Are you glad you don’t have to play in Wembley’s conditions next game?

Who knows?  It was a slick surface.  It was unbelievable just with your sneakers, it was hard to hold your grip.  I thought the guys did a reasonably good job with the cleats and what have you.  We certainly didn’t throw the ball as well as we would have liked and we are disappointed in that despite the conditions.  We got out of there with a ‘W’ so that was what we were hoping to do.

Have you thrown the ball the way you would have liked to for a while now?

Atlanta, we were very good.  I was very happy with that so that was a couple of games ago, but the last game and a half we have not thrown the ball as well.  Last week there were extenuating circumstances but the second half of the San Francisco game we didn’t throw the ball particularly well and this week I don’t think we threw the ball as well as we could have even though the conditions were difficult.

What are some of the things you are going to look to improve upon for the second half of the season?

I think consistency in throwing the ball.  I think that is a fairly obvious area that needs to be looked into.  We have had some games where we have been outstanding, we have had some halves where we have been exceptional, but in terms of game-in and game-out for the entirety of the game, I think if there is an area that needs to be scrutinized and hopefully investigated to the point where we could come up with some reasons why and get those things corrected, that would be the area. 

Do you anticipate that with this week off Plaxico will be able to come back and practice?

I don’t know.  Am I hopeful?  Absolutely.  As much as he has been a real trooper and hung tough and really battled with a very painful thing, there is no question it is getting to a point where it is affecting his play.  He is not quite as sharp as he would be.  Some catches that he normally would make and the execution of his routes aren’t quite as precise as he would like to be and he would be the first one to tell you.  So yeah if we can get him back I think that in and of itself would be a major factor in upgrading us and giving us a little more consistency. 

Eli isn’t hitting a lot of his marks that you set for him in the preseason but he is winning. Do you still want him to improve or do you just accept it?

The numbers are always expressed in the context of what you have to do to get a win and that is the bottom line, the final analysis, that is what you are trying to do.  When those numbers were determined or looked upon as reasonable and attainable I think we felt that those were the things that we would have to do in order to win.  We have been able to win some other ways like he did Sunday.  We had a very good plan with some of the things that we were going to do running the ball, but also he audibled a couple of times where we had some nakeds.  He makes everybody else better around him, including the running game.  He makes the line always look better because he is not going to take a sack if he sees it coming so it always looks like the line is playing exceptionally well.  He needs to throw the ball; again, I think 60 percent is a reasonable goal.  He is slightly below it, he was slightly above it until the last game and a half and I think last week’s game skewed the numbers in a negative fashion.  He always is going to be in control.  He is always going to do a good job of leading the team.  Certainly the things he did in the game Sunday, pulling the ball down and running, were huge for us.  Those were on passing plays, one for a touchdown, and one for I guess about an 18 yard gain that gave us a big first down was terrific.  Those are the things we are certainly delighted about but I think he can do a better job throwing it.  Certainly the guys can do a better job catching it and certainly we can do a better job of not getting the balls knocked down at the line of scrimmage.  If you just drop two less a game, get two less knocked down a game, and two better throws a game, all of a sudden he is playing just at the level we would like him to be.

Do you think you threw the ball too much in the second half of the London game?  Particularly when you had the three and out on three straight passes?

Well he audibled a couple.  Those were audibles.  There were runs called and he audibled to pass based on the look that we had and we didn’t complete them so we don’t look good.  If you complete them, you look terrific and it is a great way to start the second half.  I think we had just the mix we were looking for and we had some chances early on with some deep balls that we didn’t catch and maybe should have been viewed differently from the officiating crew, but we certainly had a chance with Amani (Toomer) and we certainly had a chance with Madison (Hedgecock) in the end zone.

He always is going to check into a pass if he sees certain things?

Part of our game plan is ‘here is what we would like to do against certain things’ and there will always be the next part of that, or the addendum to that, is that ‘when this happens what do we have to do?’  There are certain things that make it very difficult.  A certain formation where maybe they will have an extra guy loaded up to one side so you can’t do it.  There are certain runs that you can have and control, which we do, but for example that entire game when we were in one formation they played two-deep.  We started the second half with that formation expecting two-deep and the put they extra guy in the box, so we had to throw it. 

They almost baited you to throw the ball?

