Giants' GM ready to get to work

East Rutherford, N.J.

Dave Gettleman is going right to work as the New York Giants' general manager.

There is plenty to fix with a team that has two wins entering the final weekend of the season, starting with finding a new head coach.

There is not a lot of time to waste, either. With the regular season ending Sunday, there are going to be good head coaches getting pink slips around the league. The week also gives the Giants a chance to talk to coaches on teams that have a first-round playoff bye.

Gettleman and Giants co-owner John Mara want to be in position to talk to those people and others, so mark Monday as the day the search starts.

Gettleman wants his coach to be someone with intelligence, leadership ability and vision, equating the job with that of a chief executive.

Mara said the Giants want someone with NFL experience, either as a head coach or a coordinator.

Giants interim coach and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will get an interview. Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks also has to be considered a candidate.

Having worked with the likes of Marv Levy, Mike Shanahan and Tom Coughlin, Gettleman knows what he wants.

"My idea is, toughness is important," Gettleman said Friday at a news conference to discuss his hiring. "Every successful head coach I've been around has been tough. Now, maybe the delivery was different, but they were tough."

That might describe Gettleman, too. He's an old-fashioned football man. He has 30 years NFL experience, including 15 years with the Giants before he went to Carolina to become the Panthers' general manager in 2013. He lasted four years, taking the team to the Super Bowl in the 2015 season and being fired the next year after the team missed the playoffs.

Gettleman believes defense wins championships, big linemen allow teams to compete, there is no such thing as too many great players at one position and being able to run the ball, to stop the run and pressure the passer is the best way to win.

"My plan is to come in here every day and kick (butt)," the 66-year-old Gettleman said. "That's my plan, OK? And I'm going to keep doing it until they either take my key card or the Lord calls me home."

The Giants needed just more than three weeks to find a successor to Jerry Reese, who was fired on Dec. 4 along with second-year head coach Ben McAdoo with the team spiraling with a 2-10 record and fans upset with the benching of two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning that weekend.

"Given the state of our team at the moment and with all of the difficult and important decisions that we have facing us, we believed it was important to bring in somebody who had experience as a general manager. Somebody with a proven track record," Mara said.

More Giants: Eli Manning is going to be without his top two receivers for the regular-season finale against Washington. Interim coach Steve Spagnuolo said rookie tight end Evan Engram (ribs) and wide receiver Sterling Shepard (neck) will not play on Sunday.

Jets: New York is choosing stability over a shakeup. The team announced Friday it extended the contracts of general manager Mike Maccagnan and coach Todd Bowles, keeping the pair for at least the next three seasons through 2020. The extensions are for two years each, according to a person with direct knowledge of the contracts. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not announce terms. "During their time here, they have worked together to help the organization build a foundation on which to grow," acting owner and CEO Christopher Johnson said in a statement. "They are identifying, developing and getting productivity out of our players. I believe we are headed in the right direction."

Colts: Andrew Luck looks healthy and sounds confident. All he has to do now is prove he can still sling a football. After spending six weeks rehabbing his throwing shoulder in the Netherlands, the Colts' quarterback returned to Indianapolis on Friday with a promising prognosis. "The pain has significantly gone down and that's why I'm so optimistic," Luck said in his first public comments in more than two months. "I feel really good today."

Titans: Tennessee will play its must-win regular-season finale against Jacksonville without running back DeMarco Murray. Murray sprained his right knee in a 27-23 loss to the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday. Titans coach Mike Mularkey ruled Murray out Friday.