The New York Giants have fumbled the football seven times this season and lost two. Head coach John Harbaugh does not take this situation lightly. Turnovers kill, and he's all about staying alive.
The situation has gotten better. The Giants fumbled four times in their opening-night victory over the Dallas Cowboys, losing one, but have fumbled just three times over the last three games.
Still, that's too many times for Harbaugh's liking. This past Sunday against Arizona, it was running back Najee Harris who coughed up the ball on the Cardinals' 43 yard-line, killing a second-half drive. It amounted to nothing in the end, as Arizona ended up punting the ball back to the Giants, but it could have been a game-changer.
"Najee's never been a guy that
fumbles too much," Harbaugh explained to reporters on Monday. "And sometimes you try too hard. Sometimes you try too hard to get the extra couple yards, to break out of the pile, to get the run game going. And then the ball becomes a little bit vulnerable in there, and I just think we just stick (to it). You watch what Skatt and Najee have been doing, too. But protect the ball at all costs.
"The yards are going to come. Make that the first priority. Don't forget that. Play to play. Keep reminding each other of that. It's definitely a priority for us. The priority for us. Not turning the ball over, whether it be fumbles or interceptions. If we're going to accomplish the things we want to accomplish, that has to get done. That is the number one priority offensively. Everybody knows it. We all know it. We have to know it and do it. And the guys are believers in that, so we'll continue to work on it."
The Giants do work on ball security and fumble prevention during the week. Harbaugh explained the regimens the coaches and players are doing.
"We have these heavy balls now that we bring in, and they carry this. But it's not really punishment. They do it all anyway. They carry them around. We punch them out. They've got to hold them behind the line," Harbaugh said. "But that's what all the guys do anyway. So even our managers have to not fumble the ball. They'll punch it out if they're holding it loose.
"So, it just kind of needs to be like an organizational priority. You protect the football at all times if it's in your hands. But really, the main thing we do is we practice it. We drill it. We punch it out play to play. And we do drills. We do a drill every single day for all the ball carriers. It's a new drill every day. Coach (Willie) Taggart leads the charge on that. And we're putting them in all circumstances."
Fumbling has slowed, and the Giants should get some credit. They have committed a fumble in each of their last two games, which were played in lousy and slick conditions. Things appear to be getting better, and Harbaugh is taking all the right measures to keep it that way.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: John Harbaugh says New York Giants' backs must clean up fumbling issues
