Coach John Harbaugh previews Week 9 vs. Eagles

John Harbaugh (0:00)

First of all, I just want to express our thoughts and prayers to the family of Rachel Appa, a 24-year-old young lady, athlete, that passed away in the New York City Marathon this past weekend. I cannot imagine the pain that they're going through, and yet also the pride they feel for a life while living. You read about her life, it's just incredible to read, the type of person she was, and she'll be very dearly missed, but she's in God's hands now, and we just want to let the family know that the New York Giants are thinking about their daughter and their family. So with that, what questions do you have?

SPEAKER_2 (0:38)

What's the concern level for Scott Aboo and Abdul at this point?

John Harbaugh (0:44)

What's the chart again? I forget the chart.

SPEAKER_2 (0:46)

You made it up last year.

John Harbaugh (0:49)

It's day to day. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see where they're at. Abdul should be fine. He's sick. He's illness, so he should be fine.

Scott's got a hamstring, so you know how that goes. We'll see.

SPEAKER_3 (1:02)

How do you feel about the running back situation, given the debit?

John Harbaugh (1:05)

I feel very confident about the running back situation. I feel like the guys we've got, obviously, Motor's been here. We've got some guys that have been here in the past, too, that we brought in, as you know.

We're here, and we also brought in one, Eric. So I feel good about it. We claimed a guy off the chargers. He's a very talented young guy. So those guys are in practice. We've got two practices now, and if they have to go, they'll definitely be ready to roll.

SPEAKER_4 (1:30)

John, this is not a question I would have asked you earlier in the year, but now, do you have to spend any time with your players about being complacent, about not being totally focused for a game?

John Harbaugh (1:39)

I do think that that's definitely something to get locked in on, but I don't believe it is this week, although our players have mentioned, our leaders have talked to the guys about that, but we're not really anywhere close to that yet. We're fighting for our lives, too, and we've got everything to gain, and we know how big this game is, we know who we're going against.

We're ready.

SPEAKER_5 (2:01)

John, when it comes to exploring trades, how much for you as a coach is it a priority to try to get it done on, say, a Monday or Tuesday, so that they would have a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday walkthrough, compared to just whenever it gets done if it's done? Do you have a preference stance of the matter at all?

John Harbaugh (2:17)

Well, I mean, I do think it's a great point. I'm sure you'd rather make a trade as early as you can, because you have the player there longer to prepare for the next game, but you don't always have that luxury.

SPEAKER_6 (2:29)

John, you didn't hesitate to put JJ in when you felt he was ready.

Now he's had more time. He's had a bye week. He's had some downtime. He's had more time in the playbook. You expect different, better, more prepared, more, you know, whatever you can give him playbook-wise instead of this, it's this. You know, do you expect this break will be really good for him?

John Harbaugh (2:52)

Well, yeah, we had a practice last week. We had another practice on Monday, so he's had two practices than today, so three more practices are going to be good. I would say he's at the stage now where, you know, he's pretty much caught up, you know, at least in terms of anything that we'd be doing in the game plan, he'll be as fully prepared as any quarterback would be at this stage.

SPEAKER_5 (3:10)

The Eagles are naming Joe Milton QB1.

SPEAKER_7 (3:13)

I don't know if you're aware of that in the span of practice, but...

John Harbaugh (3:16)

We're travels fast.

SPEAKER_5 (3:18)

How do you prepare for a guy like that who hasn't had that many snaps in the league?

John Harbaugh (3:23)

Yeah, you know, it's not so different than the previous quarterback they had. You know, you just watch the plays. I mean, we've seen Joe in college. We've seen him in the preseason. He's seen the little bits played in the regular season. We'll be watching those clips of those guys the next couple of days.

We'll try to anticipate, you know, just like guys had to do with JJ, what exactly are they going to run with him, what would be the plays? But it's still going to be their offense, still going to be their structure, still going to be the Eagles team. So from that sense, we're just preparing for the game. And really, it's like Chris Mannert's told the team, our concern first and foremost is about us, you know? And it kind of goes back to your question. It's about us and how we play. You know, if we play the way we're supposed to play, then we'll be in real good shape. And that's what we need to do.