We’re just not playing the type of football we’ve been playing since the beginning of the season. We have to make more plays, stop making penalties that kill us and get off the field on third down. All the teams we’re playing are geared up for the playoffs now, so we have to play better football all-around. Offense, defense and special teams, we have to play in sync with each other, which we haven’t done the past couple of weeks.
We’ve got two good teams coming up, first Carolina on Sunday for home-field advantage in the playoffs. They’re a good team so we’ve got our hands full. We have to get back to doing the small things that made us great during the season.
Carolina has two excellent running backs and the last two weeks we’ve been struggling to stop the run, so I’m pretty sure they’re going to try to run the ball. Steve Smith is one of the best receivers in the game, they’ve got a good O-line and a solid quarterback so our work will be cut out for us.
I definitely want to play. That’s the thing, the players always want to be out there on the field, but I don’t want to go out there too early and have a chance to reinjure my shoulder. I want to make sure I’m around for the playoffs, take some time as far as the healing process. I started having problems with it after playing last week.
What happens when you have an injury is that you talk to the team doctor, they ask for your opinion, the doc says his opinion and the coach makes the final decision. Coach Coughlin said he wanted to make sure I was around for the playoffs. Health is a big issue and you want to make sure you don’t reinjure yourself.
I’m definitely starting to feel better but it’s too early to say for sure whether I’ll play against Carolina. The strength in my shoulder just isn’t there yet, I can’t protect myself on the field and that’s not a good thing. I’ll probably know by the end of the week. Friday I’ll go out there and do some work on the practice field and see how it feels.
By the way, I was named Pro Bowl second alternate for the NFC … could be my first trip to Hawaii. I want to thank my family, friends and fans for their votes and their continued support.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. His blog for playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Beating Dallas was a good win for us. It was a nice new stadium, but we’re not out there to be distracted. We had a game to play and we had to focus as a team. We couldn’t get caught up in all the extra stuff that was going on. The ex-president was there, there were 100,000 fans, but it was just another football game to us and we were able to keep our composure.
We made some mistakes as far as our run defense, guys missed gaps and that hurt us. They made some big runs, when you make mistakes against the good teams they are going to capitalize. Marion Barber is a good back with good vision, he was able to hit the right gaps. And they have a very good front line. They did a good job keeping us off-balance with some misdirection runs, play-action, some bootlegs and a few screens. They never let us get in a rhythm for a pass rush. Luckily we were able to come up some big plays of our own like the interceptions.
When two good teams play each other it always comes down to a couple plays here or there.
I wasn’t upset when their coach called that timeout on the final kick. There’s no rule against it. It was just a good thing that Tynes came back and kicked the winner, that’s all I’m concerned about.
TampaBay is next and we have to make corrections and adjustments because Dallas ran for a lot of yardage, so you know Tampa is going to try to run it, too. They have a good O-line and good backs, so we have to go out there and shut down the run and give our pass rushers a chance to pass rush.
We’re not down on ourselves, we know what we have to do. The mistakes we made are easily correctible with a few adjustments.
It’s been frustrating to not be able to get on the field because of my knee, when everyone else is out there working hard, doing things to make the team better. You want to get out there and go to work again, get some of that camaraderie with your teammates. This is definitely one of the toughest things I’ve had to go through, just sitting back and waiting. I was pretty anxious to get back out there.
Now I’ve been back for a few days and everything feels good. I’ve had a couple days to get back on the grind and it feels good just to participate.
The knee feels fine and I haven’t had any problems with it. Being out the whole off-season and not being able to do anything but rehab was tough, now I can finally show what I can do and have some fun. There’s been no soreness, I’m participating in all the drills without limitations and practicing full speed. I’m just glad to be able to come back from an injury like that and not have any problems with it.
I’m ready to get this season started.
The rookies have been singing for us, and honestly pretty much all of them have been bad. A couple guys did OK. We’ll probably make a few more of them stand up tonight and sing for us like little birds.
Coming down the last week and a half, two weeks of camp we’ll definitely have a little more fun with the rookies.
I got married in Florida a couple weeks ago. Tia and I have been together for a while but now it’s official, it’s on paper. It was a big day in both of our lives and a lot of teammates from Minnesota and New York were there.
It will be a new experience for both of us and we’re looking forward to planning a family.
I’m ready to get back to work and we have OTAs this week, but I’m being held out to get my knee healthy and strong again after surgery. We’re taking our time with it, just making sure I’m at my best health for training camp. I don’t want to rush it and it’s getting stronger and healthier each day.
Last year I hurt my shoulder and broke both hands after a great start. Right now my hands are totally healed, my shoulder feels good and we’re just taking it slow with my knee.
I’m looking forward to getting back out there on the field. I think we report for training camp around August 2. Football is in the air, finally.
We beefed up our D line by adding Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard. Toward the end of last year we got worn down by injuries, but now we have a lot of depth. These guys have started for different teams, and with them and BarryCofield and Jay Alford we have a great rotation.
These guys can play multiple positions across the line, a little defensive tackle, nose guard. They give us a lot of depth.
Rotating guys in and out will keep us fresh and make us all better. The sky’s the limit. This line is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
I’m back home in Pensacola now, I’m going to just relax and chill for a couple of weeks. Maybe after the Super Bowl I’ll get back into the swing of things, start working out again and get ready for the off-season program. Nothing too rigorous, just stay in the swing of things, some running, a little lifting, until I go back to New York.
We just had a bad day against the Eagles man, we couldn’t get anything going and they made the necessary plays. We gave up some points early after some bad field position. We played them tough, but in the end it was just one of those things where we couldn’t get anything going.
I thought the defense played pretty tough, particularly in the first half, but the Eagles made some big plays to keep drives going. We gave up some key third down plays and a couple of penalties hurt us.
On that 3rd and 20 play they caught us in a blitz and we got confused on the back end. There was no pressure, we gave McNabb too much time to throw and he made a big play. We gave up some key plays in the second half and missed some tackles.
I had a big play with that interception, but Kevin Curtis made a good play to trip me up.
It’s going to be an interesting and exciting off-season. I’m getting married to Tia Watts on May 23. The Giants have a new defensive coordinator with Spags in St. Louis. Spags is a great guy, he interacted with the players. He was more than just a coach and mentor, also a friend. He works hard and has fun doing it, so I think that will translate into success as a head coach.
Our new D coordinator is Bill Sheridan, who was the linebackers coach. He’s been around a couple years and we understand him. That will make it easier because we’ll have the same system, no new scheme. I think everything will run smoothly.
I hope everyone checks back here during the off-season, I’ll try to check in, too, and let everyone know what is happening.
