Saturday 4th of November 2017
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Does anyone on the Giants care?

No one person can stop this. The question is this: Does any one person care enough to try?

When a team halfway through a season has more players suspended (two) than wins (one), it is bad news for all concerned. At a time when Giants coach Ben McAdoo needs all the support he can muster, there are no strong voices to set the record straight.

No head coach can function without a handful of players willing to do the dirty work inside the locker room. Tom Coughlin had Michael Strahan, Antonio Pierce and Shaun O’Hara, then Justin Tuck and Antrel Rolle. McAdoo has the sounds of silence.

The latest impediment in this pothole-filled, 1-6 season is the suspension of Janoris Jenkins, the second suspension in three weeks handed out by McAdoo to a top cornerback after disciplining Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. For anyone connecting the dots and determining McAdoo, amid all the losing, does not have a firm handle on his players, there is only evidence to support that theory.

“I’ve been in bad locker rooms,’’ linebacker Jonathan Casillas said Wednesday. “This ain’t it. We’re just all a little frustrated because we ain’t got no damn wins, and that goes throughout the whole building. And that’s just what it is.’’

When Coughlin endured downturns in his 12-year run, there were impassioned assurances from players that he was the right man for the job. There was a shared history there, great Super Bowl triumphs that forge coach and player together forever. There is no such emotive energy with McAdoo, a relative newcomer and as touchy-feely as a cactus. He does a fine job stressing empathy but has a harder time creating meaningful relationships.

Jenkins never bothered to alert the Giants he would not make it to work on Monday, casting this as a team in turmoil. It is troubling that the harshest critique is from a player who has not suited up in 27 years.

“Your teammates deserve your best in adverse times … Show up and GIVE A DAMN,’’ former Giants linebacker Carl Banks tweeted after the Jenkins suspension came down. “Ownership pays you good go be good in tough times … Show up and GIVE A DAMN for each other!!”

Casillas, apprised of these biting words, agreed, to a point.

“I can say yes, we do have to be accountable for each other,’’ said Casillas, who has been sidelined the past two games with a neck injury. “But I can’t say ‘Everybody show up.’ How the hell am I supposed to know somebody’s gonna miss a day?’’

Landon Collins and Jonathan Casillas tried to keep the mood light after practice.Charles Wenzelberg

Casillas is the defensive team captain. His words should resonate with his teammates. Will he be the one to read the riot act?

“I can possibly do it,’’ he said. “Is it gonna happen? I don’t know if I’m gonna do it or not.’’

As he spoke, Landon Collins stuck out a plastic water bottle, pretending it was a microphone, and when Casillas saw it, he laughed. Moments earlier, as Eli Apple tried to wriggle out of explaining why he did not make it back for Monday’s practice, Jason Pierre-Paul spotted the crowd around Apple and chortled.

“You feeling me, man?’’ Apple, cracking up, called out to Pierre-Paul.

One of the many problems with this team is there is no one to jump ugly when it is needed. At least Casillas did speak with Jenkins and related his disapproval of his actions.

“Jackrabbit, love him to death, but he broke a team rule,’’ Casillas said. “Kind of like inexcusable.’’

Losing breeds looseness. Three players coming out of the bye week did not make it back for practice. Two of them, Apple and Paul Perkins, alerted the team about their travel difficulties. That is an explanation, not an excuse, and both will be fined.

“The players had five days off,’’ McAdoo said. “I didn’t have to give them five days off. I chose to give the players five days off because I felt we needed to get away from it. With that, I expected all the players to be here ready to go Monday morning. No excuses.’’

Apple was in Columbus, Ohio; Perkins was in Arizona. Should they have looked ahead at the forecast, anticipated possible delays or cancellations and tried to rebook their flights for a Saturday night return, rather than roll the dice on a stormy Sunday? You bet. That is called professional pride. It reflects poorly on the players, the head coach, the entire operation.

McAdoo is the fall guy here. Does anyone else care enough to do something about it?

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