JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The mantra, as repeated last night by Giants coach Tom Coughlin, goes like this:
“The number one thing is ball security as a punt returner. The first thing you’ve got to do is catch the ball.’’
The number one thing was not accomplished, as the Giants were done in by muffed punts by rookie Jayron Hosley and second-year Jerrel Jernigan last night in their 32-31 preseason-opening loss to the Jaguars.
Hosley had a 20-yard punt return and a sack on defense, but he handed the Jaguars the ball on the Giants’ 2-yard line in the final minute of the first half, trimming a 24-7 lead to 24-14.
“Didn’t set myself up in the proper position to catch the ball,’’ Hosley said. “Kind of drifted on me, kind of the last second, my mistake, got to do a better job of locating the ball and looking it in. In that situation and in that area, I should have fair-caught it.’’
Jernigan’s muff in the fourth quarter came on the Giants’ 9-yard line, leading to a Jaguars field goal.
“Looked like he took his eye off it right at the end,’’ Coughlin said. “All you’ve got to do is signal fair catch and concentrate totally on catching the ball. You don’t have to go through all that.’’
* There might not be a better catch all season than the one-handed leaping grab Isaiah Stanback made for a touchdown on a pass from David Carr in the second quarter.
* TE Martellus Bennett, in his first game for the Giants, had a solid debut with a 12-yard TD catch from Carr. “It was very, very exciting, I almost cried after I scored because I’ve been through a lot the last four years,’’ Bennett said.
* D.J. Ware, trying to move in as the second back behind Ahmad Bradshaw, helped himself with six rushes for 30 yards. … DE Adrian Tracy was impressive with a sack and forced fumble. … Not that there was much doubt rookie free agent safety Will Hill is destined to make the final roster, but he certainly looked as if he belonged in his first game.
* The replacement officials, as expected, experienced some rough patches.
They fouled up the yardage walked off on a facemask penalty on former Giants CB Aaron Ross and they started winding the clock on a Giants forced fumble, seemingly not aware of the turnover.
In the second quarter, Hosley was called for holding on a punt return.
Problem was, he was the one returning the punt. On the final play of the game, the officials should have called a 10-second runoff after an illegal forward pass, and the game should have been over instead of allowing the Giants to run that play.