Tom Coughlin's demeanor has lightened considerably over the last two years, but he's still not a guy that you'd call jocular. He's a serious and stern leader, nothing wrong with that, and he clearly views football as a job. He put forth a very different image during a bizarre Wednesday meeting with reporters, however.
When asked about how he'd feel if the Giants beat the Panthers on Sunday, Coughlin started doing jumping jacks. When asked how two straight losses are affecting the team, Coughlin played dumb.
"What two weeks?" he asked. "I have no idea what you're talking about. It's what's up front, what's coming up. Let's go. Forget about yesterday. Yesterday doesn't matter."
Amusing, but the message it sends probably isn't the one Coughlin intended. It plays like gallows humor. The world is crashing in around Coughlin after a blissful season and he doesn't seem sure about what button to push to make it all go away. So he's throwing everything against the wall in hopes that something sticks.
The Giants have only scored one garbage time touchdown in two games, so their claims of not missing Plaxico Burress fall flat when you see that they had veteran Joe Horn in for a workout today. You don't sign guys off the scrap heap in Week 16 unless you're desperate for a spark. Alas, Horn can't provide any and he wasn't signed.
The Giants have two tough games left, they're hurting and they've been slapped around for the last 120 minutes of play. If Coughlin's antics work, he should apply for Richard Simmons' job, but there's not much reason to believe that they will.
