Giants To Be Fined For Walkie-Talkie Use Against Cowboys

The New York Giants will be fined for head coach Ben McAdoo's illegal use of walkie-talkies while in communication with Eli Manning for four or five plays during last week's 10-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

An NFL.com report said the league will in fact impose a penalty on the Giants, likely only in the form of a fine, for violating the league's rule governing circumstances when a coach's headset malfunctions. The amount of the fine is still to be determined, though the Giants are not expected to lose any draft compensation over the ordeal.

In only the past two weeks the Giants were involved in almost as much he said/she said espionage as the post-presidential election results — the Giants accused the Steelers of using deflated balls during a loss the week before— and now the G-Men are on the other side of the accusations.

McAdoo was seen on the sidelines last Sunday holding a walkie-talkie as a way to communicate with Manning when the team was having difficulty getting the plays to the quarterback via the traditional helmet headset. It is against NFL rules for coaches to hold any two-way radios during a game.

The Cowboys admitted the infraction had no impact on the game — the drive ended in a Manning interception — and never filed a formal complaint against the Giants.

It could be suggested that the seemingly bothersome investigation is a little more serious than some believe, simply because every NFL team knows it isn't allowed and it could have led to a spygate situation.

The Cowboys just shrugged it off.

"If you're asking me if it affected the outcome of the game, no," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said earlier this week.

Umm...the Russians did it?

So I guess you could say that the new loser’s technological battle cry, “We were hacked” could have applied in this situation.  Only, in this case, the Cowboys took their loss like men.

Tom Coughlin has 99.9 percent chance of returning to Giants: Report

After 11 seasons, it's beginning to sound like Giants fans may be seeing Tom Coughlin at MetLife Stadium for at least one more. And, despite three consecutive playoff misses, Ol' Redface might get one more chance to get things right.

“99.9 percent he’s back,” a source familiar with the club’s thought process told The  N.Y. Post Sunday night.

Quite remarkable, since the odds of the 67-year-old Coughlin returning were at 50-50 only a few weeks ago.

Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch have remained tightlipped on Coughlin's future, which they do after every year, but they have said they plan to meet with the coach after the season.

“I have no comment,” co-owner John Mara said Sunday following the Giants second straight victory — a 24-13 win over the Redskins.

“No comment,” co-owner Steve Tisch added.

This will be the fifth time in six years the Giants have missed the playoffs under Coughlin. Of course, the one year they did quality for the postseason, they won the Super Bowl for the second time during his tenure.

The reasons which have "weighed strongly" on ownership's support of Coughlin include injuries to the Giants this season, Coughlin's ability to remain respected in the locker room, the benefit of keeping offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo for another season.

And don't forget the stability he provides to quarterback Eli Manning — the only head coach he has ever played for.

Loyalty carries a lot of heft in the Giants' philosophy of making decisions but, those two Super Bowl rings sure carry a lot of weight too.

Eli Manning 'a little nervous' about Giants’ new offense: Report

Eli Manning is coming off a one of his worst seasons ever, and you would expect the Giants quarterback to not look anywhere but up after a rock-bottom year.

After finishing 2013 with a career-high 27 interceptions to go with just 18 touchdowns, his fewest since his rookie year, Manning could realistically say it couldn't get any worse.

But Manning admits that learning the system of new coordinator Ben McAdoo could make things tough as he enters training camp after a disappointing 7-9 campaign.

“Yeah, it is different. You come into the season a little nervous; you just don’t have [the same comfort],’’ Manning told the New York Post. “You have a good feel for it, but not to where I want it to be. That’s with repetition and more plays. It’s a different feeling this time of year than in previous years. We’ve still got a lot of work to do and a lot to improve on to get comfortable, myself with my teammates and everything that goes on with being successful in an offense. I know we’ve got a lot of work to do. But we’re excited about that challenge.’’

Manning says his surgically repaired ankle is completely healed and he won't be physically challenged by it. Now he just needs to grasp the new offense well enough that he throws a lot fewer than 27 interceptions, and a lot more than 18 touchdown passes, this year.

“The ankle feels great, 100 percent. Don’t feel it, don’t think about it. It’s not an issue,’’ Manning said. “I’m excited; excited to be in another training camp, get the season kicked off and get back to work. It’s an exciting time. This is what you look forward to.”

Manning also claims he isn’t the slightest bit worried about practicing with his host of new teammates or the retirement of O-line stalwart Chris Snee.

"We’ve got to have a lot of communication, make sure we’re communicating the same thing on our calls and on our checks, changing up cadence," he said about the fresh faces surrounding him. "You throw everything out there that you want to do — you can’t hold things back because you’ve got some new guys."

Tom Coughlin, Giants agree to one-year contract extension: Report

Some New York Giants fans might have been holding their breath waiting to see what direction the team was headed going into the final year of Tom Coughlin's contract.

Although it wasn't much of a surprise, now they won't have to get Big Blue in the face after the Giants head coach and the organization have agreed to a one-year contract extension — giving the two-time Super Bowl skipper a little extra security.

Coughlin was set to enter the final year of his deal after ten years at the helm. The team typically does not allow coaches to go into a lame-duck situation, and securing the extra year on his contract was among the team's priorities this offseason.

Negotiations began shortly after the Super Bowl.

"The Giants have always done that," Coughlin said. "That's the way it has been indicated to me. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it to be honest with you. We've got a lot of work going on in our business, as you know. I had great confidence that it would happen. And it did."

The move gives the 67-year-old Coughlin as much security as any of his assistant coaches or coordinators. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo signed a two-year deal in January.

Coughlin said a bigger extension was not brought up or proposed by ownership.