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MARA’S MESSAGE TO GIANTS FANS

On the even of training camp Giants president, CEO and co-owner John Mara discusses the upcoming season and his expectations for the team with The Post’s Steve Serby.

Q: Your emotions about the start of this training camp?

A: I always look forward to it but maybe a little more so this year because of the prospect of having fans in the building again and because I think we greatly improved our team. There’s always a certain amount of anticipation. I would say this year, I’m looking forward to it even more than I usually do.

Q: What tells you the New York Football Giants are ready to win?

A: I feel like we’ve got the right pieces in place, I feel like we’ve improved the team through free agency and the draft. I’m very confident that we have the right coach in place, so I think we’re ready to start making a move, but until we start winning games, words are meaningless.

Q: Why don’t you believe in a playoff mandate?

A: I don’t think it does you any good to do that. I don’t think I need to say anything or do anything to motivate our coaches or our players any more than they already are. I think, when you issue mandates like that, they tend to backfire.

Q: What gives you the belief that Daniel Jones is a Super Bowlcaliber quarterback?

A: Any successful quarterback needs the right pieces around him. I think this year, he’ll be playing with a better group around him than he has before. But he’s shown a lot at the different stages of his career. I thought he played particularly well the last few games of last season, after he got healthy. He’s got a great work ethic, great poise, he’s tough, he can run, and the players around him seem to respect him. So I think he’s got everything you need, but, again, he has to prove it on the field. He’s aware of that. Everybody in the building has a lot of confidence in Daniel.

Q: What kind of a leader do you see him as?

A: I think more of a leader by example than anything else. I don’t think he’s a guy that yells and screams a lot, but I think he has a certain amount of toughness and pride that people respond to and our players respond to. I see the way they gather around him, and you can tell that they have a lot of respect for him. It’s almost like Eli, who was not a guy who would yell and scream, but players knew how much he cared and how hard he worked and how much pride he had. I see the same qualities in Daniel.

Q: Bill Parcells took a huge leap in his second season. How can Joe Judge make a leap from his first year to his second?

A: Well, he can win more games (chuckle). He has laid the right foundation. He’s got the right amount of discipline, and I think he’s got a very good coaching staff. He sees the big picture. I think we’re poised to start to make a move now. I don’t think we’re by any means a complete picture just yet, but I think we’ve got more pieces in place than we have had in many years, so I think we’re ready to take that next step. Again, these are just words at this point. We’ve got to win games on the field. If we stay healthy, I think we have a chance to be pretty good this year.

Q: When you say poised to make a move, what does that mean specifically?

A: I mean be a playoff team. Be a playoff team and start to contend for championships. Again, I don’t think we’re a finished product just yet, but I think we have enough pieces in place to certainly be a factor this season.

Q: So is it fair to say you’d be disappointed if this team did not make the playoffs?

A: You’d say that every year. I’m always disappointed when we don’t make the playoffs, but yeah, I’d be disappointed. Of course, I would be. But I’m not issuing any mandates. I don’t know what’s going to happen health-wise. I don’t know what’s going to happen with COVID . ... There are many factors that go into it. I always give the same answer when asked about what would make me happy or satisfied. Do I feel like we’re moving in the right direction? Have I seen improvement over the previous years, and is there enough there to give me confidence that we’re moving towards a position where we can win a championship? Yes, I’d be disappointed if we don’t make the playoffs, but I’m not going to sit here and tell you that, if we don’t, we’re going to have an upheaval of the entire franchise.

Q: What is the quality that makes you and the organization believe so much in Joe Judge?

A: His vision, his passion and his conviction are three of his most impressive qualities.

Q: On a scale of 1-10, what is your level of optimism that Saquon Barkley will be ready to go on Opening Day?

A: I would not put a number on that. As Saquon and Joe have said repeatedly, we will take it day by day, one step at a time. There is no need to establish arbitrary deadlines. My optimism when it comes to Saquon is in his dedication and work ethic.

Q: Where is your team as far as vaccination percentage?

A: We’re moving in the right direction. We were pretty low for a while, and that was very disappointing to me, but we’ve had a number of guys get vaccinated this week, and when all the veterans are in, we’ll get close to 100 percent. I don’t know what the exact number is.

Q: Do you have guys that are adamant about not taking it a la Cole Beasley?

A: I don’t know that. My understanding is we do have a few like that, but we have a bunch more who are on the fence. I think it’s our job to educate them and get them to see the benefit of getting the vaccine.

Q: Will you personally address the ones who will not get vaccinated, or do you not want to?

A: I know we’re going to make a presentation in the team meeting about the benefits of being vaccinated and the risks that you’re undertaking if you don’t get vaccinated.

