Reeves Attempts To Repair Growing Rift With Giants
Although Dan Reeves intends to fulfill the final two years of his contract as coach of the New York Giants, a rift with the front office has raised questions whether he’ll be able to do that.
Reeves spent almost the entire 35 minutes of his Monday news conference working on damage control in the wake of a New York Daily News report Sunday quoting him as saying he would not return after the 1997 season unless there were changes in how the organization was run.
The 51-year-old Reeves emphatically said he was not trying to get into a power struggle with general manager George Young, and even said he hoped to coach the Giants beyond 1997.
However, the man who led the Denver Broncos to three Super Bowl appearances admitted he and Young have philosophical differences on how teams should be run in the salary-cap era, and those have to be resolved.
Reeves discussed the crisis with Young and team co-owner Wellington Mara on Monday before later in the afternoon addressing a team already reeling after losing three straight games to fall out of playoff contention with a 3-8 record.
“All I can do is say I made a mistake,” Reeves said at his news conference. “I can’t dwell on it. I can’t change it. It’s done. All I said was is if things stayed the same I would not want to re-do my contract. OK?”
Frerotte benched
Heath Shuler wasn’t smiling and wasn’t talking, even though he had just been given back the starting quarterback job for the Washington Redskins. Fellow second-year player Gus Frerotte, who has started the previous 10 games, was benched by coach Norv Turner after another lackluster performance in Sunday’s 27-20 defeat to Seattle.
“Two of the last three games, we’ve been in situations where we’ve had opportunities to win games and we haven’t gotten it done,” said Turner, whose 3-8 team has lost three in a row and five out of six. “The quarterback is ultimately going to be judged by wins and losses, and now we’ll see if we can win with Heath.”
Ryan remains confident
Cardinals coach Buddy Ryan denied he has discussed a contract buyout with team owner Bill Bidwill.
Job security never comes up in his daily talks with Bidwill, Ryan said.
“I know I’m a good football coach. You don’t change things. If you’re doing things right to start with, then you’re right.”
End zone
The New England Patriots cut cornerback Maurice Hurst a day after he was burned on two 40-yard passes in a 24-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts… . Johnny Mitchell officially lost his starting tight end job to Jets rookie Kyle Brady… . Offensive tackle Chris Hinton’s 13-year NFL career may have ended when the Minnesota Vikings placed him on injured reserve with a nagging knee injury… . Minnesota rookie running back James Stewart is expected to miss four weeks with a fractured fibula… . Rodney Peete should be back at quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, while defensive end Mike Mamula probably won’t. Peete suffered a bruised hip flexor and Mamula a dislocated left shoulder… . Oakland quarterback Jeff Hostetler, who missed one game earlier with a throat injury, is having extensive tests on his sore left shoulder and may be out again.