Giants Head Coach Joe Judge Reveals How The Team Has Handled An Unusual Off-Season

New York Giants head coach Joe Judge has countless things going on these days as he gets ready to head up his first NFL program later this summer.

Yet despite the challenges of trying to adapt to the ever-changing COVID-19 inspired safety protocols, and the unexpected brush fires such as the arrests of DeAndre Baker for allegedly committing armed robbery and, more recently the arrest of kicker Aldrick Rosas on an alleged hit-and-run accident, Judge had the public relations staff arrange 20-minute one-on-one phone calls with the team’s beat writers.

“I talked to Pat (Hanlon, the Giants senior vice president of public relations) and said, ‘You know, normally (the media) would have had X amount of exposures that we would have talked and met in person, but we haven’t had that. So I want to make sure going into summer any questions you had or whatever articles you may have to write, you had the information you need.”

But there is still so much that Judge can’t answer on the tail end of an unprecedented off-season in which COVID-19 forced the shut-down of team facilities and prompted teams to conduct their off-season programs virtually.

Although virtual learning isn’t a novel concept, for a head coach trying to meet daily with 90 players plus 20-plus assistant coaches, it can be, well, a challenge.

To combat that challenge, Judge said he reached out to various schools and educational programs that have successfully run virtual learning for large groups to get some advice regarding structure and how to keep participants engaged.

The feedback he received included keeping the meetings short and avoiding the dreaded one-sided lecture format that can sometimes cause more timid personalities to try to blend into the background.

“We had a vehicle that we could get the players to look eye to eye through Zoom,” he said.

“And that was what we use the best of our ability to try to break down some of the walls. I think our coaches and players did a phenomenal job of developing some chemistry as a team and developing some relationships. I do not feel that we’re going to walk into the building and be strangers.”

What is also important to Judge is that the players take ownership of what the 38-year-old coach has been entrusted to build in New York.

Amid the growing concerns about racial and social injustice, civic leaders, celebrities, and athletes from various sports are using their platforms to challenge existing systems and practices, creating educational opportunities regarding social and racial injustices and, most importantly, create change.

Already Giants running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones have used their respective platforms to promote change and denounce systematic racism. They are likely not going to be the only embers of the team who do so.

And Judge, who told his players of his desire to learn more about the struggles of the black community, is just fine with his players using their platforms to peacefully protest and pursue answers that promote harmony and better understanding.

“We’ve had a lot of lengthy conversations specifically on social justice that this is something that’s obviously very important,” he said.

“This was not going to be something that we were going to simply check off a box and say, ‘We did it as a team.’ This is something that we want to be involved with, to make a truly a sustained difference.

“The conversations we’ve had are just a start, and they’re going to continue.”

Those conversations will include if the team chooses to peacefully protest by kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem.

Judge said that no decision has been made as to how or if the team might stage a protest, but added that whatever is decided, he will support.

“We’re going to support our players,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of long conversations, but we have not spoken specifically about game day. We’ll be involved with the players as coaches, and our ownership has been phenomenal. They’ve been listening, and they’ve been very involved.

“So when the time is right, we’re going to have this conversation as a team, and we’re gonna support the players in whatever we decide to do.”