Giants subdued but not beaten as they prepare for the Packers

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin described his players as "a little quiet" when he met with them Wednesday. The subdued atmosphere was understandable.

Even as New York (9-5) looks ahead to a win-and-in scenario when it visits the Green Bay Packers (8-6) on Sunday, it is extremely difficult for the Giants to put behind them a 38-31 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in which the visitors erupted for 28 unanswered points in the final 7 minutes, 28 seconds to gain control of the NFC East.

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The image of Philadelphia's DeSean Jackson sprinting 65 yards with rookie Matt Dodge's line-drive punt and then running parallel to the goal line before scoring to end the Giants' misery as time expired is almost impossible to forget.

The circumstances are so perilous that soft-spoken Eli Manning called his first players-only meeting in seven seasons on Monday to discuss what he described as "team stuff."

Manning said of the brief session, "Just talking about the situation we're in and now is not the time to get down and get in a panic. There were a lot of things about our current situation."

Manning went on, "You just man up for mistakes and you take responsibility. You put it behind you and look forward to the situation and say, 'Hey, we have another big game and that's fun. This is fun. This is good times. You try to look at the positives.' "

The Giants' psyche proved to be fragile last season. They started 5-0 and were in striking position to gain their fifth consecutive playoff berth before collapsing with lopsided defeats in their last two games.

They were trounced 41-9 by the Carolina Panthers in the final contest played at Giants Stadium before they moved to New Meadowlands Stadium. Their season-ending 44-7 road loss to the Minnesota Vikings was their worst defeat since a 45-7 decision in New Orleans to the Saints on Dec. 14, 2003.

Coughlin, in looking for positives this time, was encouraged by the number of players who arrived at the facility on Tuesday, their lone day off.

"A lot of people in, a lot of people in the weight room, a lot of people getting an early jump on the tape," he said.

Coughlin said of the locker-room atmosphere, "The feeling is that we lost the game. That's over. It's a new week and we have to move on…That's the direction we're going in. Let's get going and let's get moving."

Although an enraged Coughlin went onto the field to berate Dodge last Sunday after the rookie failed to punt the ball out of bounds as instructed, he met with him Monday and said he would continue to talk to him about the best way to move forward.

"I'll encourage him," the coach said. "I'll point out the positive things and we'll get him right."

Lambeau Field can be one of the NFL's most intimidating settings, but not so much for New York. Its last trip there produced one of the most memorable triumphs in franchise history, a 23-20 overtime victory in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 20, 2008. The Giants went on to win Super Bowl XLII and deny the New England Patriots a perfect season.

Free agent safety Antrel Rolle was not part of that magical ride or the collapse of 2009. He can only operate in the present and is convinced the Giants, who visit the Washington Redskins in the regular-season finale after their trip to Green Bay, will not let a playoff berth slip away again.

Asked if New York will qualify for postseason, he answered defiantly, "I don't think it. I know it."