My Super Bowl prediction: Steelers 28, Cardinals 14.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
is working really hard on the field as a defensive tackle for the New York Giants. Week after week he is making special and crucial defensive and even offensive plays for the Giants! Now you can help make something special happen for him... let's all vote to send him to the Pro Bowl. It's so easy.
After two straight losses we have to bounce back. It’s a long season and you can’t get down on yourself. We play a good Philly team this week and we have to get back on track.
Every season is not perfect. We have to get on a roll, find our sweet spot. It starts with everyone doing more than they’re asked to do. We have to play better, and we have to stop getting penalties. That can hurt you against a good team.
We didn’t capitalize on our opportunities and Arizona did. Whenever we had a chance we would hurt ourselves with a penalty or a turnover. On defense I know we can play better, make more stops in the red zone and get off the field on third down.
We have to turn it up a notch now because it’s crunch time. We can’t fall apart.
We have to do the little things better. Up front we have to make our moves quicker because teams have adjusted to us, they’re getting rid of the ball quicker. We have to do our job and the secondary has to do its job, we all work hand in hand. The other team figures they’re not going to give us a chance to do what we do best, which is get to the quarterback. They’re keeping extra guys in to block, getting the quarterback to the edge and getting rid of the ball faster on little 5-6 yard passes.
It’s a good time to play the Eagles. A win would cure everything. We’re playing a division opponent, a good rival and it will be an intense game. That’s a good way to get back on track, stop all those sad faces in the locker room. And you can’t let the losses pile up, especially in the division.
Teams are starting to make their push. We have nine games left and we have to keep moving on. Beating the Eagles would definitely get our spirits up.
It was a rough game for us last Sunday, but there’s a long season ahead and we can’t let one loss get us down. We just have to put it behind us and get ready for Arizona.
The Saints have a good offense and Drew Brees is an excellent quarterback, he makes quick reads and gets rid of the ball quick and on target. I don’t want to take anything away from them, but we just didn’t play good football. We didn’t get any pressure on Brees and he’s too accurate of a quarterback to leave alone back there.
So it was a rough loss, but you can’t dwell on it. We didn’t play good football so you just put it behind you and get rid of it quick. We have a good Arizona team coming in here Sunday night and they also like to throw the ball a lot so we’d better be ready.
We have to do a better job up front on the D-line getting pressure on the quarterback. Everything in the defense goes hand in hand, from the D-line to the secondary. If we do a better job up front of getting pressure, the D-backs don’t have to cover as long. If we can rile up the quarterback it gives the secondary more of a chance to make plays.
We also need to do a better job of tackling. The Saints got a lot of extra yardage. All the little things we did wrong though can be corrected. If we can make those corrections, we’ll be OK.
Arizona has a solid offensive line, great receivers and a veteran quarterback in Kurt Warner. He’s been in the league a long time and he knows a lot about us.
We need to go out and have a good week of practice, clean up our mistakes and go out and play solid football.
Against the Raiders we showed that good things happen when we put all three phases of the game together, offense, defense and special teams. There’s still room for improvement but overall I think we played a heck of a game. We came out fast on defense, had some three-and-outs and put pressure on the quarterback. We played the run well and really shut them down.
Still, I think we could do a better job of tackling, and we did let up a few big runs.
We have our toughest game of the season up next with the Saints in New Orleans. Against Drew Brees everything has to go hand in hand for the defense because he gets rid of the ball quick and on target. The D-line has to get pressure, even if we can’t get sacks we have to harass him and keep him in the pocket. The linebackers have to stop the run and take care of their assignments and the D-backs have to do a good job in coverage.
With Brees, if a D-back is just a couple yards from the receiver, he’s going to complete that pass.
One goal is to stop the run to make them one-dimensional. That will give us more control out there. The Saints have a solid offensive line as a group, and obviously a quarterback who’s been throwing for a lot of yards the last couple years. They can run the ball and they’ve got an old friend at tight end in Jeremy Shockey and we call know what he can do. It’s a potent offense across the board.
Any time you face a team like that in their home stadium you have to play flawless. The last couple weeks we played good football, but not flawless.
I know Shockey’s going to come out with something to prove. Anytime you play a former team it gets you fired up. He still knows a lot of guys on this team, so there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to come out and give his best effort.
I’m really looking forward to going to New Orleans. I’m going to have a lot of family going there to see me play. It’s about a 3-hour drive from Pensacola, so it’s a good opportunity to have them come out.
It’s always great to beat a division opponent, so it was a good win for us against the Redskins. It was our first win of the season and it came in the division so it feels good.
We still have a few wrinkles to iron out, some cleanup to do, but overall we did a pretty good job. They started with a big run against us but we bounced back, didn’t get down on each other and finished strong.
In the NFL you can only enjoy a win for about a day. We have another tough game coming up at Dallas, so you can’t dwell on your win the whole week before. You’ve got to keep moving forward, getting ready for a tough division opponent in their new stadium. There will be a lot of hype and a lot of emotions going wild. We have to go in with our A game and improve on what we did last week.
We got the first game out of the way with a win but we can’t be satisfied. Our D could be better, you always have to improve.
I felt good, healthy. I didn’t get a sack or a lot of tackles but that’s just one of those things. They didn’t run the ball that much and we kept pressure on Campbell all day, plus our offense had the ball a lot of the time. Stats don’t always show how you play. I did some good things, I’m feeling good and healthy.
Dallas will be big. A Sunday night game in Dallas is definitely going to be a primetime game.
This last month before we report to training camp on August 2nd I’m trying to train twice a day to get ready for two-a-days. You’ve got to get your body in the routine of working out in the morning and then working out again in the afternoon.
You want your body to be ready for the season, the long haul, and you want to be in the best shape physically.
But it’s also important to be in the right state of mind mentally. Before training camp you want to spend a lot of time with your family and friends because once training camp starts that’s all over for a while. Just try to do your day to day activities, some of your hobbies, prepare yourself and get your mind prepared.
Training camp is far more intense than mini camp and OTAs. At mini camp guys are just getting a feel for football again. They’re getting together for the first time since the season ended and there are a lot of new faces, rookies and free agent guys, and it’s a chance for everyone to come together and start putting the pieces together.
Mini camp is where a team starts building the foundation for the season, but training camp is a step above and guys really start going all-out. Training camp is when you build on everything you learned in mini camp.
Training camp isn’t a fun time but it’s not supposed to be. It’s the worst part of the season but it’s supposed to be hard so when it’s time to play the games you’re ready.
A lot of guys dread training camp but also look forward to it because this is where the team comes together. Day in and day out the guys really bond because you’re together on the practice field, in the cafeteria, and when you’re just relaxing. It builds camaraderie.