Q: The NFL’s COVID-19 policy (forcing a team with an unvaccinated outbreak to forfeit if the game cannot be rescheduled)?

A: If there’s cancellation of games, keep in mind, we didn’t have any games canceled last year. We had several that were moved to different dates, so this only applies if it’s impossible to move a game and it gets canceled. That’s something I’m supportive of. It’s each team’s obligation to get their guys vaccinated so that we don’t have games being canceled, and that’s something we’re going to have to sell to the players.

Q: Who are you excited about this season?

A: I’m excited to see the new free agents we signed. I’m also excited to see the draft picks — Kadarius Toney, [Azeez] Ojulari. We felt very good about our draft. Obviously, you want to see [Kenny] Golladay and Adoree’ Jackson. They addressed needs for us, and I’m excited to see what happens when Saquon is able to play again. The combination of guys that we have in skill positions is as strong as we’ve had in a number of years. The other big thing we did was we set ourselves up for the future. Next year, we have two [first-round picks], two threes, two fours. That puts us in a good position going forward.

Q: What’s the timetable for Saquon extension talks?

A: That’s not something we’re spending a lot of time talking about right now. He obviously is coming back from a very serious [knee] injury. He has made great progress, and we expect him to be back at some point and to have a great season, and then we’ll deal with that at the appropriate time.

Q: Why do you believe in Dave Gettleman’s vision?

A: Listen, I was frustrated the first couple of years the way the [seasons] ended. But the combination of Dave and Joe has produced very good personnel decisions, be it in free agency and in the draft. It’s a very good combination. We’ve made a lot of changes to our football operations staff, added some talented new people. I just feel like we’re moving in the right direction. I think there’s a certain amount of confidence and a certain buzz in the building that maybe we haven’t had for a while. The combination of Dave and Joe is just the right mix for us.

Q: So he’s not on the hot seat? A: No, you’re on the hot seat if you write any more stupid comments like that (laughs).

Q: Aside from me being on the hot seat, he’s not on the hot seat.

A: No.

Q: Can Golladay do for Daniel Jones what Plaxico Burress did for Eli Manning?

A: We hope so .We hope so. He certainly has all the ability in the world. It’ll take more than just him for us to be successful as an offense, but he certainly has that type of skill level, without question.

Q: What are your thoughts on the young offensive line?

A: That obviously is an area that I think started to improve quite a bit toward the end of last year, and we think you’ll see them take another step in that direction this year. I like those guys. They’re tough and physical. They have a lot of pride. I like those guys individually, and I like them as a group. I think they have what it takes, but they’re going to have to prove it to the outside world, but I think they have a lot of pride. There’s just a certain amount of toughness in them that is something that you have to have to be a successful offensive line.

Q: Some individual guys: Leonard Williams?

A: Relentless. He is the guy we

thought we traded for with that type of skill level, and it finally manifested itself last year, and I think the rest of the team fed off of that. He was tough for offensive lines to block and disrupted a lot of plays, had a number of sacks (11.5) and really was a big factor for us.

Q: Will there be enough pass rush?

A: Oh, I think there will be, between Leonard, we’ve got Lorenzo Carter coming back, we’ve got X Man [Oshane Ximines] coming back from injuries, we drafted Ojulari — there are guys there that can rush the passer. And Patrick Graham comes up with schemes and formations that can be very disruptive.

Q: What are your thoughts on Patrick Graham?

A: When I watch us practice and I watch the defense and I watch how they respond to him, and then I go back and look at some of our games last year where we had some pretty strong defensive performances, notwithstanding some key injuries in certain areas, he’s just a very impressive coach, and he’ll be a head coach in this league very soon, I believe.

Q: You have three former No. 1 picks (Jackson, James Bradberry, Jabrill Peopers) in your secondary.

A: On paper, it’s as strong a secondary as we’ve had in many years. Hopefully, they all stay healthy, and we can be productive. It doesn’t always work out that way. Between the corners and the safeties, we’ve got some talented players back there, and that’s very comforting to have because it’s become more and more of a passing league with great receivers on virtually every team, and you have to have guys that can cover. On paper, it’s as good a group as we’ve had.

Q: How encouraging or heartening is it to you to have Giants defensive tradition possibly return?

A: I’d say we’re a long way from having that return, but I certainly was encouraged by the way they played all last year, particularly down the stretch. It would be nice to get back to that level of play, to have that powerful defense. I think we have the guys there that can take us to that level. Again, we’re not a finished product. I think we have certainly a good foundation there and a lot of the talented young players that hopefully take it to the next level.

Q: Is the Peppers extension situation any clearer now?

A: We love Jabrill as a player for what he brings to us, the passion and toughness he brings to us. We’ll have to assess that as it goes through the season. We spent a lot of money this past offseason, and we’re very tight with the salary cap right now, so we’re going to have to make some tough decisions before next season. But let’s just get through this season first and see where we are.

