Phil Simms says Giants fans should be 'quietly optimistic' for NFL season
Phil Simms at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 8, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Count former Giants quarterback Phil Simms as a fan of the team’s offseason upgrades.
With the Giants kicking off the preseason Saturday by hosting the Vikings, Simms shared his thoughts on the improved roster and why he’s please with the hiring of John Harbaugh as the head coach.
“John has got great experience, but I know he knows how to handle the team,” Simms told Newsday this week. “I think without a doubt, the players, they know he’s the man. I mean, that’s pure and simple the whole thing. The players, the way he handles himself. I’m sure the way he delivers the message to them in the meeting rooms and the way he delivers it on the field, it’s different for the Giants.”
Simms watched practice Monday and is serving as an analyst for NBC for Saturday’s preseason opener alongside Carl Banks and play-by-play announcer Bob Papa. He also called numerous Ravens games involving Harbaugh during his longtime stint as an analyst at CBS.
Simms knows that Harbaugh can impact winning from knowing the game and motivating his players. He also likes that the Giants’ roster has been built to match Harbaugh’s desire to be more physical.
He thinks Giants fans should be “quietly optimistic” because there will be games in which they have the better team on the field.
“What gives me a lot of hope is the Giants have enough stars now to make differences in the game,” Simms said. “They got stars at D-line. They got stars at linebackers, the draft picks, the offensive line’s got some players to build upon. The quarterback, Malik Nabers, if he gets healthy. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff there. That’s what’s exciting about them. They’re bigger, faster and they got some dudes.”
Simms also knows that winning takes a while. The Giants had only one winning season in his first five years. During that fifth season, the team hired Bill Parcells as coach and he oversaw a 3-12-1 campaign.
Parcells, of course, proved to be the right hire, leading the Giants to two Super Bowl championships. They also developed elite playmakers, including future Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson.
Simms thinks Harbaugh and these Giants can make positive strides. This team, he said, has more talent than last year’s 4-13 team. Adding players such as Tremaine Edmunds and Isaiah Likely gives the Giants more players who can affect a game.
“They’re going to be capable of winning games when they don’t even play well,” he said. “They don’t need everybody to be great. They just need that one group to be great . . . but that’s when you know you got a damn good team, when you have all these different groups in so many different ways where you can win the game.”
As the Giants play their first game under Harbaugh, there’s a desire to make a strong first impression in this new era, especially with a home crowd that has had little to cheer about lately.
“We’re still trying to focus on technique,” Harbaugh said Wednesday. “We’re making the most of these days and I’m preaching that, but you can see their attention is starting to go toward the game.”
Jaxson Dart echoed that confidence Friday. He’s pleased with the team’s work through three weeks of training camp.
“We have a lot more room to improve in certain areas,” the quarterback said. “But where we’re at right now, I’m really excited and I think guys are doing a great job.”
In time, Simms thinks Harbaugh’s leadership and a better roster will produce more wins and be a better on-field product.
“He knows what it takes to win,” he said. “And if he gets enough guys around him and they give him a chance, he’s going to get it done.”
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
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