POSTED: Sunday September 13th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LB Antonio Pierce Postgame vs. Washington

Sept. 13, 2009

Q. Starting season off well?

A. Very huge. It’s a new season, 2009 season got kicked off. It’s great that we played very well as a team. Special teams, offense, defense, I thought all of them played well. I don’t know how many goals we reached until after we look at the stats and meet with the coaches, but to go out there and get a win, our first win, and a win in the division is huge. One step towards what we want.

Q. What about the pressure on QB Jason Campbell?

A. I don’t know many sacks we ended up with but it felt like we were getting to him. But he did break out of the pocket and made some great throws. I think everybody knows what the New York Giants defense is about, getting after the quarterback and applying pressure throughout the game. We did a pretty good job of doing that.

Q. Is there a big change or difference with a new defensive coordinator?

A. That decision got made, I believe, in January. Bill (Sheridan) has been here. All of the coaches have been together, putting the defense together. Minicamp, OTAs, training camp, first week of regular season, so guys get comfortable. It is very similar to what we ran last year. Different coach calling it, and he did a great job today. We gave him a little Gatorade bath afterwards, it wasn’t a full one, but whatever was left in the bucket.

Q. What about losing the shutout?

A. Yeah that was our whole key all day. We were disappointed that we gave up the touchdown at the end of the game. We wanted to finish the game off without giving up any offensive points. But the whole thing is that after it doesn’t matter where they put the ball at, wherever they get the ball, our job is to make sure they don’t score and get into that endzone. Keep them to a field goal or less. Our guys responded very well. First play was negative yards. Guys do what we got to do. There are going to be some games where the defense is not playing all that well, and the offense is going to have to hold off and the same for special teams. That’s what our team is all about.

Q. Good to come out fast and intense this week?

A. It is huge, it wasn’t hard to come out with intensity the way our crowd was. The crowd was behind us the whole way, all the way through the fourth quarter until the end of the game. First it is getting that lead and then it is all about maintaining it.

Q. Even with missing key players and starters, you guys were still able to be successful?

A. I will say this, all 25 guys that made our roster defensively made it clear that they are starters. Everybody is talking about the defensive line and their depth, they are all starters and that is how they approach the game. Same thing with our linebackers and same thing with our defensive backs. So you get that kind of production when those guys, the back-ups, come in.

Q. All preseason people were talking about the lack of receivers. How do you feel they did?

A. I thought our receivers did a great job today against some great corners over there. Those guys playd man-to-man. They put eight or nine in the box, left those guys one-on-one. I thought Manningham played great. I thought Steve Smith made some big catches and Hixon did what he needed to do. That is not our concern. Obviously the media made a big deal out of it because none of those guys are quote all-stars yet. But eventually they will be Pro Bowl players.

Q. Do you feel this team is about what the defense does?

A. The New York Giants have always been about the defense, that is not a secret. That’s who we are. But, at the same time, we are a family too. Like I said, in a game when the defense is struggling, the offense will go out there and they can score, Eli can do his no-huddle thing and they will go out there and score thirty points. At the end of the day it is all about winning.

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Keywords · Antonio Pierce · New York Giants · NFL

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Name: Avis Roper
Organization: New York Giants
Email:
Phone: +1. 201-935-8111
URL: http://www.giants.com/

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