Brian Daboll explains Giants surprising playing time decisions

Daboll tries to unravel a few head-scratching choices

There were several head-scratching playing time decisions made by the New York Giants in Sunday’s lopsided 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Head coach Brian Daboll tried to explain some of them on Monday afternoon.

16 snaps for Jalin Hyatt?

The second-year wide receiver is one of the team’s primary deep threats. He worked with the first team all spring and summer. Yet, with the Giants relying on a lot of heavy personnel packages with an extra tight end, and with Darius Slayton on the field the majority of the time, Hyatt played only 16 snaps and had no catches on just one target.

“He’s our third/fourth receiver. So, you play with (wide receiver Malik) Nabers and (wide receiver) Wan’Dale (Robinson) is in the slot. And (wide receiver Darius) Slayton played the majority of the snaps ahead of Hyatt,” Daboll said. “We have certain plays and roles for Jalin. And that could change week to week, but this week that’s what it was.”

It is clear that the Giants see Slayton ahead of Hyatt on the depth chart. That is probably the right call.

0 snaps for Micah McFadden

The linebacker suffered a hip injury during the preseason. He practiced leading up to Sunday’s game and was not on the injury report. Yet. he never played on defense or special teams, with rookie Darius Mausau taking his place.

“Micah would have been on a or was on a pitch count. And if Darius was playing well, we would just play Darius unless we needed to play Micah in that case, which, again pitch count, whether that’s 15, 20 plays, whatever it may be,” Daboll said. “But if Darius was playing and playing well, we were going to let that go.”

Muasau, a sixth-round pick, did play well. So, the Giants just left him on the field. We will see if this becomes a trend.

0 snaps for Isaiah Simmons

Expected to play a role as a sub-package defensive back and money backer, Simmons did not play a defensive snap.

“Based on – so, (safety Tyler) Nubin was starting safety. And our money position, we went with (safety Dane) Belton,” Daboll said.

So, the Giants chose to play Belton over Simmons.

Cor’Dale Flott over Dru Phillips?

This was probably the most confusing of all. The Giants drafted Phillips in Round 3 to play the slot, and moved Flott, who played there last year, to outside cornerback.

Flott practiced all spring and summer outside, competing with Nick McCloud for that role. Even with Adoree’ Jackson on the roster, Flott started at outside cornerback on Sunday and Phillips started as the nickel cornerback.

Phillips forced a fumble and played well the first couple of series. Yet, he played only 16 snaps. Flott played 37, with 20 of those coming in the slot — again, a place he had not practiced all spring and summer.

What gives?

“Just getting ready to go here for the first game, we thought that that was the best thing for us,” Daboll said. “Now, is that going to stay the same? Probably not, to be honest with you. Flott will probably play outside more. But for this week, that’s what we thought was best.”

That one is still mystifying. Both because of Flott’s lack of preparation and because Phillips actually appeared to be playing well.