The New York Giants play the Philadelphia Eagles this week on Thursday Night Football. One benefit of the short week is that media got to speak with Giants coordinators on Monday, rather than having to wait until Thursday afternoon.
That means we got some perspective from offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, and special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial less than 24 hours after Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Let’s go through some of what we learned.
Secondary woes
The New York spent big money in free agency on safety Jevon Holland and cornerback Paulson Adebo. They have a first-round pick (Deonte Banks), second-round pick (Tyler Nubin) and and two third-round draft picks (Dru Phillips, Cor’Dale Flott) of their own in the secondary.
Yet, the secondary has been an issue for much of the season. Sunday against the Saints the Giants gave up an 87-yard touchdown pass, and had defensive pass interference penalties on Banks, Phillips, and Adebo that created first downs for the Saints. The Banks penalty negated a Holland interception.
“Obviously we want the big one back,” Bowen said. “We can’t give that up, especially backed up there with how the game was going. I felt like that swung the momentum right there for sure. We’ve got to do a good job of understanding our leverage as that thing gets down the field and where our help is and making sure we had two guys back there, and he broke really across our leverage, and we were unable to get him down.
“We’ve got to eliminate the penalties, the grabbing, the DPI negated an interception for us early … I think these guys feel themselves, and they’re actually in decent position as we’re going, their own body, and then just as it keeps getting extended, the panic sets in a little bit, and we’ve got to be able to find some comfort when we’re on body and be able to locate the football and not foul.”
Flott-Banks rotation “week-to-week”
The Giants have continued to rotate Flott and Banks at cornerback, though Flott (283 snaps, 78.6%) has played much more than Banks (100 snaps, 27.8%). Flott with a passer rating against of 85.4 and and zero penalties committed has clearly outplayed Banks (142.9 passer rating, four penalties committed) has clearly been the better player.
Bowen said Monday that is a “week-to-week thing” and will be an “ongoing evaluation.”
Bowen was asked point-blank (’Kudos’ to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post) if he has the autonomy to decide not to play Banks. The obvious implication there is whether or not the front office, which traded up to select Banks in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, is insisting on Banks getting playing time.
“These players earn what they get when they get here. That’s how it is. That’s how it’s been,” Bowen said. “I think us as a staff, it’s something we discuss day in and day out, just how guys are performing, where they’re at, going into a game plan, just what we think is best in terms of match-ups and some of those other things. But it’s about finding the guys that can put us in the best position to win.”
Life without Malik
The Giants got their first look on Sunday at what life without star wide receiver Malik Nabers will look like. It wasn’t pretty. Kafka did his best to prop up a wide receiver group that doesn’t have enough reliable playmakers.
“I got a lot of confidence in our receiving group,” Kafka said. “We had some opportunities, just didn’t capitalize on them.
“We talked about this a little bit last week with Malik and we’re hoping and wishing for him a speedy recovery, but the guys that we have, we have a lot of confidence in. Whether it’s Slay, Jalin, (wide receiver) Wan’Dale (Robinson), Beaux, I mean, it can just go up and down the list of the guys that are out there. They have opportunities, but we’ve just got to capitalize on them. I know we had those two ones with Slay. I know he’s beating himself up about it. That’s the kind of competitor he is and he holds himself to a high standard, just like we do here. So, I don’t want to single just Slay out, everyone had a piece of it. Every single group had their one or two plays that we could have done better. Same for me as a play caller, I could have done better as well. So, it’s full accountability. We’re arm in arm. We’ll get it cleaned up. We’ll get it fixed.”
Jamie Gillan, kickoff artist
With veteran placekicker Graham Gano on Injured Reserve, and inexperienced Jude McAtamney having twice drilled kickoffs for touchbacks in Week 4, Gillan handled kickoff duties on Sunday. He was extraordinary in the role. He hit two beautifully placed, bouncing kickoffs that were returned to the 9- and 18-yard line. He hit a third that bounced into the end zone and was downed for a touchback. That was brought out only to the 20-yard line since it hit in the designated landing area.
“Jamie’s flex to be able to do kickoffs I think gives him a lot of value,” Ghobrial said. “I thought Jamie did one heck of a job kicking off. He showed the ability to place the ball where we needed to and that’s something that obviously if he gives us the strongest inclination that he’s going to be the best kickoff guy, then that’s a guy that we’ll continuously use.”
Placekicking competition?
Last week, Ghobrial said that McAtamney and veteran Younghoe Koo, who is also on the practice squad, would continue to compete after McAtamney kicked in Week 4. The younger kicker again got the nod vs. the Saints.
“I thought Jude kicked the ball well,” Ghobrial said. “It was nothing that Koo didn’t do. I thought Jude just had a good week of practice, and the fact of the matter is, having a good week of practice, having a good game before, you kind of want to have a little bit of continuity with it.”
Ghobrial said that role will “always be a competition.”
It is clear, though, who has the upper hand right now.
The Giants are actually good at returning kickoffs
The Giants returned five kickoffs for 160 yards (32.0 yards per return) on Sunday. Tae Banks had two returns for 75 yards (37.5 yards per return), including a 46-yarder. Gunner Olszewski averaged 28.3 yards on three returns, including a 34-yarder.
New York is fourth in the NFL, averaging 27.4 yards per kickoff return.
“I think from the start of training camp, that was one thing that we dove deep into. The technique standpoint, the schematic standpoint, and that’s something that’s been an ongoing process to put us in the best position,” Ghobrial said.“ I’ve said it before, kickoff return is the first play of offense. We wanted to have a really strong position from a kickoff return standpoint to give the ball back to our offense with advantage in the field position. It’s a credit to all those guys out that are blocking, number one. Then number two, the ball skills of those returners, just understanding how they set up their blocks, understanding that catch mechanics are critical to have efficient returns.”
A rising rookie
Third-round pick Darius Alexander, a defensive tackle, has seen his role rise each week. From not playing at all Week 1 to playing 27 snaps (40.9%) Sunday vs. New Orleans.
Alexander’s contribution has also been rising. Sunday, Alexander had two pressures, a tackle for loss, and a season-best 68.8 Pro Football Focus grade.
“I think for anybody, not being out there is probably the best motivator that we have,” Bowen said. “To his credit, he has worked his butt off and we’ve seen it in practice week in and week out, the development, the growth, using his skill set, using his length. Got a lot of trust in him right now with how he’s playing. He’s been doing it consistently. It hasn’t been a flash in the pan, one-time thing. So, like the trajectory he’s going. Credit to him, he’s worked and he’s overcame where he was early on in the year and he’s taken strides and I think he’s improving every week.”
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