Darren Waller – © USA TODAY Sports
GIANTS SIGN RETURNER TO PRACTICE SQUAD…
The New York Giants have signed WR Gunner Olszewski to the Practice Squad. The 26-year old, 6’0”, 190-pound Olszewski was originally signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent after the 2019 NFL Draft. After three seasons with the Patriots, Olszewski signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in March 2022. The Steelers waived him on Saturday.
Olszewski was named first-team All-Pro as a punt returner in 2020. He has played in 55 regular-season games with four starts, catching 15 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown. He also has carried the ball 14 times for 71 yards. Olszewski has returned 41 kickoffs for 904 yards (22 yards per return) and 75 punts for 897 yards (12 yards per return) and one touchdown. Olszewski has eight career fumbles on returns.
OCTOBER 23, 2023 BRIAN DABOLL PRESS CONFERENCE…
New York Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll addressed the media on Monday (VIDEO):
Q: Can you talk a little bit about (guard) Mark Glowinski and how he has responded after the first game having a rough time and just coming back and settling things down and settling his performance down?
A: I think he’s had two good weeks of practice. I thought he played well yesterday. He’s done a good job of bouncing back and making the most of his opportunities, and I’m looking forward to him continuing to do that.
Q: Regarding (wide receiver) Jalin Hyatt, I was talking with him yesterday and he said to me that he still wants to become more of a complete receiver. What have you seen from him? What does he still need to do other than obviously get better in all aspects of the game to become a complete receiver?
A: He’s young. I’ve talked about this before. He’s improving, but with these young players, we’ve still got a ways to go in detail, assignment, execution, everything that every position gets evaluated on. Those are things we’ll continue to work on with him. It was good, again, to see him make a few plays, but certainly have ways to improve.
Q: I know things change fast in the NFL. It was only a couple of weeks ago that we were asking you about your defense missing tackles, and now we’re asking about a dominant defense. Why do you think that is that they played so well here the last couple games? Is that just the case of a bunch of new guys and needing time to gel together? Is it something you see different from your defense? Why has the defense looks like it has joined the ranks of the better ones in the NFL these last couple of weeks?
A: I think they’re improving. They’re improving their chemistry. They’ve done a good job with their fundamentals. I think (Defensive Coordinator) Wink (Martindale) has done a good job with them. Try to eliminate as many big plays as we can. I know they hit a couple to (Commanders wide receiver Terry) McLaurin yesterday, but they’re playing well.
I thought our front did a good job. That’s where it starts. (Defensive lineman) Dexter (Lawrence II), I’d say, had a very, very good game, along with (defensive lineman) Leo(nard Williams). Guys like (defensive lineman) A’Shawn (Robinson) and Nacho (defensive lineman Rakeem Nuñez-Roches) that moved in, they did a good job. That’s where it starts. But again, chemistry, playing together, I think all those things are in play with that. But again, one week has nothing to do with the next. We’re going to have to go out there and do a good job of getting ready to play this week.
Q: When it comes to punt returner, I feel like I’ve heard you say generally speaking about your team, you play the best guys. Has (running back) Eric Gray been the best guy as a punt returner for you guys for the first six weeks, seven weeks, or are there other factors involved with him like trying to justify the draft pick by getting a rookie a role when you know he’s not going to be able to get many carries in a (running back) Saquon (Barkley)-dominated backfield?
A: You’re always looking to put as good of guys back there as you can. He’s competed. He’s worked hard. So, that’s why he’s back there.
Q: Will he still be back there going forward, or do you consider that more open than you have?
A: I’d say we’re going to look at it here. We’re going to look at it.
Q: Do you plan on, or do you think you need to bring in somebody from the outside to fill that position, especially if he’s injured?
A: We’ll have workouts this week like we always do.
Q: Where are you at the quarterback position as you begin this week?
A: Relative to?
Q: Relative to (quarterback) Daniel’s (Jones) health.
A: I don’t have any update yet on DJ’s (quarterback Daniel Jones) health.
Q: Can you just give an overview of what this offense is like with Saquon versus without Saquon. Obviously, the running game has not been gangbusters, but he certainly made a difference in these last two games, and just what you feel you and (Offensive Coordinator) Mike (Kafka) can do with Saquon going out there as opposed to not having him out there.
