New York Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has been largely pleased with his unit this season, but his patience has worn thin over the previous three weeks. And on Thursday, it completely went out the window.
After the defense got off to a slow start in practice, Graham stopped drills and went into an expletive-laden tirade before starting the entire session over from the beginning.
This video taken seconds after Giants defensive coordinator Pat Graham stopped individual drills and yelled:
“Wake the f*!% up!”#Giants pic.twitter.com/ls2RMH3p3U
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) December 31, 2020
You know a big game is on the horizon. At one point, DC Patrick Graham made the defense start over with individual drills. Basically (no expletive version) was telling them to wake up. #Giants pic.twitter.com/CbpYlAmMwV
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) December 31, 2020
“Our daily focus is to get better every day. We have to do a better job tackling. I have to do a better job coaching it up. Whether it’s the tackling, the scheme or whatever. That’s what I take from any other previous week. I’m just trying to learn from that week and what we can do better,” Graham told reporters prior to practice.
The Giants defense had been the strength of the team leading up to a Week 14 game against the Arizona Cardinals, but things have gone downhill since then. They surrendered 26 points to the Cardinals, 20 points to the Cleveland Browns and 27 points to the Baltimore Ravens.
With an offense that’s struggling to score, Graham knows that’s not effective enough.
“I have to do a better job of coaching. I have to do a better job of coaching and laying out the plan. I have to do a better job of calling it, mixing in zone and man and stuff like that,” Graham added. “I don’t know if they’re figuring it out. It’s football, these guys get paid too, and they have good players, so they execute. It’s just a matter of I have to coach better, I have to do a better job. I’m working on it every day just trying to get better.”
With their season on the line this Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, the Giants defense has no margin for error. Fair or unfair, they will have to carry the load and Graham wants them ultra-focused. Clearly.
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