Right.  He did and we didn’t complete it, so we didn’t look good.  It is one of those things where did he do the right thing?  Yes, he did.  The only thing that wasn’t good was that it wasn’t successful, so that was what was disappointing.

Are you worried of a repeat of last season’s second half troubles?

I think last year was last year.  I think there were two very obvious reasons why last year fell off.  I think we lost our left tackle and everything had to be altered and modified significantly from that point on how we could run our routes and what have you.  If you can’t throw it, then pretty soon they start ganging up on your running game so much that even though it is a good segment of what you do, all of a sudden it is much more difficult.  The second thing was Amani’s loss, which was horrific for us because he is the one guy that gives you some stability and some consistency.  He is not the one guy but he is the most consistent guy that we have so to lose him was a significant loss.  Hopefully those things, knock on wood, are not going to happen, we will stay healthy, and we will keep on playing.  I keep thinking that he is going to finish the year doing better and I think we will as a group.

How about the third receiver spot?  You haven’t gotten much out of that?

We thought Steve Smith was doing a good job and then he got injured and then we just haven’t gotten quite the production from that position we would like to have.  That is one of the things that as we look at schemes and what people are doing to us schematically, what are we doing with our system, we are also looking at what can we do personnel-wise to maybe get an upgrade.  We are going to look at a couple of people and see if moving them around until somebody emerges as a consistent contributor in that spot. 

Would you move Moss outside?

That is where he has been the whole time.

Had you hoped to get more out of Moss by this point?

We certainly think he has a lot of ability and just for whatever the reason it hasn’t played out on game days.  Certainly he has great quickness and some good speed and he actually did some good things blocking for the run game that won’t necessarily show up, but from that standpoint he has been a contributor, but the numbers don’t reflect what we were hoping for.  We have to look at maybe are we asking him to do some things that he can’t do or are there some things that maybe he can do better that we can help him to get better at and I think we feel that he is somebody that we have to work with.

Are you getting more or about what you expected out of Brandon Jacobs?

It is kind of what I thought.  I knew he would give us a physical presence in the running game.  He is a big, strong, unusual back and with the emergence of Madison Hedgecock in the fullback position and his play it is a physical group.  Some of our guys up front are playing very, very well in the run game.  Seubert and Snee are playing especially well.  All of a sudden that is a physical part of your offense.  I am not sure many people are more physical than when you put Madison and fullback and Brandon running the ball.  Those other guys are playing great too.  Unfortunately Derrick (Ward) has been slowed by injury but he has been playing great.  I think I told you guys and I think some of you looked at me like I had three heads, I said I thought we had three and probably four running backs, and I still do, that are quality people and it is just a matter of how do you use them.  It just seems that right now the way the injuries have fallen thank goodness that we had the depth that we had at that spot.

You couldn’t have been that certain of what you were going to get out of Brandon this year since he was part-time last year?

You are never certain but I think you can look, gauge, and have a pretty good sense of who can do what.  He just hadn’t been given the opportunity but it looked like he certainly had the physical attributes you are looking for, not only with his size but he has good speed.  Once he turns the corner and gets north and south there are not a lot of DBs that are anxious to tackle him, but after a period of time it begins to take a toll.  He is not the only one because Derrick ran very, very hard until he got the last injury.  I think Reuben runs hard and I think, again, if the young guy ever gets a chance I think he is doing to do well also.  We are very blessed to have four talented runners who I think are taking advantage of a group that is blocking very well up front.  I think they do a nice job and I think those guys are running very well behind him.

And you traded a guy to Green Bay who ran for over 100 yards Monday?

He was a good player as well.  You wish you had that kind of problem at all your positions. 

Is Hedgecock the kind of fullback that you were looking for?

I am glad we got him.  I knew we were going to take advantage of him; it is just a matter of utilizing who you have.  I think that is what he can do and he is not a prototypical west coast fullback.  You are not going to throw him the ball like we did in Buffalo to Larry Centers 75 times a season but in terms of leading up on a linebacker he is pretty good.

Were you surprised he was available?

Yeah I was.  I didn’t know anything about him to be honest with you.  Our guys brought him in, we looked at film, and we brought him here.  At the time we had a lot of injuries and we didn’t really have a fullback at that point so it was good timing for us.