Antrel Rolle questions Giants' leadership after blowout loss to Colts

In an interview on WFAN this afternoon, Giants safety Antrel Rolle vented about plenty of things, including the game plan against the Colts, his teammates’ energy, his own energy and even the logistics of the team’s schedule for a road trip.

All of the above were criticisms he either couched or ones that were outright questionable. But there was one topic on which Rolle was very clear and very critical without hedging his bets. It was about the lack of leadership in the Giants’ locker room. It came in response to a question about whether the team will be lackadaisical this Sunday against the Titans.

“That definitely shouldn’t be the case,” Rolle said before looking back at the loss to Indy by saying, “I saw some things I wasn’t too fond of in that locker room. I felt like there was no one that stepped up to the plate when the opportunity presented itself.”

All summer long, we talked about Justin Tuck being the leader the team has been lacking since the loss of Antonio Pierce midway through last season. Tuck said the coaching staff and a few of his current and former teammates (Michael Strahan being one) have spoken with him about becoming more of a vocal leader.

Rolle didn’t mention Tuck by name, nor did he point out any other teammate. But he clearly identified some players in his own mind as leaders who didn’t speak up.

“I don’t take anything away from any player. I love my teammates, my teammates are great, they’re warriors,” Rolle said. “But I felt like, in a situation like that, something should have been done to a higher extent. I don’t feel like there was enough done at all taking place in that game, especially a game of that magnitude.”

Rolle, who in March signed a five-year, $37-million deal as a free agent, also pointed toward the coaching staff as not providing any direction.
“I definitely see things. I see little things here and there, and it’s not all with the players,” he said. “There are a lot of other things that go on behind closed doors that a lot of people don’t know about. It’s not all about the players sometimes. Things have to change.

“If you want a winning team that has a competitive attitude and to have that dog mentality, sometimes you have to let that team be a dog. Everything can’t be controlled and right now everything is controlled within this organization, everything is controlled.”

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Unfortunately, the above is where the interview ended. There were no follow-up questions about what specifically needs to change, what’s going on behind closed doors, why the “dog” isn’t being unleashed or what’s being controlled that shouldn’t be controlled. Those questions will certainly be asked of Rolle later this week.

However, earlier in the interview, Rolle indicated he wasn’t too fond of the way the Giants handle the schedule for a road night game. He believes the team arrived too early in Indianapolis (about 3 p.m., he said) for a game the following night and that there was too much sitting around at the hotel and the stadium.

“I just felt like we had too much down time doing nothing and just relaxing,” Rolle said. “I really felt like that carried over to the game.”

To which I present this point: under Tom Coughlin, the Giants are 7-7 in road night games. Not a bad record at all. And frankly, the NFC Championship game in Green Bay, which kicked off at 6:30 p.m., was pretty much a night game as well. So make that 8-7.

And the Super Bowl was also played at night, though the team was there for a week, so I’m not sure that counts. But if you want to include it, go ahead and make that record 9-7. After all, it shows the coach’s ability to handle the logistics of a difficult road schedule. And heck, if that’s the case, why not toss in the London game against the Dolphins, which was also played in the early evening? So make it 10-7, then.

In short, a lot of the “controlled” stuff that Coughlin does that drives the players nuts is also what makes them a competitive team. So I don’t put too much stock into their arriving four hours earlier than Rolle would like. Not at all. And getting to the stadium early should be a good thing; I know I get cabin fever when I sit in a hotel room the day of a night game … and I’m not even playing.

2:12 p.m. UPDATE I originally counted victories over the Falcons in 2006 and 2007 both as night games. Just realized the one in '06 was a 1 p.m. game. The records above have been adjusted to reflect that change. Sorry about that. Still impressive numbers for Coughlin's teams.

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As for Rolle’s other concerns about the team, he noted his issues with the game plan. But at the same time, he said the coaches still put the players in position to make plays. It sounded like standard frustration about a plan and the execution of said plan that didn’t work.

And Rolle certainly isn’t the first one to criticize the plan. As I noted a little while ago, the decisions to dress only two DTs and play the safeties up high the entire first half were both questionable.

Click here to order Antrel Rolle’s proCane Rookie Card.



(nj.com)