To say the New York Giants are having a bad season would be an understatement. The team’s current 1-5 record contrasts sharply with the offseason talk from coaches and organization leaders about building something and improving from last year, and the most recent loss erased most of the optimism gained from the Giants’ sole win.
However, according to safety Logan Ryan, the Giants haven’t yet lost the locker room.
Ryan was the first player to take accountability for the loss on Sunday when he came out in full uniform after the game to address the media. During those comments, he remarked on the state of the locker room.
“So yeah, I don’t think morale is great, I think that’s natural. I think when you’re competitive and you lose, you get really mad and it’s not always the best, but at the same point I just don’t feel like we have that type of cancerous locker room where guys are starting to break away,” Ryan told reporters.
On paper, not losing the locker room is a good thing. Mathematically, based on the number of games left this season, the Giants still have a chance to turn things around and compete.
But thanks to their track record since 2017 and their performances this year, you’ll be hard pressed to find even diehard optimists who believe a miracle turnaround is in store for this team.
It may not matter in the long run whether the Giants throw in the towel early this season or not. The division race, after all, and even a .500 record, are getting further away from the team every week.
With that being said, it’s good to see Ryan stepping up as a leader and face of the team. So far this season, accountability has been a hard thing to come by.
Arguably, Ryan’s honest assessment about the locker room mood and his comments about the performance being unacceptable are more valuable than any of the remarks from Joe Judge about competing for 60 minutes or approaching every week as a new game.
Of course, fans would prefer to see accountability from the organization’s leaders, such as John Mara, rather than individual players. But if this season is anything like previous ones, we shouldn’t expect much.
The Giants have proven that if they are anything as an organization, it is slow to change. For any major changes, we’ll all likely have to wait for another offseason.
Until then, it appears performance will be measured in small milestones such as competing for 60 minutes or avoiding the loss of the locker room in the middle of a lost season.