Q: Kadarius Toney (COVID-19 list for now)?

A: I haven’t seen a lot of him so far, but certainly what we’ve seen on tape, he brings a lot of movement skills, a lot of excitement, a lot of big-play ability.

Q: What are you expecting this year from Jason Garrett that was missing last year, aside from more points?

A: That his unit will continue to improve in terms of efficiency and production.

Q: The fans returning, a full stadium, fingers crossed?

A: I can’t wait to have fans back in the building again. It was such a strange feeling last year playing in a quiet stadium.

Q: How have the tone of your emails changed, if they have?

A: Much, much more positive (chuckles). It makes me nervous, to be honest with you, because it’s been so positive over the last few months. The fans have really approved for the most part of what we’ve done both in the draft and in free agency. Very, very little negativity from our fans over the past few months.

Q: You don’t know how to handle it, do you?

A: I don’t know how to handle it. What makes me nervous was the last time it was this positive was when we were going into the 2017 season when everybody was picking us to go to the Super Bowl, and everybody was excited about the team, including me, and the roof fell in. But I feel better about the group of people we have in the locker room this time.

Q: How do you view the NFC East?

A: It certainly was a muchmaligned division, based on the records last year, but I think each of the teams really improved in the offseason. It wouldn’t shock me if any one of the four teams won it this year. I think all four have enough talent to be able to win it this year and be a factor in the playoffs.

Q: Jerry Jones last week said that he would do “anything known to man” to win another Super Bowl. Who’s more desperate, you or him?

A: I wouldn’t say I’m desperate, but nobody wants to win more than I do. This team has been my life for 66 years. People who know me know I live and die with the team, so I’m very anxious about this season. I really, really want to get back to having a team that our fans will be proud of again.

Q: What were your emotions watching Doug Pederson bench Jalen Hurts to play Nate Sudfeld and hand the division title to the Washington Football Team?

A: I was more disappointed in the fact that we only needed to win one more game and we would have been in the playoffs, regardless of what happened in that game. That’s what upset me. We had chances to win so many games. The one in Philadelphia is the one that sticks out in my mind. Even our home game against Tampa. So we had no one to blame but ourselves.

Q: Your thoughts on the 17-game schedule?

A: I was never a big fan of increasing the number of regular-season games, but I think in the long run, it’ll probably be beneficial. It just gives us another opportunity to play a meaningful game in front of our fans instead of a preseason game, so I guess I like it from that perspective.

Q: What would be your one single biggest regret since Super Bowl XLVI? Other than doing this interview?

A: (Laughs) I think that’s the answer, doing this interview. You always have certain regrets. I wish we had gotten Eli a little more help towards the end of his career on the offensive line. I probably was a little too impatient with Ben McAdoo. I think we could have made some better personnel decisions around that time. A number of them didn’t work out, and I think that really hurt us. I think not getting Eli a little more help on the offensive line and maybe at some skill positions probably is one of the bigger regrets.

Q: What will your emotions be when Eli’s [No.] 10 is retired on Sept. 26?

A: That’ll be a great night. He’s such a beloved figure and rightfully so. I think seeing him on the field, seeing the adulation that he’ll get from our fans, it’ll be a great experience. When we retire [Michael [Strahan’s] number [92] later in the year, I think that’ll be a great night as well.

Q: Is it true that Eli has already missed a day of work in his new front office position?

A: He has probably missed a couple, and he hasn’t been bringing in the donuts either, which as a rookie, that’s part of his responsibility, so he will be dealt with accordingly (chuckles) . ... He’s not necessarily expected to be in every day, but his attendance better improve is all I can say.

Q: His ESPN Monday night gig with Peyton?

A: I think it’ll be interesting to see. They both have such great personalities, and they feed off of one another. I think that’ll be an entertaining way to watch a football game.

Q: Do you see New York Giants Pride returning?

A: I saw it returning last year with the way the players responded to Coach Judge and how hard they played in every game, particularly down the stretch. I think that’s the most important factor you have to have is a team that never quits. I think we have a number of guys who always hate to lose, and I think you have to have that, particularly with your more important players, and I think we have that core of players who just hates to lose and has a certain amount of pride and really wants to take the New York Giants back to where we think we should be.

Q: Your message to Giants fans about this team and this season.

A: First and foremost, we really appreciate your support. People have been with us for so many years, and they get angry with us from time to time, but the one thing they continue to do is just support us and to care about the

team. We’re doing everything we can to put a team on the field you can be proud of. We’re never going to stop trying to do that, so thanks for staying with us, and hopefully better days are ahead.

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2021-07-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nypost.pressreader.com/article/282321093037090

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