There’s great leadership on this team, a lot of guys who work hard and have fun doing it. And Coach Coughlin and all the coaches do a good job of not wearing our bodies down in training camp. They work us hard but keep us fresh enough to get through the preseason and the regular season and hopefully through the playoffs.
I’ve got to tell you, I really don’t know that much about the situation with Plaxico and I don’t listen to hearsay. I don’t get caught up in it.
All I can tell you is that right now it’s out of our hands, and we still have a season to play. It’s an unfortunate and sad thing that it did happen, but we’ve got to stay focused on what we’ve got going on. We’ve got to look forward and keep pushing. He’s a teammate and I’m here to support him, but I’ve still got a job to do.
This team will not be distracted. We’re big on overcoming adversity and staying focused. There’s always a lot going on and you can’t get caught up in it. We’ve got a good group of guys, and not just the older guys, who lead the team and stay with the job at hand.
Coach Coughlin keeps us all level headed, we have one loss but every game we go into he makes it seem like we just lost last week. The guys know how to follow and know how to lead.
We know what it takes. We had a taste of success last year and we know we can’t let outside distractions get a hold of us because that could break the team apart.
We know what it takes and we’re just going to keep doing what we do best.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. His blog for playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
I hurt the AC joint in my shoulder in the Arizona game. I don’t know the exact play it happened on. I think a couple of plays after I tried to block a field goal, I got a hit on the quarterback and fell on it wrong. I started to lose strength in the shoulder in the second half and got X-rays.
I couldn’t lift it at all last week but it was getting better day by day, so I thought I might be healthy enough to play against Washington. It was a game-time decision, and when it came time to play the strength just wasn’t there. I worked out before the game but the shoulder didn’t come through. I had every intention of playing, but now it’s getting time to rest and heal.
It’s getting better now, I’m able to lift some weights and get some movement in it.
I am DEFINITELY playing this week.
The guys really stepped up against the Redskins. BarryCofield always does a good job and Jay Alford started in my place. Jeremy Clark came off the practice squad and did an excellent job filling in.
That’s the way this team is. One guy going down can’t hurt us on defense. That’s what separates us from other teams in the league, it’s never about just one guy, we can bounce back from injuries and stuff like that.
You never plan for an injury to happen. I’ve had some bad luck with my two broken hands and now my shoulder, but you’ve got to stay positive and my spirits are high. It’s slowed me down a bit but the key is not to get down about it and do different things out on the field. Your hands are your weapons when you’re a lineman, without them you have to resort to technique, technique becomes more of a factor and you become a smarter player.
I’m not complaining. My hands are healed up and my shoulder is coming along. No one wants to sit on the sideline and watch the team play.
We’ve got the Eagles this week, coming down the stretch, we know they’ll be ready because they’re fighting for a playoff spot. They’ve got one of the best quarterbacks in the game and one of the best running backs, and some good young receivers.
They’ve had some injuries on the O-line, they lost Shawn Andrews and some other guys, so I’m not sure who I’ll be going up against because they might move some guys around. Probably Nick Cole.
We know it will be a tough game because the Eagles are ready to make their playoff push, and when you play a team in your division you can throw the records out the window.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. His blog for playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
We’re going into Thanksgiving coming off a good win. It was nice to be back in Arizona where we won the Super Bowl, but this is a new season, a different team, and the Cardinals were undefeated at home, so this was a good win for us.
With a team that throws like that, with the Pro Bowl guys they have, you know they’re going to make some plays, but we did a good job of keeping them out of the end zone. The running game was not a major concern, we were able to shut it down and make them one-dimensional and our secondary did a good job of holding them up all day.
Kurt Warner is in the same situation he was in when he had success in St. Louis, a lot of good receivers. He has the same kind of system where he’s comfortable throwing the ball 50 times a game. When he was with us we didn’t do so much passing, the focus was on the running game and passing off the run instead of straight-up passing all day long. He was never comfortable in that situation.
We play the Redskins on Sunday and I’ll be going up against Randy Thomas. He’s a good athletic guy, a good offensive lineman, good hands, good feet, he move-blocks well and we’ve had our battles over the years. The main thing for us will be to stop the run against Clinton Portis, but they also have Chris Cooley, Santana Moss and a good quarterback.
It never changes for us, though, we have to shut down the run and make them one-dimensional, because we’ve got enough guys on the line and in the secondary who can play the pass. Our front seven takes pride in shutting down the passing game.
For Thanksgiving, I’ve got some family coming to town and a friend coming down, about eight people coming over to my place and my fiancé, Tia, is going to cook. Her macaroni is off the chain!
It means a lot to spend a couple days with family and friends for the holiday. During the season you don’t get to do that and I was brought up very family-oriented, so I really look forward to it.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. His blog for playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
During the bye week I just rested up, that’s about it. I didn’t get the chance to go home because a small hurricane came through, so I just chilled out here, relaxed and rested up. Got my head on straight so I can finish out the season strong.
I think the bye came at a good time for us. Last year it came kind of early and we had to run off 10-11 straight games, so anytime near midseason is a big help. Some guys are banged up and this will be a chance to help get some guys healed.
The bye also gives you a chance to get your mind refreshed. We’re a good football team but the last few weeks we have not played to our full potential. The week off gives you a chance to refocus, get back in the right frame of mind, and also to look back on what we’ve done well and what teams have done against us, see where we made mistakes through the first nine games.
We come back against Atlanta and they’re a good, solid football team. Everyone is making their playoff push right now so this is a big game for us. We can’t allow teams to get separation on us, we have to come out hard and be in every game and win every close game.
The Falcons have a couple guys that also went to Wake Forest, Tyson Clabo on the offensive line and Ovie Mughelli the fullback. It will be fun to go out there and play against Ovie, my old college teammate, but we’re trying to win a football game. We can be friends after the game.
Losing three games in a row definitely hurts. We have to get back on track and do it quick. Go back to basics. Not start over, but get back to what we do best.
We’re a little down right now but if we can get a win against San Diego going into our bye week it will go a long way toward getting us on a roll. Then after the bye maybe we can get some guys back healthy and get things rolling. You want to have everyone back, especially for the last stretch of the season.
Mostly we’re killing ourselves. We have to get back to playing Giants football. We haven’t played well in any phase of the game.
But with our backs against the wall, we know we have to come out fighting.
We can do a better job up front as far as rushing goes, contain the quarterback more and make him get rid of the ball quick. Our defense has not done a good job overall, but you can’t blame one position. It all goes hand in hand.
