Don’t blame New York Giants head coach Joe Judge for his poor clock management this season. After all, it’s not his fault — it’s a product of those darn fault headsets.
Or so says Judge.
“The headsets were going out,” Judge told reporters after a 20-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. “We are having headset issues. This has happened in every game so far. We deal with the league and they keep telling us there are different software updates or whatever it is, but we had to call two timeouts today because we were trying to send the deals in personnel wise and you got half of the headsets not getting reception.”
Considering the Giants are eight weeks into the season and have played in five different stadiums, it’s a stretch to believe this has been a consistent problem that’s only just now found its way to the surface.
Judge’s headset complaint comes in the aftermath of another game in which poor clock management and use of timeouts cost the Giants. They had just one clock stoppage remaining to end the first half and then none to close out the second half.
In either instance, had the Giants had the use of timeouts, they would have been able to run a more stable offense, giving Daniel Jones & Co. extra time to work with. Instead, they were rushed and the offensive line was unable to contain the Chiefs’ defenders, who were provided the luxury of knowing when the snap had to be made.
“That’s the issue right there,” Judge added. “We are trying to make the right call. . . We have to make sure the hardware is working. So whatever the issue with that is, the people involved better get it fixed fast.”
The time for this issue to have been resolved is seven weeks ago. And if it’s a persistent problem, then shame on Judge and his coaching staff for not finding a functional workaround. Improvise, adapt and overcome.
“I have had it at every single stadium this year home and away. I have had issues personally,” Judge said. “I would say this. Whoever is in charge of it. I don’t know the exact answer. I don’t know if it comes from the league or us exactly, but they better fix it fast. That is it. We get the communication back that these things are an issue and then we get told they have adjusted this, they have done this, whatever it is.”
Judge said the Giants tried to use older headsets — those that were in use last season — but that request was denied by the league. It’s a similar issue to one that plagued Ben McAdoo in 2016, leading the Giants to use — and subsequently be fined for using — walkie talkies on the sideline.
“We have tried to adjust and use different hardware. It has not been allowed. We will keep on moving on,” Judge said.
The Giants return home to MetLife Stadium in Week 9 against the Las Vegas Raiders, so we’ll see if this issue persists now that it’s out in the open.
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