CANTY WAIT TO PLAY: Coming of the bye week, Chris Canty and the Giants are eager to get back on the field with a healthier squad than they have had all season and improve on their 4-2 start. (Getty Images)
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Maybe it’s a good thing the Giants are playing the winless Dolphins this week. Not only because Miami could be mentally broken after a devastating overtime loss to Tim Tebow and the Broncos on Sunday, but a loss to such a team at home after a bye week would be utterly embarrassing.
“You don’t want to be that team that lets them win,” safety Kenny Phillips told The Post yesterday when the Giants gathered for the first time after a five-day layoff. “You say, ‘Kick a dog while he’s down.’ You definitely don’t want to wake them up. “
Convincing the 4-2 Giants the 0-6 Dolphins are a dangerous team is part of the challenge coach Tom Coughlin faces in a season where a bye week has been detrimental to a team’s success.
Under a new collective bargaining agreement that requires players to have at least four days off during a bye, teams are a collective 3-9 in their first game back from the break. It is a small sample encompassing just two weeks, but it’s certainly a red flag Coughlin figures to wave in front of his team.
Phillips admitted, “It’s easy to come back off a bye and still have the mentality like you’re in a bye week,” but the fourth-year vet saw no signs of that yesterday.
The Giants bounced through practice with renewed energy and enthusiasm. They rehearsed basic fundamentals like footwork, blocking techniques and throwing to receivers over their back shoulder. Initial aspects of the gameplan they’ll use Sunday were implemented.
It’s the same approach Coughlin has used to win four of his last five games after a bye week, including three straight.
“Hopefully, it’s because we’re refocused and ready to go,” the coach said of his recent post-bye week success. “If anything, the preparation should be better.”
Most of the Giants took it easy during the break. Phillips visited family in Miami, defensive end Dave Tollefson went back to Northwest Missouri State and watched his alma mater play, while running back Brandon Jacobs, who manages boxers, didn’t even go to The Garden Theater to watch the fights Saturday night. It was all about rest and returning energized.
“Once you get away from the game you have the enthusiasm to get back into it, being in the meetings and going through the films with your position coaches,” said defensive tackle Chris Canty. “You’re excited to be out there competing with one another.”
Indeed, the Giants seemed as happy to be back as they were to get away.
“We generally care about each other in this locker room,” Tollefson said. “It’s not like, ‘Dang, we have to go back to work.’ I was excited to get back out there.”
The lack of success this year by teams coming off a bye might suggest players become lethargic after having four or five days off and can’t get refocused. Another theory could be the losing teams have a combined record of 19-35. Coughlin isn’t concerned about theories.
“I’m concerned about our team,” he said. “We want to get our team in the best position we can possibly be in; work on the best preparation and work on the areas that we need to improve. We need to understand what Miami will bring to the table when they come in here and be ready and prepared.”
Tollefson is certain the coach will do his part and the veterans on the team will do theirs.
“I hope we have enough veteran leadership in this locker room to make sure we don’t go through the motions this week during practice,” he said.
The Giants have a 10-game schedule the rest of the way. If Sunday’s matchup with the Dolphins isn’t a must-win it’s definitely a can’t lose.
“I don’t want to give anybody any wins whether it’s their first or their seventh,” safety Deon Grant said. “I want to be greedy. That’s definitely our mentality.”