Right now we’re not playing well in any of the three phases of the game. We’re playing hard, but not consistent. We’re giving up too many big plays. We made some good plays but we didn’t make enough. A good team like Philly will expose your weaknesses. We have to do a better job on third down and in the red zone.
This is our last game before the bye week and you always want to go into the bye with a win, otherwise you have to think about it for two weeks. You want to have that winning taste in your mouth during your time off. Then you can rest up and get right back on track.
It would be tough if we lost four straight to have to think about it for two weeks. You have to go into the bye with a win.
I can’t remember the last time we lost three in a row. But this is a good group of guys. I know we can do it. I know what we’re capable of, we just haven’t been doing it lately.
Losing three games in a row definitely hurts. We have to get back on track and do it quick. Go back to basics. Not start over, but get back to what we do best.
We’re a little down right now but if we can get a win against San Diego going into our bye week it will go a long way toward getting us on a roll. Then after the bye maybe we can get some guys back healthy and get things rolling. You want to have everyone back, especially for the last stretch of the season.
Mostly we’re killing ourselves. We have to get back to playing Giants football. We haven’t played well in any phase of the game.
But with our backs against the wall, we know we have to come out fighting.
We can do a better job up front as far as rushing goes, contain the quarterback more and make him get rid of the ball quick. Our defense has not done a good job overall, but you can’t blame one position. It all goes hand in hand.
Right now we’re not playing well in any of the three phases of the game. We’re playing hard, but not consistent. We’re giving up too many big plays. We made some good plays but we didn’t make enough. A good team like Philly will expose your weaknesses. We have to do a better job on third down and in the red zone.
This is our last game before the bye week and you always want to go into the bye with a win, otherwise you have to think about it for two weeks. You want to have that winning taste in your mouth during your time off. Then you can rest up and get right back on track.
It would be tough if we lost four straight to have to think about it for two weeks. You have to go into the bye with a win.
I can’t remember the last time we lost three in a row. But this is a good group of guys. I know we can do it. I know what we’re capable of, we just haven’t been doing it lately.
Losing three games in a row definitely hurts. We have to get back on track and do it quick. Go back to basics. Not start over, but get back to what we do best.
We’re a little down right now but if we can get a win against San Diego going into our bye week it will go a long way toward getting us on a roll. Then after the bye maybe we can get some guys back healthy and get things rolling. You want to have everyone back, especially for the last stretch of the season.
Mostly we’re killing ourselves. We have to get back to playing Giants football. We haven’t played well in any phase of the game.
But with our backs against the wall, we know we have to come out fighting.
We can do a better job up front as far as rushing goes, contain the quarterback more and make him get rid of the ball quick. Our defense has not done a good job overall, but you can’t blame one position. It all goes hand in hand.
Right now we’re not playing well in any of the three phases of the game. We’re playing hard, but not consistent. We’re giving up too many big plays. We made some good plays but we didn’t make enough. A good team like Philly will expose your weaknesses. We have to do a better job on third down and in the red zone.
This is our last game before the bye week and you always want to go into the bye with a win, otherwise you have to think about it for two weeks. You want to have that winning taste in your mouth during your time off. Then you can rest up and get right back on track.
It would be tough if we lost four straight to have to think about it for two weeks. You have to go into the bye with a win.
I can’t remember the last time we lost three in a row. But this is a good group of guys. I know we can do it. I know what we’re capable of, we just haven’t been doing it lately.
We’re looking good. It’s still a long season, but right now the Giants are doing a lot of things right and we’re looking good.
This is still the NFL though and anybody can be beat. Last year we were undefeated going into the Cleveland game and they came out and played their best game. We didn’t play our best game and we got beat. You can’t take anything for granted in this league, if a team has its back to the wall they’re going to come out fighting. Cleveland gave us a loss last year, and that one loss could have made a difference when it came time for making the playoffs.
We’re a good team and we’re doing some good things, but we still have to prepare for a fight against Oakland. Their record might not indicate it but they have some good players.
We have a mature veteran team and we know what it takes to win. The veterans do a good job of keeping everybody upbeat and keeping everybody working hard and focused through the week no matter who we’re playing. When you lose that focus because everything seems to be going well, that’s when things start to slide downhill.
This is a true veteran group and it’s what we thrive on.
As for Eli, from everything I’ve heard he should be ready to go. But if he can’t we’ve got David Carr who can step right in. He’s been around the league for a while, he knows how to perform and how to prepare during the week to win on Sunday. These things happen during the course of the season so no one gets too excited about it. Eli is our quarterback and we hope he’s good to go, but if he’s not we know we can still win.
Now in mid-season there’s not too much craziness going on in the locker room. No more rookie hazing or anything like that. The best we can do is make the rookies pay when we go out for dinner as a unit. But the defensive line doesn’t have any rookies this year, so maybe we’ll have to try to get Clint Sintim. He sits in on D-line meetings when we talk about rushing the quarterback, so maybe we can get him out for a D-line dinner and stick him with the check.
It feels good to be 3-0. I feel like we took another step in the right direction when we shut out Tampa Bay but we still have a ways to go, there’s still room for improvement. We have a long season ahead of us.
It’s hard to shut out any team in the NFL but we played well in all three phases of the game, offense, defense and special teams. The offense did a great job of controlling the football. That really makes our job easier when the offense is on the field for a long time sustaining drives. Any time we’re not on the field, it’s a good thing.
Now we’ve got Kansas City. They’re a good team even though their record doesn’t indicate that. They have a solid offensive line. We can’t go in there relaxed and feel cool and calm just because we’re 3-0. Last year we were 4-0 and headed into Cleveland and they gave us a tough game. The Chiefs have guys getting paid to play, too, and each week is different so you can’t ever relax.
We’ve really been grinding it out this season. Long hours at work trying to get better, studying film. I spend the off days with my wife, sometimes we catch a movie or something, but it’s grinding time. We have all of our fun in the off-season, during the summer.
I love the New York area. It’s a very different atmosphere from where I grew up in Florida, but my wife and I love it up here. This is our second home.
Back to football, we have to get some sacks against the Chiefs on Sunday. We’ve gotten a lot of QB hits the last couple of weeks but not a lot of sacks. We have to start getting them, we pride ourselves on that. We up front have to stop the run to give our guys a chance to hit the quarterback.
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We Need to Bounce Back—Fast
Written By Fred Robbins
December 16, 2008
We’re just not playing the type of football we’ve been playing since the beginning of the season. We have to make more plays, stop making penalties that kill us and get off the field on third down. All the teams we’re playing are geared up for the playoffs now, so we have to play better football all-around. Offense, defense and special teams, we have to play in sync with each other, which we haven’t done the past couple of weeks.
