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Giants news, 11/14: Isaiah Hodgins is back, Paulson Adebo, Darius Slayton, more headlines

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

From Big Blue View

Other Giant observations

No player directly called out Daboll, who displayed a volcanic-at-times sideline demeanor during his mostly disastrous run in East Rutherford. But they didn’t have to. Their answers made what he lacked obvious — as if it wasn’t already.

Across the locker room, fourth-year safety Dane Belton doubled down on that point. “Something that’s important to me — in any leader of men — is someone who keeps his composure no matter if the bullets are flying,” he said. “As a player looking up to someone, you want to be able to have that sense of calmness when things are going bad — and know we’re working to solve the problem. Don’t ride highs and don’t ride lows. Be a steady presence.”

Giants DC Shane Bowen on Brian Daboll’s firing: There’s responsibility that falls on me

Multiple sources told ESPN over the past four years that there never seemed to be any sort of consistency with Daboll’s decision-making. Multiple players have even said the Giants were too worried about the narratives and perceptions from outside the building.

Several players told ESPN that word of the decision to fire Daboll spread before Monday’s team meeting at 1 p.m. local time. Some players found out while in a bible study session when the news went public at 12:43 p.m. They weren’t surprised because several players noticed Daboll’s postgame message the previous day was unusually curt. In retrospect, they viewed it as being resigned to his fate.

Giants’ Jaxson Dart lost his champion in Brian Daboll; now QB’s future feels less certain | The Athletic

The coach who bet it all on him, who believed in him in a way few others did, is gone, and that makes the rookie’s future just a little less certain than it was a few days ago. Make no mistake, Dart is still likely the future of the franchise, but you can’t ignore the fact that the quarterback lost the guy who went to bat for him from that April draft day to the moment he made the quarterback switch.

Will the next coach feel the same way about Dart? Will he be as invested in Dart’s success as Daboll was? Of course, the next coach will want to win, but the answer to both of those questions is: probably not.

Daniel Jones details how Jaxson Dart can navigate aftermath of Brian Daboll’s Giants firing | New York Post

“Heard great things about him and a lot of people in New York have really enjoyed working with him and playing with him. I think he’s played really well this year, and I look forward to watching him,” said Jones, who added he doesn’t “know Jaxson personally…As far as advice, I think he’ll figure it out. He’s played really well. As long as he keeps working and playing like he’s playing, I’m sure he’ll be all right.”

Re-grading Sam Darnold, Milton Williams and the top 2025 NFL free-agent contracts | The Athletic

New York Giants CB Paulson Adebo. Free agent AAV: $18 million This past offseason, $18 million per year was the going rate for starting cornerbacks. Adebo, Carlton Davis and Charvarius Ward all signed for the same AAV and are tied for the 15th-highest-paid at their position. The Giants took a risk signing Adebo, who suffered a season-ending broken femur in Week 7 of last year. When Adebo was on the field, the scheme fit was a bit puzzling. This year, Adebo has looked more comfortable in zone looks, when he can play top-down and utilize his ballhawking instincts. He has been less consistent in man coverage, including against the Eagles’ A.J. Brown in Week 6. The Giants have played the third-most man coverage of any defense in the league this season.

Offseason grade: B Re-grade: C-

Dexter Lawrence getting to know the new boss

The 15 minutes that sold Jeremy Breit, Giants’ longest-tenured scout, on Abdul Carter | New York Post

The Giants’ longest-tenured scout was once involved in a car chase through the backroads of Montana. It’s all a part of finding players for two decades.

And as the names of potential replacements circulate, former Giants running back Tiki Barber threw his opinion out there on WFAN this week.

“As much as I would love to go the young whippersnapper who’s going to be an offensive genius, I do think they need someone who’s done it before, and the obvious answer is Mike McCarthy,” Barber said.

NFL Confidential: Execs Weigh In on NFL Coaching Carousel and Top Candidates | FOX Sports

“I think the searches will be all over the map,” an executive from a team that is not expected to be looking for a new head coach told me. “If we were searching I’m not sure I’d have a favorite right now. There are probably a dozen guys and they’re all mostly the same.”

Among the coaches expected to be the most in-demand this offseason, based on conversations with multiple NFL sources, are Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.

Robinson ready to rally around Winston

I think the surest, safest way to both develop a young quarterback and get buy-in from the entire team is to look for a leader first, above all else. Think Vrabel or Dan Campbell or Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh. Even more important than Xs and Os is knowing how to motivate a group of grown men, all with mortgages and families and grown-up problems outside of work.

Outscheming the opponent is great, but guess what? Great leaders hire great people. Josh McDaniels has helped Drake Maye elevate his game. Campbell’s former coordinators, Johnson and Aaron Glenn, are now head coaches in Chicago and New York. Tomlin had Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau as his defensive coordinator for the first eight years of his tenure in Pittsburgh, and that group went to two Super Bowls, winning one. And Harbaugh employed Rex Ryan, Chuck Pagano, Jim Caldwell, Gary Kubiak, Mike Pettine, and Mike Macdonald, all of whom became NFL head coaches.

This rising coach from New Jersey gets to showcase his talents for NY Giants here Sunday | The Record

Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has always been willing to bet on himself. That rare confidence and drive goes all the way back to the winter of his final undergraduate year at Siena College.

It’s when Hafley returned to his childhood home in Montvale, N.J., and from his parents’ basement, the all-out blitz that ultimately landed him his first coaching job began by sending out more than 100 letters to college football programs. He was soliciting advice and looking for any opportunity for a young aspiring coach to get his foot in the door.

This week’s opponent

“You have to look inward, especially when you go against teams that are good football teams,” LaFleur said. “The complexion of each game’s going to be a little bit different. Like, I told the team today, I don’t care if we win 3-0 or 49-48. Bottom line is, we have to find a way to get it done. Otherwise, you get criticized, and that’s just the way it is. Especially as the play-caller, you’re trying to put people in the best position possible to go out there and have success. And when we’re not having collective success, then you’re constantly — you have to challenge yourself to do better, to find something else in order to go out there and move the ball and score points.”

A former third-round pick in 2022, Rhyan has played virtually everywhere on Green Bay’s offensive line. As recently as last week, Rhyan was mentally preparing to play all three interior positions heading into Monday’s matchup with Philadelphia.With just seconds to ready himself, Rhyan took one shotgun snap with quarterback Jordan Love, snapped again the traditional way, and jogged on the field to battle Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.

“It’s kind of like that theme of my career,” Rhyan said. “Can’t break. You gotta bend, can’t break. I just stayed ready.”

Packers offense needs Matthew Golden to break out to reach its ceiling | Acme Packing Company

Jayden Reed has missed most of the season, but seems on track to return some time in late November, but the other big player missing on Monday night was Matthew Golden. I find Golden’s absence to be the more impactful of the two at this time, particularly with Christian Watson back. The idea of being able to play Watson and Golden together is quite appealing, since both of them have legitimate deep speed that defenses must respect; however, with only Watson healthy, he is forced into running a lot of clearout routes to open things up underneath for his fellow receivers. And that is how you get a situation where he and Bo Melton had the same number of targets despite Watson running about twice as many routes.

While Golden’s statistical volume is not impressive — he has just 23 catches for 262 yards on the season — he is getting open at a legitimately elite rate. PFF grades him out as an elite separator.