Giants head coach Joe Judge made it seem as if Jason Garrett’s job security was rather low after Monday night’s loss to the Buccaneers, and indeed, less than 24 hours later, Judge took to a media briefing to address the news that Big Blue had fired Garrett as offensive coordinator:
“I have a lot of respect for Jason as a person and as a coach. He's been a tremendous asset to me as a young head coach. He's helped our development here. He's built very strong relationships in the building with the players, along with other support staff members. He's done a good job putting the team first. I have a lot of respect and appreciation for everything he's done for us. With that being said, ultimately, I'll make every decision based on what's best for the team long-term. I feel we have to be more productive as an offense. Generally speaking, the offense's job is to score points. I don't believe we're scoring enough points. It's my job as the head coach to make sure I give our players an opportunity to go out there and make plays.”
Judge wouldn’t go deeper on whether or not Garrett was offered a reduced role (i.e. staying OC in name but giving up play-calling), nor would he officially name a replacement play caller; Freddie Kitchens, technically a senior offensive assistant, been rumored to be the next interim OC, but Judge said “everything's on the table” in regards to play-calling.
“We’ll have to see how things go during the week, but obviously, we're going to do some things and the goal is to score more points, be more productive,” Judge said. “We'll talk in terms of game planning tonight specifically for the Eagles, and see how that looks when we get the call sheet together.”
Much has been made about the Giants not making this move heading into their bye week – which they went into off a win against Las Vegas – but Judge downplayed that optic.
“In terms of entering the bye week, we had played a stretch of three games leading into it where I thought as a team we were making some progress overall. There were some things we had to address and change and improve on, but ultimately, I thought going into the bye week giving it a little bit more time going forward,” Judge said. “I just want to make sure that we continue to make progress in the right direction.”
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Maybe it is, then, a coincidence that the move was made coming off their worst statistical performance of the season in Tampa Bay. But no matter who is the play caller, or the nominal OC, it will still be the same offensive group that goes out there on Sunday against the Eagles. So, then, what made now the right time to relieve Garrett of his duties, and what does Judge think will change or hopes will change?
“I don't think there's ever an ideal time to make a change like this in a season, but you have to go ahead and you have to be prepared to roll with it,” Judge said. “Real simple, it's my job as a head coach to make sure that I give our players the best opportunity to go out there and be successful. There's going to be a lot of the same players out there and it'll still be elements of the playbook that we'll have out there. We'll see as new wrinkles develop and new schemes and concepts that may be included. Ultimately, we have to put the players in position to execute, but we've got to find something to go ahead and give us an opportunity to change things up a little bit. Obviously, at this point, what we're doing, we're not scoring enough points. Again, this is not a snap decision or anything in terms of a reflection of last night, but we've got to make some moves to give our offense an opportunity to change some things up, be more productive and ultimately score more points.”
Because Tuesday was a rest day, Judge had not yet addressed the players, only speaking to a couple of captains, and he will address the situation on Wednesday…but noted, as always, that no matter what, there are a lot of things the Giants need to improve on heading into Sunday.
“You watch the tape, there's always some good things you can build on and there's a number of things you have to look at and just identify and say, 'okay, this is something that we have to correct and correct fast because Philadelphia is watching that same tape today and they're going to look to exploit weaknesses',” Judge said. “That's their job. Our job is to fix it and make sure that we don't get exploited. On the same note, in terms of personnel, we compete every week going through in terms of playing time. I talk all the time about taking guys to the game and giving them an opportunity to play. We'll kind of see how the week of practice goes in terms of who goes ahead and plays throughout the game, but I want everyone to have an opportunity to compete for playing time.”
It is clear, though, there will be some adjustments, but not necessarily within the coaching staff.
“We make adjustments all the time with players. When we lose significant players to injury or a loss in the game plan or whatever it may be, we have to make adjustments and keep on moving,” Judge said. “I explain to the coaches all the time, I expect everyone to approach the game planning from a coordinator's mindset so they understand the big-picture and they can greater contribute to what's going on within the game plan.”
And no matter what, Judge expects improvement.
“As I said last night, I expect to see an increased level of production. That's what I expect,” he said. “Ultimately, the job of the offense is to score points and, like I've said a number of times, we haven't scored enough points offensively. It sounds very basic and to the point, but that's something we have to do a better job of.”
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