully (on) Sunday, we can.”
(on the influence of former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan and how it plays into tutoring teammate Jason Pierre-Paul) “Getting an opportunity to work with (Strahan) for four years, I see why he’s going to be a first-ballot hall of famer. A lot of people don’t understand his work ethic, they just (think) he’s a talented individual. That guy came to work every day. His knowledge of the game – it just seemed like every time we needed a play, he was going to be the guy to make that play. I learned so much from him as far as how to play the position. I had a lot of talent coming in, but I didn’t know how to play the position. He taught me the things to look at, things to watch on film, how to look at offensive linemen and their stance before the snap, look at the personnel, look at the formation. You can kind of tell, after watching film, what an offense is going to do to you. All those things, I learned from him. A lot of credit is due to him for my success in this league. And, (Pierre-Paul), I just want to do the same thing for him, because I know that if I didn’t have a mentor like Strahan when I came in, I wouldn’t be the player I am today. When you see a guy with that much talent, you just want to do your part to help him along.
(on whether playing the Super Bowl in Indianapolis is more meaningful having had played collegiately at Notre Dame) “Definitely. Even though South Bend is about two hours north of here, I still had a lot of people calling me and a lot of friends from my college years calling me to wish me a lot of luck. I know I’m going to have a lot of Fighting Irish fans in the crowd on Sunday, and that’s comforting to know. You’re kind of back home, a little bit. I had a lot of great years at Notre Dame and hopefully it will be a little déjà vu on Sunday.”
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