INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - The New York Giants arrived in town on Monday, one day after the New England Patriots, as coach Tom Coughlin said he was letting experience be his guide even if his opponents got an extra day of practice for Sunday's Super Bowl.
"This is the path that we followed four years ago and I thought it was a very good one," Coughlin told reporters about the schedule he mapped out ahead of the Giants' 17-14 upset win over the Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2008.
"It came from research I had done," the coach added. "We'll go to work on Wednesday. I thought it was very good for us the last time we did it."
Although the Patriots' run of success dates back a decade with three Super Bowls wins in a span of four years from 2002 with quarterback Tom Brady running the attack, there are only seven players from the title game in 2008 still on their roster.
New York has more than double the number, with 15 players on the squad who played in their last Super Bowl showdown.
Coughlin said experience could be a factor.
"What we have is a nucleus of guys who can talk to the younger players," said Coughlin. "They can talk to them now, they've been talking to them for the last week about how to conduct themselves in this environment, how to know exactly what's coming, how to stay away from distractions.
"The buildup to this game is something the younger guys have never gone through. The day of the Super Bowl, there's a lot of nervous energy that can be spent without really accomplishing anything."
Coughlin said Giants quarterback Eli Manning had already weighed in with a speech to the team when they hit the practice field last week about how to go about their preparation.
"I know that everybody is excited, I just wanted to make sure the guys knew the importance of the practices last week," the quarterback explained.
"That week back in New Jersey, those practices are the time that we need to have our best practices, when the focus has got to be there. Treat this week like you're playing on Sunday," he said about the message he conveyed.
Manning said the focus on preparation is what can pay off on Super Sunday.
"There's not a better feeling from a professional standpoint than knowing that you've done your job as a team better than anyone else," he said. "That's what we're fighting for."