We’ve got two good teams coming up, first Carolina on Sunday for home-field advantage in the playoffs. They’re a good team so we’ve got our hands full. We have to get back to doing the small things that made us great during the season.
Carolina has two excellent running backs and the last two weeks we’ve been struggling to stop the run, so I’m pretty sure they’re going to try to run the ball. Steve Smith is one of the best receivers in the game, they’ve got a good O-line and a solid quarterback so our work will be cut out for us.
I definitely want to play. That’s the thing, the players always want to be out there on the field, but I don’t want to go out there too early and have a chance to reinjure my shoulder. I want to make sure I’m around for the playoffs, take some time as far as the healing process. I started having problems with it after playing last week.
What happens when you have an injury is that you talk to the team doctor, they ask for your opinion, the doc says his opinion and the coach makes the final decision. Coach Coughlin said he wanted to make sure I was around for the playoffs. Health is a big issue and you want to make sure you don’t reinjure yourself.
I’m definitely starting to feel better but it’s too early to say for sure whether I’ll play against Carolina. The strength in my shoulder just isn’t there yet, I can’t protect myself on the field and that’s not a good thing. I’ll probably know by the end of the week. Friday I’ll go out there and do some work on the practice field and see how it feels.
By the way, I was named Pro Bowl second alternate for the NFC … could be my first trip to Hawaii. I want to thank my family, friends and fans for their votes and their continued support.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. His blog for playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
A Good Win
September 22, 2009
Beating Dallas was a good win for us. It was a nice new stadium, but we’re not out there to be distracted. We had a game to play and we had to focus as a team. We couldn’t get caught up in all the extra stuff that was going on. The ex-president was there, there were 100,000 fans, but it was just another football game to us and we were able to keep our composure.
We made some mistakes as far as our run defense, guys missed gaps and that hurt us. They made some big runs, when you make mistakes against the good teams they are going to capitalize. Marion Barber is a good back with good vision, he was able to hit the right gaps. And they have a very good front line. They did a good job keeping us off-balance with some misdirection runs, play-action, some bootlegs and a few screens. They never let us get in a rhythm for a pass rush. Luckily we were able to come up some big plays of our own like the interceptions.
When two good teams play each other it always comes down to a couple plays here or there.
I wasn’t upset when their coach called that timeout on the final kick. There’s no rule against it. It was just a good thing that Tynes came back and kicked the winner, that’s all I’m concerned about.
Tampa Bay is next and we have to make corrections and adjustments because Dallas ran for a lot of yardage, so you know Tampa is going to try to run it, too. They have a good O-line and good backs, so we have to go out there and shut down the run and give our pass rushers a chance to pass rush.
We’re not down on ourselves, we know what we have to do. The mistakes we made are easily correctible with a few adjustments.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Good to be Back
August 13, 2009
It’s been frustrating to not be able to get on the field because of my knee, when everyone else is out there working hard, doing things to make the team better. You want to get out there and go to work again, get some of that camaraderie with your teammates. This is definitely one of the toughest things I’ve had to go through, just sitting back and waiting. I was pretty anxious to get back out there.
Now I’ve been back for a few days and everything feels good. I’ve had a couple days to get back on the grind and it feels good just to participate.
The knee feels fine and I haven’t had any problems with it. Being out the whole off-season and not being able to do anything but rehab was tough, now I can finally show what I can do and have some fun. There’s been no soreness, I’m participating in all the drills without limitations and practicing full speed. I’m just glad to be able to come back from an injury like that and not have any problems with it.
I’m ready to get this season started.
The rookies have been singing for us, and honestly pretty much all of them have been bad. A couple guys did OK. We’ll probably make a few more of them stand up tonight and sing for us like little birds.
Coming down the last week and a half, two weeks of camp we’ll definitely have a little more fun with the rookies.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
New Weapons on the D Line
June 2, 2009
I got married in Florida a couple weeks ago. Tia and I have been together for a while but now it’s official, it’s on paper. It was a big day in both of our lives and a lot of teammates from Minnesota and New York were there.
It will be a new experience for both of us and we’re looking forward to planning a family.
I’m ready to get back to work and we have OTAs this week, but I’m being held out to get my knee healthy and strong again after surgery. We’re taking our time with it, just making sure I’m at my best health for training camp. I don’t want to rush it and it’s getting stronger and healthier each day.
Last year I hurt my shoulder and broke both hands after a great start. Right now my hands are totally healed, my shoulder feels good and we’re just taking it slow with my knee.
I’m looking forward to getting back out there on the field. I think we report for training camp around August 2. Football is in the air, finally.
We beefed up our D line by adding Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard. Toward the end of last year we got worn down by injuries, but now we have a lot of depth. These guys have started for different teams, and with them and Barry Cofield and Jay Alford we have a great rotation.
These guys can play multiple positions across the line, a little defensive tackle, nose guard. They give us a lot of depth.
Rotating guys in and out will keep us fresh and make us all better. The sky’s the limit. This line is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com. Follow him on Twitter as fredrobbins.
My Off-Season
Written By Fred Robbins
January 20, 2009
I’m back home in Pensacola now, I’m going to just relax and chill for a couple of weeks. Maybe after the Super Bowl I’ll get back into the swing of things, start working out again and get ready for the off-season program. Nothing too rigorous, just stay in the swing of things, some running, a little lifting, until I go back to New York.
We just had a bad day against the Eagles man, we couldn’t get anything going and they made the necessary plays. We gave up some points early after some bad field position. We played them tough, but in the end it was just one of those things where we couldn’t get anything going.
I thought the defense played pretty tough, particularly in the first half, but the Eagles made some big plays to keep drives going. We gave up some key third down plays and a couple of penalties hurt us.
On that 3rd and 20 play they caught us in a blitz and we got confused on the back end. There was no pressure, we gave McNabb too much time to throw and he made a big play. We gave up some key plays in the second half and missed some tackles.
I had a big play with that interception, but Kevin Curtis made a good play to trip me up.
It’s going to be an interesting and exciting off-season. I’m getting married to Tia Watts on May 23. The Giants have a new defensive coordinator with Spags in St. Louis. Spags is a great guy, he interacted with the players. He was more than just a coach and mentor, also a friend. He works hard and has fun doing it, so I think that will translate into success as a head coach.
Our new D coordinator is Bill Sheridan, who was the linebackers coach. He’s been around a couple years and we understand him. That will make it easier because we’ll have the same system, no new scheme. I think everything will run smoothly.
I hope everyone checks back here during the off-season, I’ll try to check in, too, and let everyone know what is happening.
My Super Bowl prediction: Steelers 28, Cardinals 14.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
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Put it Behind Us
October 27, 2009
After two straight losses we have to bounce back. It’s a long season and you can’t get down on yourself. We play a good Philly team this week and we have to get back on track.
