FLOWERY BRANCH -- Joe Judge, a former special-teams coach for New England, is in his second season as the Giants’ head coach.
He won three Super Bowls during his time in New England, including Super Bowl LI over the Falcons.
The Giants went 6-10 in his first season to finish second place in the NFC East. They will face the Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Judge, who played linebacker at Mississippi State, has the Giants off to an 0-2 start.
He’s easing running back Saquon Barkley, the team’s marquee player who was injured for most of the 2020 season, back into the lineup.
“It’s a positive for the team knowing that he can make explosive runs for us,” Judge said. “I see him going out there every day, he practices hard, he plays with confidence. Obviously, there are some things coming off an injury like that that you’ve got to have certain steppingstones.”
Judge and the Giants are looking for more consistent play from quarterback Daniel Jones.
“Our focus with any player is to make sure that they understand there’s 11 people on the field, and we need each player to do their job, and Daniel’s done a really good job of that for us,” Judge said. “Just do your job.”
The Giants will retire Eli Manning’s No. 10 at halftime. He was Jones’ predecessor.
“You don’t worry about those kinds of things. They have no impact on the play on the field,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “I’m happy for Eli. Eli’s a friend and a guy that I’ve known for a long time was a competitor for a long time. He deserves it.”
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Falcons’ 2021 schedule features trip to London, January trip to Buffalo
Atlanta Falcons Schedule
Falcons at New York Giants, Sept. 26 at 1 p.m.
Washington FT at Falcons, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m.
New York Jets vs. Falcons in London, Oct. 10 at 9:30 a.m.
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