NFL: NY Giants GM Jerry Reese Says They Will Get Into Playoffs, Talks Plax, Steve Smith & More

Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

An offseason of inactivity, cap problems, and mostly doom and gloom sent Giants GM Jerry Reese into hiding for a few weeks. But he emerged Thursday in the wake of the Steve Smith fiasco and came out swinging at his critics.

He insisted the Giants had “a game plan” all along, defended the moves he did make, said he made “responsible” offers to keep Kevin Boss and Steve Smith and even Plaxico Burress. He began with a defiant speech to the media and ended his increasingly rare talk with a defiant prediction.

“We’ll get into the playoffs,” Reese said, “and we’ll make a run.”

His press conference was long and I know a lot of people have a lot of questions about what Reese has been doing during what has been a pretty gloomy start to the summer for the Giants. Here are some of the important highlights of what he had to say Thursday:

On the perception that the Giants have done nothing this offseason:

“It seems like people are in a little bit of a panic about where we are. The perception is that we are not doing a lot. We had a game plan and we are sticking to our game plan. We went out and secured the center that we wanted (David Baas). We felt like he was the best center in the market and we feel like he is a Pro Bowl center for us. It’s not as sexy as a receiver or cornerback but the guy touches the ball every single play and that was important to us to have a guy secured like him.”

On re-signing Ahmad Bradshaw:

“Bradshaw was a priority for us. He’s back in the fold and that gives us a couple running backs with starter experience who have rushed for 1,000 yards. We have some young kids in the backfield we are excited about seeing on Saturday.

On the new-look offensive line:

“(Guard Kevin) Boothe became a priority as well. He was a free agent and a swing man who can play any of the inside spots so we secured him as well. David (Diehl) moves into guard. Will Beatty, the maturation process for him has come full circle. He is our left tackle and we expect him to play well and he played well last year for us. Our right side is still intact with Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie. Mitch Petrus will have a year under his belt and Stacy Andrews and some more guys. We also drafted (James) Brewer so we feel good about where we are with our offensive line.”

On losing Steve Smith to the Eagles:

“Steve did a tremendous job for us while he was here but it is free agency and guys leave in free agency and that’s the way it is sometimes. Nobody owes you anything in free agency. It is almost a dog eat dog situation in free agency but it happens that way sometimes. Guys go to different teams. Steve moved on and we are happy for him. I hope he gets healthy and plays for a long time. He did a good job for us but we have receivers here. We have accomplished receivers in Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. They had 2,000 yards together and 20 touchdowns and that’s a lot of production. We have some young guys like (Victor) Cruz, who we want to see do some different things. We have Jerrel Jernigan and Dominik Hixon back. (Ramses) Barden is hurt right now but we expect him to come on and be a good player for us as well so that’s our receiver situation.”

On losing Kevin Boss to the Raiders:

“The tight end situation with Kevin Boss, we made a responsible offer to Kevin as well. Kevin moved on. We would have liked to have secured Kevin back but it is free agency and he got a better offer than we put out there to him. We are happy for him and we hope he does well.”

On losing Plaxico Burress to the Jets:

“The Plaxico Burress thing, we made a responsible offer to him as well. He decided to move on and go a different direction. It is free agency and that’s what happens in free agency. Sometimes you get guys and sometimes you don’t. We feel good about our roster and we have a strong roster. We will continue to try to make it stronger. That is my update.”

On whether he’s bothered by the perception that his team has taken a step back:

“I’m not bothered by that because that’s mostly fans who say that kind of stuff and they really don’t understand the process. We have good players on the team. We’re not looking to go out and make every sexy splash that can be made. We make solid football decisions. That’s been happening for a long time. Everywhere, you probably go to any camp, and the fans are saying that about their football team. That’s what fans do and that’s what makes fans great.”

On whether he was surprised Smith signed with Philly and whether he expected a chance to match any offer he received:

“I’m not blindsided or surprised by anything in free agency. It is what it is. Like I said, it’s almost a dog-eat-dog situation in free agency sometimes. I don’t get into a ‘he said, she said’ situation, but you do expect some feedback. Again, nobody owes you anything in free agency. I’m not surprised by anything.”

On the concern that Eli Manning lost two ‘safety valves’ in his passing attack:

“It’s kind of ironic, when we drafted Kevin Boss and Steve Smith, the same people who were sending me the mail saying they don’t like those guys, are the same guys saying ‘Now, why did you let them go?’ That’s football. That’s the way it is. We feel good about our squad. Somebody has to step up. Again, we had two receivers last year play really well. Nicks played 13 games, had 11 touchdowns and over 1,000 yards. Mario, I think he started six games, had over 900 yards and nine touchdowns. We have some guys who’ve been in there. We have some young guys who we expect to step up. It’s a great opportunity for everybody. Our quarterback is in his wheelhouse. We expect him to self-correct, like I mentioned at the first presser we had. We expect him to self-correct some of those things. We’re going to be good.

(Story continues…)

WRITTEN BY RALPH VACCHIANO
& FULL STORY HERE