SEPTEMBER 16, 2024 BRIAN DABOLL PRESS CONFERENCE…
New York Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll addressed the media on Monday (VIDEO):
Q: Just curious if you have any updated word on (kicker) Graham Gano?
BRIAN DABOLL: He has a hamstring so we’ll see where he’s at and I would assume it’s going to be a few weeks here.
Q: So, what’s your plan going forward at Kicker?
BRIAN DABOLL: We’ll work guys out and (kicker) Jude (McAtamney) has been with us so we’ll make a decision off of the workout. Based on how they do in the workout and then Jude.
Q: When you look back, what was the biggest problem with the run defense yesterday?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I’d say two things. Usually this happens for run defense, two things, tackling and then run fits. So those are two things that we stress them every week but put an added emphasis on them this week.
Q: First your running game, the offensive line, it seemed like probably got overshadowed a little bit, but it seemed the holes were pretty sizable. I know they were hard on themselves for their run blocking after Week 1. What’d you think of that particularly with the offensive line?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I’d just say the offense in general I thought made very good improvements from Week 1 to Week 2. We stayed on track. We played in positive down and distances. We ran with the ball well. I’d say the receivers blocked well. That was a really good run to start off the game by (running back Devin Singletary) Motor and a great block by (wide receiver Darius) Slayton coming in on the right side and then Motor making the guy miss, crack replace guy. Wasn’t a lot of free runners. Most of the time we got a hat for a hat, we got movement at the line, and I thought Motor ran well. Saw the hole well, made good cuts, got downhill, that was an improvement. The pass protection was an improvement. We didn’t have very many negative plays, which helps offensively when you’re moving the ball. There was a lot of a lot of good things that came out of that and a lot of improvements on that side of the ball.
Q: And then big picture wise, 0-2 teams, I don’t have the stats in front of me, but 0-2 teams don’t usually get to the playoffs. They don’t usually make much of their season. This organization has been 0-2 nine of the last 12 years and not much has come of those seasons. Is this a pivotal point? Can you feel as the head coach, as the leader of your locker room, is this a pivotal point for you guys in your season to make sure which way it turns?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think you just have to focus on the week at hand. I’ve been part of some 0-2 teams that ended up pretty well. I know they have here. So again, what really happened 10 years ago or last year, like I’ve always said, really has no bearing on anything this season. I thought we made some improvements in a lot of areas. Need to continue to improve on the things that we’re not doing well at this time and focus on the Cleveland Browns.
Q: What 0-2 team were you part of that turned it around?
BRIAN DABOLL: That was a long time ago, 2001.
Q: Yeah, that team.
BRIAN DABOLL: 1-3. So again, that’s 2001 or 2020, none of that really matters. What matters is doing the things we need to do internally to fix some of the things that we’re having issues with. Again, there’s been some improvement. There was improvement in the red zone defense from Week 1 to Week 2. There was improvement, I’d say, in almost every area offensively and we need to continue to build off those things and then fix the things that that aren’t up to standard
Q: Noting of course you’re only two games in but did you have to kind of uplift any spirits or give a little pep talk to your team about this not being a lost season or the idea that you can turn it around starting this week?
BRIAN DABOLL: This is two games in, so it’s a long NFL season. Again, we had a good week of preparation. I thought there were a lot of good things in the game. I thought there was improvements again from Week 1 to Week 2 and that’s where our focus needs to be.
Q: Was there anything different after the game or this morning about your interaction with ownership?
BRIAN DABOLL: No, consistent.
Q: Are there any other players you’re worried about as far as injury goes other than Graham?
BRIAN DABOLL: No.
Q: I know how much you’ve always said how much you hate to lose. Was yesterday one of those games where you sat there and said, ‘how did we lose?’ You should have won?
BRIAN DABOLL: Anytime you lose you’re not happy. Yeah, there was opportunities to be had and at the end of the day they made it they made one more play than we did. Again, I’m not going to make an excuse, they played well. I thought we did some good things; just came up short.
Q: When you mentioned earlier things that aren’t up to our standard that you have to fix, I was wondering what comes to your mind when you say that? What specifically, maybe one little example, are you talking about?
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, I talked about one of them: our run defense and our run fits and our tackling. Our ball security, which was a big fumble there at the start of the second half, which we had a good drive going. Those are the big things that we need to make sure we take care of and improve on.
Q: With (wide receiver) Jalin Hyatt in particular, I know we asked you about this last week, but I’m curious, he hasn’t played a ton in either of the first two games. What does he have to do to show you that he deserves more playing time?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think he got 13 or 14 plays. Again, that’s not because of Jalin Hyatt. (Wide receiver) Slay (Darius Slayton) is doing a nice job with his opportunities of doing the things that he needs to do. And then we sprinkle in (Jalin) Hyatt in particular plays. And then (wide receiver Malik) Nabers is… he’s been on the field most of the time and we’ve mixed in 12 (personnel), we’ve mixed in 11 personnel, not as much 10 personnel, but he’ll be ready to go when his number is called.
Q: You haven’t gotten him involved at all, really. He has zero catches. I know you invested in him last year and you gave him a lot of opportunity. It was a lot of first team reps this summer. How much do you feel like you need to get something out of him?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think we need to get stuff out of everybody. But again, the two receivers that do start are Slay (Darius Slayton) and (Malik) Nabers. He’s the third guy in, per se, when we go two receiver sets and he’s the fourth guy in three receiver sets.
