No grown man wants to be considered soft. Especially those who run into each other at breakneck speeds for a living.
Jason Pierre-Paul tried to spin the insult into motivation for the New York Giants' defense.
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"I think we're a little soft, but I think we'll get there," the defensive end said Wednesday, via The Associated Press. "We haven't played our best game this year. I know that for a fact."
The psychological games come after the Giants lost 17-16 to the Washington Redskins on "Monday Night Football." Instead of distancing themselves from the Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, the Giants now hold a one-game advantage in the NFC East.
"As a defense, we have to make a statement," Pierre-Paul said. "We haven't made a statement ever since, I'll say, San Francisco (in a Week 6 victory). Well, I'm lying, because we did beat up on Green Bay quite a little bit (in Week 12). But, ever since then, we haven't made a statement. We've just been losing. And we're all not playing together.
"When you're a team, on an organization like this, you've got to play together as one. Otherwise, you'll keep going downhill."
Honestly, even Pierre-Paul's statement sounded a little, well, soft. He should have channeled his inner Eddie Murphy and used the capital "T."
The Giants have to play better all around to close out the division. Tom Coughlin was emphatic about that this week.
But that's been the Giants' M.O. all season. Dominant wins over the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Deflating losses to the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals. You never know which Giants team will show up.
No need to panic, though. The G-Men found their legs late in 2011, won three of their last four games and went on to claim the Super Bowl championship.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
