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Those Jint players sure love Coughlin....

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  • Those Jint players sure love Coughlin....

    From today's New York Daily News, a column by Filip Bondy, one of their longtime writers.



    LaVar sticks to the script


    LaVar Arrington still wears those floppy dreadlocks and a mischievous look on his face, but already he is learning that playing for the Giants, for Tom Coughlin, is not about the individual and it's certainly not about having much fun.

    He was told to stay within a scheme last Sunday against the Colts, and that's what he did, he kept saying yesterday in the Giant locker room. He took no chances, barely missed a couple big tackles. His dodgy right knee was not a big problem, he insisted. "I played a solid game," he said. But Arrington was bristling, the way most free agents bridle and buck when they realize what they signed up for around here.

    Plaxico Burress arrived at the same, unfortunate revelation, and is now chafing at the bit. The talented newcomers are treated the same as the tried-and-true Blue. They are told to play within the grease-board lines, not to risk mistakes. These are lessons pounded home by Coughlin each and every practice, and a first-timer such as Arrington was not about to test the boundaries in Game 1.

    "I was not as quiet as a church mouse," Arrington said, referring to a description of his four-tackle, no-sack night, as posted on GiantInsider.net. "I played within a scheme. I'm not going to challenge the coaches and what they're trying to do. The scheme was what I did."

    This was just an inkling of the potential locker-room rebellion, always lurking in wait for the next Giant losing streak. When you work for a control freak who hasn't won a playoff game in seven years, the strong possibility of unrest is forever just three defeats away.

    This is why it is imperative that Coughlin and the Giants win one of their next two games, both tough ones, at Philadelphia and Seattle. The coach must continue to sell his selfless program to men of substantial egos, and there is no sense or weight to the plan unless it leads directly, very visibly, to victory.

    That's what happened last season, enough success to scuttle any mutiny. But it is always there, under the surface. How can it not be, when the players see a coach such as Tony Dungy last week, giving his quarterback full reign over a football game?

    There is no right way in this matter. Some coaches win with Brillo pads, others with satin sheets. But an argument can be made that the Giants do not play instinctively, do not react to events on the field because they are wary of the repercussions.

    "I was always somebody who tried to seize the opportunity to make plays," Arrington said. "If there is a play in front of me, I try to go get it. Here, if I made it, the coaches wouldn't feel bad about it, and I wouldn't be faulted. But if I don't make the play...

    "I've got to put it in the bag, pick my spots," he said.

    Three years ago, in a Sports Illustrated poll, players named Coughlin the coach they'd least like to play for. And arguably, the Giants have overpaid with a "Coughlin premium" in order to entice attractive free agents to East Rutherford. Not everyone is Eli Manning, who practically demanded to play for this franchise when he entered the draft.

    Arrington has a seven-year, $49 million, incentive-loaded contract with the Giants. This is surely trouble, another example of football people on both sides not understanding the nature of the business. Somewhere along the line, Arrington will come to believe that playing linebacker for Coughlin, "within the scheme," may mean failing to reach those individual contract incentives. He will resent the coaching staff all the more.

    In his career, Arrington has 471 tackles, 22.5 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, seven recoveries and three interceptions in 80 regular-season and two playoff games. Last Sunday, he had just four tackles, three of them solo. He says he will get up to game speed soon, change that. Meanwhile, you can almost see those incentive bonuses swirling around the drain.

    Coughlin can't worry about Arrington's bonuses, and yesterday the coach wouldn't even comment on the linebacker's game last Sunday. Coughlin's press conferences have all the give and take of a steel rod. "I answered that question already," he said.

    Away from the reporter notepads, Arrington will get plenty of feedback from Coughlin. And when he's done listening, Arrington may wonder what made him sign that contract last April.
    Don't kid yourself Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd kill you and everyone you cared about!

  • #2
    I've always hated Tom Coughlin and I'm so glad the Giants have to overpay for people to play there.

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    • #3
      Arrington should just STFU. His problem is that he doesn't play within the scheme, gambles, and is often out of position. He makes sensational plays, and misses the basic plays he is expected to make. That is why he rode the pines in D.C., and that is why he wouldn't fit in here.
      "Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." - Joe Theismann



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      • #4
        Originally posted by stocknowledge
        Arrington should just STFU. His problem is that he doesn't play within the scheme, gambles, and is often out of position. He makes sensational plays, and misses the basic plays he is expected to make. That is why he rode the pines in D.C., and that is why he wouldn't fit in here.
        have to disagree, stock. not about arrington's playing tendencies. i dont want him to STFU! i want him there stirring up trouble!
        Don't kid yourself Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd kill you and everyone you cared about!

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