Giants' Joe Judge takes blame: 'The fish stinks from the head down'

New York Giants head coach Joe Judge vowed earlier this week that things for his club are "definitely going to get better" after fans at MetLife Stadium booed as his team fell to 1-5 on the season after Sunday's 38-11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. 

With the Giants dealing with multiple frustrating and costly injury setbacks ahead of this Sunday's matchup against the 3-3 Carolina Panthers, Judge publicly accepted blame for the current state of the franchise. 

"There's your answer. I'm the head coach. It's my responsibility, point blank," Judge said when speaking with reporters Thursday, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN. "Every player on this field, every position group, the execution, it all comes down to me. The fish stinks from the head down.

"I've been taught that from great guys who I worked for, played for. There are no excuses, no exceptions. You demand it from your coaches to make sure that the players are playing the right way. You demand it of the players to know what to do and then go out there to do it.

"But it starts with me and ends with me."

Judge's words seemed to impress starting safety Logan Ryan, one of New York's defensive captains, but do little to erase the fact the Giants are now 7-15 during the coach's brief tenure and will almost certainly endure another losing season. 

"You've got to respect that. You've got to respect when people take ownership," Ryan explained. "Finger-pointing, blaming is an easy thing to do. You have to respect a coach who says it starts with him to get the team prepared.

"I agree. It does start with him. It starts with me individually to lead myself and lead my unit as well. I think all of us are up here taking ownership. We can only answer the questions how we can. When there is negative stuff going on, there are only so many answers. At the end of the day, we need more positive results and I think that starts with people taking ownership. So it's a good sign." 

Raanan added that star running back Saquon Barkley (ankle), along with wide receivers Kenny Golladay (knee) and rookie Kadarius Toney (ankle), all seem "highly unlikely" to play against Carolina after that trio missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday. Starting left tackle Andrew Thomas went on injured reserve (ankle) this week and will miss at least the next three games, per NFL rules. 

It's widely believed the Giants could start trading players as soon as next week if they're 1-6 on the campaign come Monday morning.