The Giants got humiliated in Chicago on Sunday, which makes it two blow out losses in a row for them since word broke that head coach Joe Judge will be brought back for a third season with the team.
Judge refused to comment on that report last Sunday, but he had a lot to say about the direction he believes he has the team on after going 10-22 to this point in his career. Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com counted the length of his rant at Sunday’s postgame press conference at 2,614 yards and over 11 minutes. We won’t be sharing all of what Judge had to say, but you can read it all at this link.
Judge pointed to players continuing to work hard and not devolving into fights on the sideline as some of the “number of things going in the right direction” for the team.
“This ain’t a team that’s having fistfights on the sidelines,” Judge said. “This ain’t some clown show organization or something else, ok? We’re talking about the foundation built. The toughest thing to change in the team, the toughest team to change in the club is the way people think. You understand that? That’s the toughest thing. You can get new players, you can have them in your damn locker room all you want. You have to change how people think. You change how they f--king — pardon my language — believe in what you’re doing.”
Judge said he spoke to players who talked about how the Giants quit on former coach Pat Shurmur in 2019 — they won two of their final three games to infuriate fans who wanted Chase Young with the second overall pick — and that he was part of a staff in 2018 “who halfway through the season we were all pretty convinced we were getting fired” before the team’s belief in itself turned things around.
Judge coached for the Patriots in 2018 and they were 6-2 at midseason on their way to an 11-5 record and a Super Bowl title. If there was discussion of a housecleaning in New England, it was kept on a pretty close hold.
The statement ended with Judge saying that “making sure guys are wired the right way” was the most important part of building a team and he certainly seems to believe that he’s accomplishing that even as the losses pile up quickly in New Jersey.