Q: With a young team, we’ve mentioned and you’ve mentioned about the youth of this roster. Does a coach have to have his antenna up even more in the locker room with a young team to make sure this is not, ‘Here we go again.’ There hasn’t been a lot of winning the last couple of years. So, do you have to maybe take a lot of ownership with that with a young group?
BRIAN DABOLL: Each week we got to focus on the team we’re playing and the things we need to do to go out there and perform well. And that’s where our guys’ heads are at. That’s where they’re going to be at. Learn from the things from one week to the next and keep improving.
Q: I don’t know if anyone’s going to complain about targeting (wide receiver) Malik Nabers, they would complain if you didn’t target him, I’m sure. But the tight ends had a lot of snaps in the game and they’re not really targeted, yesterday certainly. Do you want, when this offense is settled, do you want it to be a more diversified attack? So maybe Malik (Nabers) does not have to get 18 and maybe the (tight end) Theo (Johnson)s get involved and maybe (running back) Devin (Singletary) in the passing game, things like that?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think the tight ends were involved. They were involved in protection and allowing us to throw the ball 20, 25 yards down the field or deep comebacks or go’s or posts. So, everybody has a role to do. That depends on the game and the team we’re playing. And when their number is called, I expect them to go out there and make it. Whatever that may be, whether it’s blocking, pass blocking, run blocking. It takes all 11.
Q: Would you like the offense to maybe be unshackled at some point where you don’t feel you need to keep the tight ends in to protect as much and maybe they can do some of the things that you think they can do?
BRIAN DABOLL: Well, I think that depends on who you’re playing and what you’re getting. So, I wouldn’t say that was necessarily the plan going in, but that’s what we thought we needed to do. I thought the guys executed well. I thought they performed. They stayed on track. I thought they played well on the offensive side of the ball, doing the things we needed to do. We missed a couple big ones down the field, just couldn’t connect on them. But run after catch was good. Route discipline was good. Protection was good. Run game was good. That turnover, that was a huge difference in the game. We were down 1-0 on turnovers and… We need to build off of this.
Q: Going back to the run fits a little bit, something that (Defensive Line Coach) Andre Patterson said last week kind of stands out a little bit in my head. The idea that, with (Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden) Daniels and the way he ran in Week 1 gave you six gaps to cover. And especially if you played certain things up front, it really put you in a bind in terms of the rush discipline or anything else. Did you see that come to fruition yesterday? Maybe played a little tentatively up front and that’s how the run defense kind of sprung some leaks. Did that have something to do with it, the ability of (Jayden) Daniels to kind of break out when it wasn’t a designed run, so to speak?
BRIAN DABOLL: Most of his scrambling the first game was off of passes. So, I don’t think they played tentatively. We just got to do a good job of accounting for all our gaps and making sure when we get him in the open field that we can bring them down tackling too. The fundamentals of tackling and then the discipline of gap control are two areas we’re going to continue to work on.
Q: One other thing I wanted to ask you was there were a couple of the yards after catch, the run after catch from Malik (Nabers). The passes to the outside, I know it was probably a product of the Commanders playing off of him and then crashing down. But was that something that you guys had worked on coming in? Because it seemed like he had a plan as soon as he caught the ball, the idea to break to the outside and really gain probably about 10, 15 yards a pop. I’m just curious if that’s part of just his natural awareness. Is that something that you guys identified that would be a part of the game plan?
BRIAN DABOLL: I’d say it’s a combination of both. He’s a talented player that can do things with the ball in his hand and you saw that yesterday. (He) gained in a lot of yards after contact, as did (wide receiver) Wan’Dale (Robinson) when Wan’Dale (Robinson) got the ball thrown to him. So that’s going to be, that’s going to have to be a big part of our game. We have players that can do something with the ball in their hands in space, run after catch-wise, and we’ll continue to build off that.
Q: Just curious if you think the run defense issues, do you see personnel changes that need to happen there? Scheme changes that you feel need to happen? Or do you really think it just comes down to the execution of the players being better?
BRIAN DABOLL: It’s probably just a combination of everything. That long one they had on third and one, we stuffed them up the middle and we had two guys that thought he was rushing the pile so they were trying to push the pile. He squirted out. It was a couple crack replace things that happened, where somebody came in and cracked one of the force players so the next player has got to fill. Or just being aggressive and going to get it. So, everybody’s accountable to it. Run defense takes all 11 (players) to be on the same page and to make sure… I’d say it’s not just a gap control but tackling too. I think it was quite a few missed tackles yesterday that gives them extra yards or gives them first downs or second and short situations or takes third down, (they) hand it off and now you’re in a first down. We’re going to continue to work on those fundamentals.
Q: (Outside linebacker) Brian Burns said several times yesterday said that the competitive stamina of the team needs to be better. What does that mean to you in a game like yesterday? What is competitive stamina?
BRIAN DABOLL: To me, it’s finish. It’s chasing, it’s tackling, it’s gang tackling. It’s chasing a ball carrier on offense. It’s finishing blocks on the kickoff return. It’s all those things that you need down in and down out on a consistent basis. I’d say that there was a high level of it most of the time and then there were a few plays that’ll get you. Those few plays will get you if we’re not all running to the ball or we’re not chasing a ball carrier when the ball carrier fumbles. Those are things that we continually emphasize. And we need to make sure that that’s part of our identity.
Q: (Cornerback Cor’Dale) Flott’s injury, what is his injury or is that not a concern to you at all?
BRIAN DABOLL: Not a concern.
THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts and video clips of the media sessions with the following players are available in The Corner Forum and on YouTube/Giants.com:
- LT Andrew Thomas (Video)
- ILB Bobby Okereke (Video)
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.