New York Giants

Giants' Jenkins blames communication issues on final drive

Published Sep. 16, 2015 12:07 a.m. ET

foxsports

New York Giants defensive end Cullen Jenkins has emerged as a leader among a young defensive line that is lacking one. While Eli Manning is taking much of the blame for Sunday night's stunning loss to the Cowboys, it was the defense that allowed the Cowboys to march 73 yards down the field for a touchdown with just over a minute remaining.

“For us, especially in that last drive of the game, we mentally had gotten a little down, and we can’t let that happen,” defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins said on a conference call Monday, per the New York Post.

According to Jenkins, the issues came down to communication and that can certainly be fixed going forward. Communication breakdowns are to be expected for a new group of defensive players operating in their first regular season game under a brand new defensive scheme.

“I thought for the most part, we were communicating well the whole night. Toward the end, we did have a couple of plays where the communication wasn’t the best,” Jenkins said. “But I think that had more to do with the players not being on the same page with their responsibilities and their checks.

(h/t New York Post)