Every season is not perfect. We have to get on a roll, find our sweet spot. It starts with everyone doing more than they’re asked to do. We have to play better, and we have to stop getting penalties. That can hurt you against a good team.
We didn’t capitalize on our opportunities and Arizona did. Whenever we had a chance we would hurt ourselves with a penalty or a turnover. On defense I know we can play better, make more stops in the red zone and get off the field on third down.
We have to turn it up a notch now because it’s crunch time. We can’t fall apart.
We have to do the little things better. Up front we have to make our moves quicker because teams have adjusted to us, they’re getting rid of the ball quicker. We have to do our job and the secondary has to do its job, we all work hand in hand. The other team figures they’re not going to give us a chance to do what we do best, which is get to the quarterback. They’re keeping extra guys in to block, getting the quarterback to the edge and getting rid of the ball faster on little 5-6 yard passes.
It’s a good time to play the Eagles. A win would cure everything. We’re playing a division opponent, a good rival and it will be an intense game. That’s a good way to get back on track, stop all those sad faces in the locker room. And you can’t let the losses pile up, especially in the division.
Teams are starting to make their push. We have nine games left and we have to keep moving on. Beating the Eagles would definitely get our spirits up.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
A Rough Game
October 20, 2009
It was a rough game for us last Sunday, but there’s a long season ahead and we can’t let one loss get us down. We just have to put it behind us and get ready for Arizona.
The Saints have a good offense and Drew Brees is an excellent quarterback, he makes quick reads and gets rid of the ball quick and on target. I don’t want to take anything away from them, but we just didn’t play good football. We didn’t get any pressure on Brees and he’s too accurate of a quarterback to leave alone back there.
So it was a rough loss, but you can’t dwell on it. We didn’t play good football so you just put it behind you and get rid of it quick. We have a good Arizona team coming in here Sunday night and they also like to throw the ball a lot so we’d better be ready.
We have to do a better job up front on the D-line getting pressure on the quarterback. Everything in the defense goes hand in hand, from the D-line to the secondary. If we do a better job up front of getting pressure, the D-backs don’t have to cover as long. If we can rile up the quarterback it gives the secondary more of a chance to make plays.
We also need to do a better job of tackling. The Saints got a lot of extra yardage. All the little things we did wrong though can be corrected. If we can make those corrections, we’ll be OK.
Arizona has a solid offensive line, great receivers and a veteran quarterback in Kurt Warner. He’s been in the league a long time and he knows a lot about us.
We need to go out and have a good week of practice, clean up our mistakes and go out and play solid football.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
On to New Orleans
October 13, 2009
Against the Raiders we showed that good things happen when we put all three phases of the game together, offense, defense and special teams. There’s still room for improvement but overall I think we played a heck of a game. We came out fast on defense, had some three-and-outs and put pressure on the quarterback. We played the run well and really shut them down.
Still, I think we could do a better job of tackling, and we did let up a few big runs.
We have our toughest game of the season up next with the Saints in New Orleans. Against Drew Brees everything has to go hand in hand for the defense because he gets rid of the ball quick and on target. The D-line has to get pressure, even if we can’t get sacks we have to harass him and keep him in the pocket. The linebackers have to stop the run and take care of their assignments and the D-backs have to do a good job in coverage.
With Brees, if a D-back is just a couple yards from the receiver, he’s going to complete that pass.
One goal is to stop the run to make them one-dimensional. That will give us more control out there. The Saints have a solid offensive line as a group, and obviously a quarterback who’s been throwing for a lot of yards the last couple years. They can run the ball and they’ve got an old friend at tight end in Jeremy Shockey and we call know what he can do. It’s a potent offense across the board.
Any time you face a team like that in their home stadium you have to play flawless. The last couple weeks we played good football, but not flawless.
I know Shockey’s going to come out with something to prove. Anytime you play a former team it gets you fired up. He still knows a lot of guys on this team, so there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to come out and give his best effort.
I’m really looking forward to going to New Orleans. I’m going to have a lot of family going there to see me play. It’s about a 3-hour drive from Pensacola, so it’s a good opportunity to have them come out.
Fred Robbins is a defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Another Primetime Game
September 16, 2009
It’s always great to beat a division opponent, so it was a good win for us against the Redskins. It was our first win of the season and it came in the division so it feels good.
We still have a few wrinkles to iron out, some cleanup to do, but overall we did a pretty good job. They started with a big run against us but we bounced back, didn’t get down on each other and finished strong.
In the NFL you can only enjoy a win for about a day. We have another tough game coming up at Dallas, so you can’t dwell on your win the whole week before. You’ve got to keep moving forward, getting ready for a tough division opponent in their new stadium. There will be a lot of hype and a lot of emotions going wild. We have to go in with our A game and improve on what we did last week.
We got the first game out of the way with a win but we can’t be satisfied. Our D could be better, you always have to improve.
I felt good, healthy. I didn’t get a sack or a lot of tackles but that’s just one of those things. They didn’t run the ball that much and we kept pressure on Campbell all day, plus our offense had the ball a lot of the time. Stats don’t always show how you play. I did some good things, I’m feeling good and healthy.
Dallas will be big. A Sunday night game in Dallas is definitely going to be a primetime game.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Training Camp Prep
July 9, 2009
This last month before we report to training camp on August 2nd I’m trying to train twice a day to get ready for two-a-days. You’ve got to get your body in the routine of working out in the morning and then working out again in the afternoon.
You want your body to be ready for the season, the long haul, and you want to be in the best shape physically.
But it’s also important to be in the right state of mind mentally. Before training camp you want to spend a lot of time with your family and friends because once training camp starts that’s all over for a while. Just try to do your day to day activities, some of your hobbies, prepare yourself and get your mind prepared.
Training camp is far more intense than mini camp and OTAs. At mini camp guys are just getting a feel for football again. They’re getting together for the first time since the season ended and there are a lot of new faces, rookies and free agent guys, and it’s a chance for everyone to come together and start putting the pieces together.
Mini camp is where a team starts building the foundation for the season, but training camp is a step above and guys really start going all-out. Training camp is when you build on everything you learned in mini camp.
Training camp isn’t a fun time but it’s not supposed to be. It’s the worst part of the season but it’s supposed to be hard so when it’s time to play the games you’re ready.
A lot of guys dread training camp but also look forward to it because this is where the team comes together. Day in and day out the guys really bond because you’re together on the practice field, in the cafeteria, and when you’re just relaxing. It builds camaraderie.
