The three people working the closest with New York Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka might be Giants coordinators Tim Kelly (offense), Shane Bowen (defense), and Michael Ghobrial (special teams). On Thursday, each praised Kafka’s work since taking over from Brian Daboll.
Ghobrial clearly made the strongest pitch for Kafka.
“Kaf, number one, is a tremendous human being. I really believe his intentions with everything he does, he puts his whole heart into it and the players feel that. He’s very even-keeled and he’s a great leader of men. He has a definitive plan on how he wants things to look like, but he likes to integrate everybody’s ideas into that and ultimately his decisions, those are things that we try and support as well,” Ghobrial said. “I think Kaf has done an outstanding job in this capacity and obviously, I truly believe that he has the ability to be a head coach in this league for a long time.
“You’re hearing that in the team meetings, just his ability to convey a message to the team. These guys play hard for him. He’s very organized. It’s everything that you want in a head coach and that’s obviously why he’s had success as an offensive coordinator and why he’s going to have success as a head coach.”
Bowen said Kafka’s changes have been “good for the guys.”
“I think the attention to detail, how he’s adjusted some meetings, I think has been good for us, good for the guys, but he relates with all the players,” Bowen said. “Offense, defense, he wants to be involved, he wants to know what’s going on, so he can have those conversations with our guys as well and be able to hold them accountable to certain things. So, I think he’s doing a really good job, and hopefully we can get some wins here.”
Kelly said he thought Kafka did a “great job” handling his first week.
“Obviously, not the easiest of circumstances to, you know, to kind of take over in that situation. But he did a great job making sure that the team was ready to play, and I felt like our guys responded well to him. He went out, and we played hard. We fell short. Ultimately, obviously, we want to win that game, but I felt like everybody was flying around for the entirety of the game, and, again, I think that’s just a testament to Mike.”
‘Don’t hold anything back’
That is the message Bowen said he is getting from Kafka.
“Don’t hold anything back. Put these guys in positions to make plays,” Bowen said. “Understand, obviously, this week’s going to be played aggressively by their side of the football as well, just with what they’ve done on fourth downs. Understanding that, and something we look at every week, just how we’re able to attack. Like finding ways to attack, the situations we feel comfortable attacking, the personnel we’re playing with, playing against, all that comes into play.
“But again, finding the best ways to put these guys in positions when it matters most, whatever that is, to be able to go affect and change the game.”
That is a work in progress for a struggling defense, of course. Still, the Giants’ blitz rate on Sunday showed Bowen was at least trying to follow orders.
Isaiah Hodgins’ play ‘one of the cooler things I’ve seen’
Kelly was effusive in his praise of wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins who caught five passes for 57 yards vs. the Green Bay Packers. Hodgins had two practices with the Giants after being signed off the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad.
“Crazy week for him. He did a great job coming in. I don’t think he got here until Thursday. Coming in, learning the game plan. I know there was some comfort level with his previous experience here, but I would say it’s changed a little bit since he’s been here,” Kelly said. “That was one of the cooler things I’ve seen in my experience in the NFL, just someone showing up on a Thursday and then having a major role in the game and playing well.”
The Jaxson Dart conundrum
The Giants’ rookie quarterback missed last week’s game with a concussion. He is likely to be cleared to play Sunday vs. the Lions. How do the Giants walk the line between taking advantage of his running ability and protecting him from taking unnecessary hits?
“You definitely take it into account. It’s no different than if someone was coming off a sprained ankle,” Kelly said. “Got to make sure that you’re not exposing people unnecessarily, and, again, putting our team in a position to win the game.
“For all our guys, for us, in order to win the game, we’re going to need our best players on the field. So, yeah, that comes into account, but I would say that comes into account when we’re designing any type of play and making sure, again, that we’re putting our guys in the best spots.”
Jameis Winston ‘did everything we asked him to do’
What did Kelly think of Jameis Winston’s play in Sunday’s 27-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers?
“Jameis executed the game plan,” Kelly said. “He was aggressive when we needed him to be. Obviously, there’s always going to be plays that you want back. For the most part I didn’t think he exposed the football. There were a couple times there where it got a little hairy, but, you know, he did a really good job of executing the plan, getting us in and out of the right play, operating within the offense, and letting the system work for him. He did everything we asked him to do.”
Tae Banks a ‘top-tier’ kickoff returner
The New York Giants drafted Deonte Banks in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft in the hops he would turn into a top-tier cornerback. That clearly has not worked out. Banks, though, is at least giving the Giants value as a kickoff returner. He is currently fourth in the NFL with an average of 30.7 yards on nine kickoff returns.
“I think he’s a top tier kickoff returner,” said special teams coach Michael Ghobrial. “He’s starting to see the concepts really well, so he understands how to set up his blocks. He sees space naturally and obviously, the natural athletic skill set that he has, you can’t coach. The top-end speed that he can get to quickly. He’s done a good job taking care of the football. Just the more reps, the more time on task, I think it’s given him even more confidence.
“So, it’s cool to see him have some explosives in the return game for a guy that just started doing it. He’s very hungry to continue to do it and I truly believe that our guys blocking for him also have a lot of belief in him, which there’s something to be said about that, knowing that that guy can score at any point. It’s all 11 every time and Tae’s a big part of why we’ve had success on that unit.”
Dalen Cambre’s ‘really cool’ success
Undrafted free agent rookie special teamer Dalen Cambre made his NFL debut against the Packers. Elevated from the practice squad, Cambre ended up with two tackles in eight special teams snaps.
“Number one, he’s truly a smart football player, high football IQ, has the ability to learn multiple positions without getting all those reps, so there’s a lot of value in that both offensively and in the kicking game. Obviously, we’ve been high on him from a special teams standpoint. He excelled in the preseason,” Ghobrial said. “He didn’t necessarily know when his opportunity was going to come up, but he prepared the right way every week and when he got the opportunity last week, I thought he took advantage of it, basically having two tackles with little to no reps during the practice week and studying his tail off.
“It’s cool to see a kid like that have production in this league and I know when his opportunity arises next that he’ll relish in those in those moments. Really cool to see him have success.”
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