Coughlin's message: Remember loss to Eagles
The Giants are not putting last year's playoff loss to the Eagles behind them.
Instead, coach Tom Coughlin is urging them to use the defeat as motivation in the six weeks leading up to training camp.
Coughlin addressed his team one final time today. He won't speak to them as a group again until the Giants open camp on August 2. At the end of practice, he delivered an 18-minute speech, part of which focused on the loss to the Eagles that ended the Giants' season.
"They need to think long and hard about the disappointment of January in terms of what we created for ourselves and how badly we want to prioritize our 2009 season," Coughlin said, per Mike Garafolo of The Newark Star-Ledger.
The words "what we created for ourselves" stick out to me. Not exactly taking the position of "Give the Eagles credit for beating us" is he?
He later added:
"What I'm saying is stop and think about the bitterness of the January situation and then realize that, as in for example the Laker team, you can focus on that as a primary motivational position to take and let that be something that you transport over the summer -- the idea of getting to and surpassing the circumstance you were in a year ago."
The comments are interesting because this isn't the first time the Giants have referenced the divisional round loss to the Eagles. Osi Umenyiora said not long ago that the Giants will beat the Eagles this year if put in the same situation.
"They should. I do -- and I wasn't on the football field," he said, in reference to whether the Giants are using the loss to motivate themselves. "I was on the field, but I wasn't playing and I saw the way it ended. It was a team we should have beat and it was a team that, if the opportunity arises again, we will beat."
And as Eagletarian pointed out, Brandon Jacobs spoke of the bad taste he has in his mouth from the loss.
The date to circle on the calendar is November 1. That's when the G-Men travel to the Linc to take on the Birds. The two teams meet for the second time on Dec. 13 in a Sunday night matchup.
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