New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin was in no mood to talk about losing tight end Jake Ballard on waivers to the New England Patriots on Tuesday, but general manager Jerry Reese was more open to discussing the team's miscalculation.
"Yes we thought that he would clear," Reese said Wednesday on Sirius XM NFL Radio (via The Star-Ledger). "It's rare but it's not the first time something like that has happened. It's disappointing for us that we didn't get him back. He did a tremendous job for us and we hope he gets well soon and that he can finish his career, whether it's with New England or whatever team he ends up with. It was disappointing, but that does happen, every blue moon."
Patriots coach Bill Belichickscoffed at the idea New England had breached an unwritten rule in scooping up Ballard. Reese adamantly denied there being any bad blood between the teams.
"No, absolutely not," he said. "There is no reason for us to have hard feelings about it. When you put a guy on the wire, he's free game for anybody. There are no hard feelings for us. They think that they can salvage the situation, so we will see what happens, but again, we only wish the best for Jake."
