On second thought, maybe Eli Manning wasn’t the loneliest man in the world on Sunday. No doubt he was pretty lonely in that press room, but at least he wasn’t ordered into solitary confinement. After he punted the ball to DeSean Jackson on Sunday and put the nail in the Giants coffin, Matt Dodge probably felt more alone — especially when Tom Coughlin kicked him out of the locker room.
As Deadspin pointed out, Howard Eskin tweeted on Monday that Coughlin walked into the locker room after the Giants loss and “saw his punter in tears.” He allegedly told him to get out of the locker room and said he was no longer a part of the team. Talk about rough.
If Eskin’s source is accurate and that’s really what happened, Coughlin owes his punter an apology. Was it a bonehead mistake? Absolutely. There’s no way he should have punted it directly to one of the most dangerous return men in the game in that situation. However, the game should have never gotten to that point. When a team blows a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter, the blame should start with the head coach. Allowing a team back into a game like that shows a complete lack of focus from the players and an inability of the coaching staff to keep them focused.
Obviously, Coughlin didn’t cut Dodge. He was probably just angry and needed someone to take it out on, but he should have looked in the mirror first.
