When the New York Giants hired Joe Judge to be their head coach and Patrick Graham was chosen as defensive coordinator, the team brought in a pair of coaches who are going to work extremely hard to right the ship.
And that was confirmed by former New England Patriots linebacker and special teamer, Rob Ninkovich, who raved about Judge and Graham’s “tremendous work ethic” while appearing on the “Giants Huddle Podcast.”
Ninkovich spent eight seasons with the Patriots and played under both Graham, who held multiple roles on the Pats’ defensive coaching staff from 2009-2015, and Judge, who was a special teams assistant and then coordinator and wide receivers coach during his tenure from 2012-2019.
“Well, I think they have a tremendous work ethic,” Ninkovich said. “I was with Pat a long time. Me and Pat are very close and good friends. He helped me a lot in my career because he was so thorough in everything that he did in preparation. Same with Joe Judge. Joe Judge is going to be a guy that’s first in, last guy out. He’ll probably sleep there four or five nights a week. I know that sounds crazy, but he’s that into it. Same with Pat. Those guys, they’re not going to leave any stone unturned when it comes to preparation.”
The Giants have been lacking discipline ever since the departure of Tom Coughlin, but that shouldn’t be an issue in the Judge and Graham era, as Ninkovich points out the coaches will certainly hold players accountable.
“Coach Graham and Joe Judge are going to hold guys accountable, which is very much so needed in the NFL. You have to be accountable. You have to be expected to play at a high level week in and week out,” he said.
Accountability is important for any team, but even more so for a younger group like the Giants have now.
Thanks to Judge and Graham, the Giants are primed to have a team that focuses on work ethic, discipline and accountability — and that’s music to the ears of Big Blue’s fans.
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