A: I’ve said this before: you always hope all your best players are out there. So, he’s one of them. We’ll do what we need to do each week, but it’s better to have him out there than it’s not.
Q: You’ve dealt with quarterbacks for so long. Is that a position where the coach needs total clarity with his team, as far as who’s in, who’s out, who we’re going with? A lot of coaches feel quarterback is kind of a different animal than any other position on the field where he’s the leader, he makes everything go, he gets the most money, all that, that the coach has to be in complete clarity with his players as far as, ‘This is our guy, we’re going with him, here’s why.’
A: I guess I’m not following you with that.
Q: Do you look at quarterback as sort of a different position? You treat everyone the same, but quarterbacks have an elevated position on a lot of teams where it’s important to know who is the guy there?
A: As you go through the week, it’s important to know who your guy is going to be at really any position. You have strategy and backup plans if that’s not the case. Certainly, it’s an important position. Each week we go into it, it’s ideal when you know who your quarterback is versus who it’s not.
Q: Is it the most important position? You said it’s an important position. Is it the most?
A: Quarterback? It’s a pretty important position. Yeah, absolutely.
Q: What’s the best thing that you’ve seen from Jalin Hyatt? I understand he’s a rookie, he has a lot of room to improve, and I think he understands that as well from my conversations with him, but what’s the best part that he’s brought to this team?
A: He’s made some big plays when he’s had an opportunity to, in terms of downfield. We threw him a few more this game, came down with some, didn’t with others. Again, I can’t say it enough, he’s got a long way to go. Hard position to jump right into. He’s making strides, but still got a lot to learn and details to clean up.
Q: How did you think (quarterback) Tyrod (Taylor) played yesterday?
A: I thought he played well, yeah. Had firm control, made good decisions, had a good game.
Q: How much more involved were you with the offense in the meetings and stuff last week? Why did you see that as necessary?
A: Yeah, I know there’s a report on it. I’d say I’m involved every week. I meet with offense, I meet with defense, special teams, go into all the meetings in all three phases. I meet with all the coaches. I have a variety of meetings every week, just obviously being the head coach. So certainly, I’m in the offense. I’ve been in the offense before. I’ll continue to be in the offensive room, but I’ll also be in the other rooms, too.
Q: The end of the game, I’m just curious, obviously it didn’t come to fruition because of the timeout thing with the injury, but what was your plan—
A: Safety.
Q: Were you going to take a safety?
A: Yeah. It was 49 seconds. We had seven seconds. It was 56 seconds. So, taking a couple slow knees, it would be similar to the Green Bay game that we had over there in London. That was the strategy going into it, and then there was the injury and no timeouts. They reset it to 40, it was 33 seconds, so we could just run out the clock.
Q: I’m not asking so much about where (where) Andrew (Thomas) is going to be this week, but where was he at the end of last week in terms of his progress in getting back?
A: He was better than the week before.
Q: Does that leave you encouraged that this might be at least a limited participation on the field?
A: I’d say it’s early in the week. Wednesday, I’ll probably have a better answer for you.
Q: You’ve been on both sides of this Jets-Giants rivalry. I know you’re micro focused on things, but is there something special about playing a team in your own city? Could you feel it on the Jets side, and do you feel this week at all?
A: My focus is to just get ready to get started on these guys. Got a tremendous amount of respect for (Jets Head) Coach (Robert) Saleh. Understand the history behind it. This is, again, a good team that’s playing well that just beat Philadelphia. They’re on their bye week. So, that’s really where my focus is, just getting onto the tape and kind of turning the page here from the last week.
Q: Have you looked at any tape yet?
A: Right after this.
Q: Based on even without looking at it, how good is that defense you’re about to face?
A: I’ve got to go watch the tape. I know we played them in the preseason. I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect, like I said, for Coach Saleh. He’s a heck of a football coach. They’re a dynamic defense, obviously. I think they’ve given up one touchdown – it’s early in my preparation right now – one touchdown in the second half. So, they take the ball away, they play fast, they’re a good defense.
THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts and video clips of the media sessions with the following players are available in The Corner Forum and on YouTube:
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The players are off on Tuesday and there is no media availability to the team. The players return to practice on Wednesday.
Eric Kennedy
Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.
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