Ben McAdoo On WFAN: Playoff Loss To Packers Will Drive Giants In 2017

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Giants coach Ben McAdoo says last season's playoff loss to the Packers will help light a fire under his team as they look to improve this year.

"It'll drive us," McAdoo told WFAN's Mike Francesa from training camp. "It's not the only thing that's going to drive us, but we definitely learned from it. It's important -- and I talked to the players about it -- we're going to pay for our mistakes, and we have to pay for them to grow, but we're only going to pay for it one time. We've learned from it. We've moved on."

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Two players who weren't on that team are wide receiver Brandon Marshall and rookie tight end Evan Engram, who are expected to make the Giants' offense more dynamic.

Of Marshall, McAdoo said: "A big target's always nice to have outside, playing No. 1 receiver for you. He can do more than that. He can play a little bit inside, he play outside for you. ... He has a big catch radius, and as we all know, the wind kicks up in the stadium and sometimes that ball's not real easy to grip."

And of Engram, he said: "Young player who's very contentious. Works very hard. Studies it hard. The game comes naturally to him, but there's going to be some ups and some downs. He's a rookie -- we get that part of it. And it's exciting to think of what he can do running down the hash for you. And he's a better blocker than he's going to get credit for at this moment."

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McAdoo said his goals for improving the offense are simple: "We want to make sure we do a good job of protecting the football. We want to complete it at a higher percentage to make sure our third downs are manageable."

To listen to the interview, click on the audio player above.