It’s like this for New York Giants rookie punter Matt Dodge today. He has lots of angry Giants fans who hate him, including some who have suggested he best find his way into witness protection. He has new friends among Eagles fans, who would like to buy him dinner.
Most of all, though, he still has a job with the Giants. At least for today.
“I came in and my locker was still here. So that was good,” Dodge told reporters on Monday. “Stuff happens sometimes. And as much as I wanted to hit that out of bounds and give us a chance in overtime, it just didn’t work out.”
Apparently, Dodge does not have to worry about his job security. Giants coach Tom Coughlin told reporters as much this morning.
“I told him to get his dauber up. We’ve got to move on,” the coach said. “That’s over, you can’t do anything about it. You’ve got to figure out how to do the things I ask you to do. He’s no more to blame than me or anybody else.”
Dodge, a seventh-round pick from East Carolina, has had a wildly inconsistent rookie season. He has dropped two snaps from center, had a punt blocked, hit lots of long, booming punts and probably an equal number of awful, short line drive ones. He also lost his job as the team’s holder for placekicks. For the season, Dodge averages 45.3 yards per punt (ninth in the league), but just 34.6 net yards (30th in the league).