There’s great leadership on this team, a lot of guys who work hard and have fun doing it. And Coach Coughlin and all the coaches do a good job of not wearing our bodies down in training camp. They work us hard but keep us fresh enough to get through the preseason and the regular season and hopefully through the playoffs.
Fred Robbins is a defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
We Support Our Teammate
Written By Fred Robbins
December 2, 2008
I’ve got to tell you, I really don’t know that much about the situation with Plaxico and I don’t listen to hearsay. I don’t get caught up in it.
All I can tell you is that right now it’s out of our hands, and we still have a season to play. It’s an unfortunate and sad thing that it did happen, but we’ve got to stay focused on what we’ve got going on. We’ve got to look forward and keep pushing. He’s a teammate and I’m here to support him, but I’ve still got a job to do.
This team will not be distracted. We’re big on overcoming adversity and staying focused. There’s always a lot going on and you can’t get caught up in it. We’ve got a good group of guys, and not just the older guys, who lead the team and stay with the job at hand.
Coach Coughlin keeps us all level headed, we have one loss but every game we go into he makes it seem like we just lost last week. The guys know how to follow and know how to lead.
We know what it takes. We had a taste of success last year and we know we can’t let outside distractions get a hold of us because that could break the team apart.
We know what it takes and we’re just going to keep doing what we do best.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. His blog for playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
My Shoulder Injury
Written By Fred Robbins
December 2, 2008
I hurt the AC joint in my shoulder in the Arizona game. I don’t know the exact play it happened on. I think a couple of plays after I tried to block a field goal, I got a hit on the quarterback and fell on it wrong. I started to lose strength in the shoulder in the second half and got X-rays.
I couldn’t lift it at all last week but it was getting better day by day, so I thought I might be healthy enough to play against Washington. It was a game-time decision, and when it came time to play the strength just wasn’t there. I worked out before the game but the shoulder didn’t come through. I had every intention of playing, but now it’s getting time to rest and heal.
It’s getting better now, I’m able to lift some weights and get some movement in it.
I am DEFINITELY playing this week.
The guys really stepped up against the Redskins. Barry Cofield always does a good job and Jay Alford started in my place. Jeremy Clark came off the practice squad and did an excellent job filling in.
That’s the way this team is. One guy going down can’t hurt us on defense. That’s what separates us from other teams in the league, it’s never about just one guy, we can bounce back from injuries and stuff like that.
You never plan for an injury to happen. I’ve had some bad luck with my two broken hands and now my shoulder, but you’ve got to stay positive and my spirits are high. It’s slowed me down a bit but the key is not to get down about it and do different things out on the field. Your hands are your weapons when you’re a lineman, without them you have to resort to technique, technique becomes more of a factor and you become a smarter player.
I’m not complaining. My hands are healed up and my shoulder is coming along. No one wants to sit on the sideline and watch the team play.
We’ve got the Eagles this week, coming down the stretch, we know they’ll be ready because they’re fighting for a playoff spot. They’ve got one of the best quarterbacks in the game and one of the best running backs, and some good young receivers.
They’ve had some injuries on the O-line, they lost Shawn Andrews and some other guys, so I’m not sure who I’ll be going up against because they might move some guys around. Probably Nick Cole.
We know it will be a tough game because the Eagles are ready to make their playoff push, and when you play a team in your division you can throw the records out the window.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. His blog for playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Cards, 'Skins and Thanksgiving
Written By Fred Robbins
November 25, 2008
We’re going into Thanksgiving coming off a good win. It was nice to be back in Arizona where we won the Super Bowl, but this is a new season, a different team, and the Cardinals were undefeated at home, so this was a good win for us.
With a team that throws like that, with the Pro Bowl guys they have, you know they’re going to make some plays, but we did a good job of keeping them out of the end zone. The running game was not a major concern, we were able to shut it down and make them one-dimensional and our secondary did a good job of holding them up all day.
Kurt Warner is in the same situation he was in when he had success in St. Louis, a lot of good receivers. He has the same kind of system where he’s comfortable throwing the ball 50 times a game. When he was with us we didn’t do so much passing, the focus was on the running game and passing off the run instead of straight-up passing all day long. He was never comfortable in that situation.
We play the Redskins on Sunday and I’ll be going up against Randy Thomas. He’s a good athletic guy, a good offensive lineman, good hands, good feet, he move-blocks well and we’ve had our battles over the years. The main thing for us will be to stop the run against Clinton Portis, but they also have Chris Cooley, Santana Moss and a good quarterback.
It never changes for us, though, we have to shut down the run and make them one-dimensional, because we’ve got enough guys on the line and in the secondary who can play the pass. Our front seven takes pride in shutting down the passing game.
For Thanksgiving, I’ve got some family coming to town and a friend coming down, about eight people coming over to my place and my fiancé, Tia, is going to cook. Her macaroni is off the chain!
It means a lot to spend a couple days with family and friends for the holiday. During the season you don’t get to do that and I was brought up very family-oriented, so I really look forward to it.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. His blog for playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Rested Up
November 17, 2009
During the bye week I just rested up, that’s about it. I didn’t get the chance to go home because a small hurricane came through, so I just chilled out here, relaxed and rested up. Got my head on straight so I can finish out the season strong.
I think the bye came at a good time for us. Last year it came kind of early and we had to run off 10-11 straight games, so anytime near midseason is a big help. Some guys are banged up and this will be a chance to help get some guys healed.
The bye also gives you a chance to get your mind refreshed. We’re a good football team but the last few weeks we have not played to our full potential. The week off gives you a chance to refocus, get back in the right frame of mind, and also to look back on what we’ve done well and what teams have done against us, see where we made mistakes through the first nine games.
We come back against Atlanta and they’re a good, solid football team. Everyone is making their playoff push right now so this is a big game for us. We can’t allow teams to get separation on us, we have to come out hard and be in every game and win every close game.
The Falcons have a couple guys that also went to Wake Forest, Tyson Clabo on the offensive line and Ovie Mughelli the fullback. It will be fun to go out there and play against Ovie, my old college teammate, but we’re trying to win a football game. We can be friends after the game.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Three in a Row Hurts
November 4, 2009
Losing three games in a row definitely hurts. We have to get back on track and do it quick. Go back to basics. Not start over, but get back to what we do best.
We’re a little down right now but if we can get a win against San Diego going into our bye week it will go a long way toward getting us on a roll. Then after the bye maybe we can get some guys back healthy and get things rolling. You want to have everyone back, especially for the last stretch of the season.
Mostly we’re killing ourselves. We have to get back to playing Giants football. We haven’t played well in any phase of the game.
But with our backs against the wall, we know we have to come out fighting.
