Uh, Coach, exactly what do you mean by “it?”

Coaches are big on slogans, sometimes with unfortunate results.

Remember when Jacksonville’s Jack Del Rio came up with “Keep chopping wood,” and brought in a tree stump and an ax into the locker room, only to have his punter put a gash in his leg with the props?

New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin’s contribution to bad sloganeering came the week before the team’s playoff game against Philadelphia, when he passed out T-shirts with the words, “Cut It Off.”

“Cut It Off” was a reference to the movie Men of Honor, in which the protagonist has to have his leg amputated. Coughlin told the press the idea behind his use of the phrase was to motivate his players to do whatever was necessary to succeed.

But in seems to me that in a sport where manhood references are all-too-common, “Cut It Off” might make some players wince, rather than feel more determined.

It hasn’t been that long, has it, since John Wayne Bobbitt and his then-wife Lorena were in the news? Apparently not. Final score: Eagles 23, Giants 11.