EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – New York Giants coach Joe Judge made it clear what he thought of how the Philadelphia Eagles handled the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s loss to the Washington football team, a result who kept his team out of the playoffs: he wasn’t happy.
The judge described his belief that he would be disrespectful to his players and to the entire league (which made sacrifices to make this difficult season a reality) if they went out and didn’t try to compete for 60 minutes to try to win a game.
“We’ll never do that as long as I’m the head coach of the New York Giants,” the judge said Monday at the end of a two-minute response to a question about whether he believed the Eagles had done anything wrong.
Philadelphia put third-string quarterback Nate Sudfeld in contention for the fourth quarter of what was then a three-point game. Coach Doug Pederson insisted he was “training to win” and said his decision-making did not influence the 2021 NFL’s positioning.
Washington won the game 20-14 to eliminate the Giants in the postseason. Washington won the NFC East as a result.
The judge said he has not spoken to Pederson about what he fell for. Instead, he would let the Eagles speak for themselves about how they faced the game.
The Giants coach said he was sitting in his office preparing for a possible playoff clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while Philadelphia-Washington was in the background. But he sure seemed to notice exactly what fell.
“Players, obviously, the players have been asking me all day and I can’t express that one thing to keep in mind this season is that we’ve had a lot of people who have opted for this season. Well, we’ve had a lot of people. Coaches , players, family members too, “the judge said. “So look at a group of big men I asked to work hard every day and empty the tank and I can look them in the eyes and assure them that I will always go out of my way to get them in a competitive advantage and play them in a position of strength.
“For me, you never want to underestimate these players, their effort and not respect the game. The sacrifices they made to get to work every day and try before they get in, to sit in spaced meetings, to wear masks and have shields. about these masks, going through extensive protocols, traveling in unconventional ways, receiving text messages at 6:30 in the morning telling them that the practice will be canceled [and] we have to do a virtual day, to tell them not to have your family for Thanksgiving, avoid Christmas reunions, we know it’s your wife’s birthday let’s make sure we postpone this until the low season. There are several sacrifices made by all the players and coaches in this league. There are a number of sacrifices that are also made with family members and the people connected to them.
“We will not respect the effort that everyone made to make this season a success in the National Football League, not respect the game going out here and without competing for 60 minutes and doing everything possible to help the players win, we’ll never do that as long as I’m the head coach of the New York Giants. “
Judge began his response by pointing out that the Giants (6-10) had 16 chances of their own this season and said you never want to leave your destiny in the hands of anyone else.
This is what happened in this situation. New York needed to beat Dallas on Sunday afternoon (which the Giants did, 23-19), and then wait for the Eagles to upset Washington at night. It didn’t happen, in part because the Eagles had a fairly inactive contingent for the game and then put rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts on the bench at the end of the contest.
“So we will not arrange excuses,” the judge said. “Not now, never ever. We had our chances.”
That was the message he also expressed to his players during a Monday morning meeting. A handful of players who spoke to the media had a similar feeling, albeit a very different tone on social media during the game. It seemed clear that this was in the direction of the judge.
Security Jabrill Peppers said he was not angry. He used a line similar to that of never wanting to leave your destiny in the hands of another man.
“We had 16 chances to make it a reality,” Peppers said, a line that seemed quite similar to what the judge said later that day.
Peppers and several other Giants players also downplayed the hostel’s any harsh feelings toward the Eagles. They also avoided publicly saying that next season’s clashes with their NFC East rivals would be circumvented because of this incident.