We can do a better job up front as far as rushing goes, contain the quarterback more and make him get rid of the ball quick. Our defense has not done a good job overall, but you can’t blame one position. It all goes hand in hand.
Right now we’re not playing well in any of the three phases of the game. We’re playing hard, but not consistent. We’re giving up too many big plays. We made some good plays but we didn’t make enough. A good team like Philly will expose your weaknesses. We have to do a better job on third down and in the red zone.
This is our last game before the bye week and you always want to go into the bye with a win, otherwise you have to think about it for two weeks. You want to have that winning taste in your mouth during your time off. Then you can rest up and get right back on track.
It would be tough if we lost four straight to have to think about it for two weeks. You have to go into the bye with a win.
I can’t remember the last time we lost three in a row. But this is a good group of guys. I know we can do it. I know what we’re capable of, we just haven’t been doing it lately.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Three in a Row Hurts
November 4, 2009
Losing three games in a row definitely hurts. We have to get back on track and do it quick. Go back to basics. Not start over, but get back to what we do best.
We’re a little down right now but if we can get a win against San Diego going into our bye week it will go a long way toward getting us on a roll. Then after the bye maybe we can get some guys back healthy and get things rolling. You want to have everyone back, especially for the last stretch of the season.
Mostly we’re killing ourselves. We have to get back to playing Giants football. We haven’t played well in any phase of the game.
But with our backs against the wall, we know we have to come out fighting.
We can do a better job up front as far as rushing goes, contain the quarterback more and make him get rid of the ball quick. Our defense has not done a good job overall, but you can’t blame one position. It all goes hand in hand.
Right now we’re not playing well in any of the three phases of the game. We’re playing hard, but not consistent. We’re giving up too many big plays. We made some good plays but we didn’t make enough. A good team like Philly will expose your weaknesses. We have to do a better job on third down and in the red zone.
This is our last game before the bye week and you always want to go into the bye with a win, otherwise you have to think about it for two weeks. You want to have that winning taste in your mouth during your time off. Then you can rest up and get right back on track.
It would be tough if we lost four straight to have to think about it for two weeks. You have to go into the bye with a win.
I can’t remember the last time we lost three in a row. But this is a good group of guys. I know we can do it. I know what we’re capable of, we just haven’t been doing it lately.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Three in a Row Hurts
November 4, 2009
Losing three games in a row definitely hurts. We have to get back on track and do it quick. Go back to basics. Not start over, but get back to what we do best.
We’re a little down right now but if we can get a win against San Diego going into our bye week it will go a long way toward getting us on a roll. Then after the bye maybe we can get some guys back healthy and get things rolling. You want to have everyone back, especially for the last stretch of the season.
Mostly we’re killing ourselves. We have to get back to playing Giants football. We haven’t played well in any phase of the game.
But with our backs against the wall, we know we have to come out fighting.
We can do a better job up front as far as rushing goes, contain the quarterback more and make him get rid of the ball quick. Our defense has not done a good job overall, but you can’t blame one position. It all goes hand in hand.
Right now we’re not playing well in any of the three phases of the game. We’re playing hard, but not consistent. We’re giving up too many big plays. We made some good plays but we didn’t make enough. A good team like Philly will expose your weaknesses. We have to do a better job on third down and in the red zone.
This is our last game before the bye week and you always want to go into the bye with a win, otherwise you have to think about it for two weeks. You want to have that winning taste in your mouth during your time off. Then you can rest up and get right back on track.
It would be tough if we lost four straight to have to think about it for two weeks. You have to go into the bye with a win.
I can’t remember the last time we lost three in a row. But this is a good group of guys. I know we can do it. I know what we’re capable of, we just haven’t been doing it lately.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Looking Good
October 6, 2009
We’re looking good. It’s still a long season, but right now the Giants are doing a lot of things right and we’re looking good.
This is still the NFL though and anybody can be beat. Last year we were undefeated going into the Cleveland game and they came out and played their best game. We didn’t play our best game and we got beat. You can’t take anything for granted in this league, if a team has its back to the wall they’re going to come out fighting. Cleveland gave us a loss last year, and that one loss could have made a difference when it came time for making the playoffs.
We’re a good team and we’re doing some good things, but we still have to prepare for a fight against Oakland. Their record might not indicate it but they have some good players.
We have a mature veteran team and we know what it takes to win. The veterans do a good job of keeping everybody upbeat and keeping everybody working hard and focused through the week no matter who we’re playing. When you lose that focus because everything seems to be going well, that’s when things start to slide downhill.
This is a true veteran group and it’s what we thrive on.
As for Eli, from everything I’ve heard he should be ready to go. But if he can’t we’ve got David Carr who can step right in. He’s been around the league for a while, he knows how to perform and how to prepare during the week to win on Sunday. These things happen during the course of the season so no one gets too excited about it. Eli is our quarterback and we hope he’s good to go, but if he’s not we know we can still win.
Now in mid-season there’s not too much craziness going on in the locker room. No more rookie hazing or anything like that. The best we can do is make the rookies pay when we go out for dinner as a unit. But the defensive line doesn’t have any rookies this year, so maybe we’ll have to try to get Clint Sintim. He sits in on D-line meetings when we talk about rushing the quarterback, so maybe we can get him out for a D-line dinner and stick him with the check.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.
Still Room for Improvement
October 1, 2009
It feels good to be 3-0. I feel like we took another step in the right direction when we shut out Tampa Bay but we still have a ways to go, there’s still room for improvement. We have a long season ahead of us.
It’s hard to shut out any team in the NFL but we played well in all three phases of the game, offense, defense and special teams. The offense did a great job of controlling the football. That really makes our job easier when the offense is on the field for a long time sustaining drives. Any time we’re not on the field, it’s a good thing.
Now we’ve got Kansas City. They’re a good team even though their record doesn’t indicate that. They have a solid offensive line. We can’t go in there relaxed and feel cool and calm just because we’re 3-0. Last year we were 4-0 and headed into Cleveland and they gave us a tough game. The Chiefs have guys getting paid to play, too, and each week is different so you can’t ever relax.
We’ve really been grinding it out this season. Long hours at work trying to get better, studying film. I spend the off days with my wife, sometimes we catch a movie or something, but it’s grinding time. We have all of our fun in the off-season, during the summer.
I love the New York area. It’s a very different atmosphere from where I grew up in Florida, but my wife and I love it up here. This is our second home.
Back to football, we have to get some sacks against the Chiefs on Sunday. We’ve gotten a lot of QB hits the last couple of weeks but not a lot of sacks. We have to start getting them, we pride ourselves on that. We up front have to stop the run to give our guys a chance to hit the quarterback.
Fred Robbins is a starting defensive tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.fredrobbins98.com.