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Five questions for Jim Fassel
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Giants head coach Jim Fassel answered five questions from ESPN's NFL reporter, Chris Mortensen, on Sept. 20.
Mort: Why does your team look so different, and so good?
Fassel: There are a lot of reasons, but the one that immediately jumps to
mind is attitude, and the chemistry we have on this team. We've got some new
faces, and the way our veterans have responded to the guys we brought in
has been tremendous -- the new guys like Lomas Brown, Micheal Barrow, Dusty Zeigler, Dave Thomas. They're real professionals. I can't tell you how many times Michael Strahan and Keith Hamilton have pulled me aside to tell me how great these changes have been.
Mort: That suggests, obviously, that you had some players who weren't
professionals, who are no longer there, right?
Fassel: Well, let's just say that we don't have the type of player with
the "I don't care" attitude. We may have had some players who, you know, it
was never their fault. It was always someone else's fault.
Mort: This chemistry thing, you worked on it in the offseason, didn't
you?
Fassel: We had 100 percent attendance in our offseason program,
which is the commitment we asked from the players. We did three or four
functions as a team. We went to dinner as a team, we went on a boat cruise, we
have a golf tournament. In training camp, we rented out a whole theater and
went to the movies together. The thing is, the players were together, they
hung around each other. They care about each other. There's a higher level of
trust with each other.
Mort: Of course, it helps that you're winning and that the offense is
doing its part, maybe more than its part.
Fassel: We've got the players in place. We've got balance, running the
football, passing the football. We've got a quarterback (Kerry Collins) with
some excellent tools and receivers (Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard) who have really developed. We're a very well-balanced offense that can do a lot of things now.
Mort: You've got Thunder and Lightning, too. Did you really visualize
this kind of success with Ron Dayne and Tiki Barber rotating carries?
Fassel: You've got two guys who complement each other. Diversification
works. They know their roles. They understand their roles. It gives 'em a
break. It's a tough thing to defend those two guys because it's such a change
of pace. Plus, our offensive line is much-improved.
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