The Giants’ goal remains securing a playoff berth and despite what has become a more daunting task, the players insist the arrow is pointing up.
“Overall, I think this team is a team I’m proud of,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “I think on the outside world, it’s going to be easy for the critics or people to say, ‘The sky is falling,’ type of thing, but we know inside that we have everything we need and everything in front of us.”
“We’ve got a really good opportunity going forward,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “We know that we have some big games down the stretch, and we put ourselves in a good position. We’ve got to heal up and take advantage of this long week and get back and learn what we’ve got to learn off this film. We’re still confident. We’re 7-4. We’ve got a lot still to accomplish.”
No player has been more forceful in vocalizing the team’s intentions than outside linebacker Jihad Ward. The player his teammates call Haddy was in his customary powerful and profane posture in the postgame locker room.
“I’m just fighting to get to the playoffs, baby,” Ward said. “That’s all I’m doing. I’m trying to win. I’ve been there plenty of times in my career. One thing about this record (stuff) – that (stuff) looks cute, and that’s the stuff that we got to fix. I don’t care about a record. We got to get into the playoffs, and we got to try to win some games to get to the Super Bowl.
“I’m just trying to win it all. I don’t care about the records. I don’t care about the stats. I’m just trying to win it all. I don’t care about any of that stuff.”
But the Giants have some steps to take to arrive at their preferred destination. The first is to get healthy. Their seven-man inactive list yesterday was comprised entirely of players who have started games this season, including cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, tight end Daniel Bellinger and tackle Evan Neal. Safety Xavier McKinney and guard Ben Bredeson also remain sidelined.
“I think all those guys are improving,” Daboll said. “They’ll have three good days of treatment here coming up. We’ll see where we’re at on Monday.”
Improved health won’t solve everything. The Giants must rediscover a rushing attack that was among the NFL’s best through the season’s first 10 weeks. Saquon Barkley ran for an average of 103.4 yards in the first nine games. But in the losses to Detroit and Dallas, he totaled just 61 yards.
“We can do a lot of things better,” Daboll said. “Not just in the run game but in the pass game, in the red…
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