New York Giants GM Jerry Reese might have just been playing to the fan base Monday when he said he'd like the offense to be more aggressive. Reese's frustration about the team's 3-4 record is understandable, and it's possible he might have been letting his inner fan show. More than once, he emphasized that he's not a coach and was only expressing his opinion, which he'd shared with the coaches as well. But Giants fans should hope the coaches listened to Reese, thanked him for his opinion and then proceeded to ignore it.

Now is not the time for the Giants to change their offensive approach. First of all, it's basically working. No, the offense hasn't clicked in its last two games the way it was clicking in the three games before that, but how many offenses can weather the loss of their starting running back and top wide receiver without negative effect? Regardless of the way the Eagles and Cowboys games went, this year has provided plenty of encouraging signs about players like Larry Donnell, Rueben Randle and Odell Beckham Jr. The running game was working quite well when Rashad Jennings was healthy, and he'll return at some point. And quarterback Eli Manning seems extremely comfortable and efficient in a system designed to limit his mistakes. He's thrown only one interception since Week 2.

This is a young group that spent several months learning this system together, sharing in the joy of its successes, learning from its failures, getting used to each other and forging an identity. To tell such a group of players after only seven games, "OK, forget all that stuff we've been preaching about taking care of the ball; we're going to start chucking it downfield" would be a rash overreaction to a disappointing two-game stretch. And that's not the way the Giants roll.

Fortunately for the Giants, Tom Coughlin and his coaches are self-assured enough to keep the bigger picture in mind. There are teams in which a public edict such as this from the GM would signal trouble in the ranks, or prompt a skittish coach to change course midstream. The power structure in the Giants' organization is not beset with those kinds of insecurities, which means Reese's words Monday weren't a sign of discord but rather a manifestation of understandable in-season frustration.

A 3-4 start isn't making anyone in East Rutherford happy, but it's no reason to alter or undo decisions and plans that were made in sober times. This plan is about more than just one season.

The defining quote of the 2014 Giants offseason was owner John Mara's proclamation that the offense was "broken." In response, the Giants brought in a new coordinator, an entirely new offensive approach and new players at running back, wide receiver and tight end. They made a clear, reasoned plan for fixing what was broken, and it was always unreasonable to assume the fix could be made in as short a time as one year. It's not crazy to think Coughlin can coach nine wins out of this team and sneak into a mediocre NFL playoff field, but that's not the only goal for this organization right now, and it's surely not the most important one, either.

The goal for the Giants is to build a consistent, long-term contender that's capable of winning championships when it gets into the postseason. The people running the Giants have shown an ability to do that. But with the exception of the coach and quarterback positions, they're very much starting over in 2014. It's important for the people watching this team and the people running this team to maintain that perspective, and not to force changes before they're ready for them.