What the Giants said – 2024 Week 5: Seahawks vs. Giants

BRIAN DABOLL: It’s so nice to go on tour here and get a win. A lot of the resilience is obviously how it started when we shot the ball downfield from 100 yards. I thought we played good, efficient football. I thought the quarterback played well again. That’s where it starts. The running game was good. The passing game was efficient. Make some big plays. And then defense and special teams fight back and forth. They have a lot of talent on their football team. Good offensive football team. They did a good job defending passes. But I’m proud of the boys who came here, played a good game and got a win away from home. You know, I think it was Tuesday (special teams coordinator Mike Ghobrial) Ghobi recited this play to me. You know, he talked about who he thought would be a good candidate to make the jump. Isaiah (Simmons) came to mind. He implemented it perfectly. Proud of our team, our coaches. They put in a lot of hard work to get here. It started out similar, not the same, but similar to the Cleveland week when we got back on our feet. So proud of the boys. Competed well. We achieved the desired result. I’m really proud of the process, how they stayed true to it, how they practiced, how they prepared, meetings and all those things. Good win.

What makes you think – what did you see that made you think this piece would work here?

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, you trust your assistants a lot. (Special teams coordinator Mike Ghobrial) Ghobi showed me a few clips. And we kept it. I kept asking about it throughout the game. I thought we probably had a chance and Ghobi said, “I just want to set it up, another one, another one.” There’s a risk-reward ratio because if you get a penalty, the first loss is for him Violation recorded. I thought Ghobi prepared the onslaught well. Called it at the perfect time. Then, you know, Isaiah (Simmons) is there before the play practicing the exit and what he’s doing, so he was ready to go. We had Dexter (Lawrence II) with us. Well executed piece. Critical situation.

Brian, have you noticed that when you block like that, the (unknowable) usually goes really deep?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I’m not going to go into strategy. As a coaching staff, we put in a lot of hard work every week. That’s our job, to try to put the players in the best position possible and then ultimately it’s their job to go out there on Sundays and perform, work with the coaches and give and take things. Good team win.

Isaiah Simmons, he’s usually there…

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, it was just a good game plan from (special teams coordinator Mike Ghobrial) Ghobi and the special teams guys. You know, I asked for this earlier and just gained a lot of trust in our coaching staff. It’s a very cohesive unit throughout, special teams, defense, offense. A bunch of good people to work with.

How challenging was that for me as a playcaller, your running back isn’t there, so you have a rookie. Obviously Malik Nabers is not there. Do you change things up and maybe use a few people in these situations, or do you have to trust newbies?

BRIAN DABOLL: I mean, that’s a coach’s job. That’s why you work during the week. We moved (Darius) Slayton to where (Malik) Nabers was a bunch and he was usually on the other side, so now he has to learn the whole thing – not learn because he’s been with us since we got here and One of the reasons for this is that he is very reliable and smart. So when you hear a training camp personnel group and all that, you go into this position and all of a sudden you have to turn around and go into this position, but that’s Slay. He’s a great teammate and always did what we asked of him. I’ve said that many times. I’m happy for him. What was his production? I know that was probably a lot. You know, it was nice to see the newbies. They are still developing. It’s now October and you’re trying to figure out what things you need to work on in September. And one game really has nothing to do with the next. We will try again against a very challenging opponent, a strong team that comes here in a week.

Dabs, what was this moment like for Isaiah Simmons in particular, a man who hasn’t gotten dressed in a few weeks and is doing what he’s doing today?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think he gets dressed every week if I’m not mistaken. That’s what I said. I gave him a game ball. You know, he’s a good first-round pick. He was on different teams. There are certain roles he plays and not everyone is a starter for you. I mean, the people behind them, or the roles, certain roles that we have, they have to perform their job to a high level, whatever that role is. That’s what good teammates do. You know, certainly everyone wants to have the ball on offense or play it 100%. Since this is a team game, you can only use 11 players. When your number is called, we expect you to participate. I’m proud of the young man for that. He made a great play at the end of the game to seal the game. I give a lot of credit to (special teams coordinator Mike Ghobrial) Ghobi. First Year Coordinator. I made it up, brought it up. You know, it was a good team win.

What impressed you about Tyrone Tracy and his running?

BRIAN DABOLL: Covered a lot of meters. He was productive. He was hard. I mean, I don’t know if he needs to eat more on the side, whatever it is. Get him the ball. You know, he ran hard. He saw the holes. He squeezed the hole. Something we’ve worked hard on him with is pushing the hole and setting up your blocks. Gained a few more yards with the ball in his hands. I don’t know, he had a lot of yards too, right? What was it?

BRIAN DABOLL: He had to have a high average.

He wanted to be fed on the side?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yes. They all do that. There are also certain pieces that we left outside. So there are a lot of things to clean up. But I am proud of our team. I’m proud that our coaches traveled all the way across the country and lost a couple of tough games here in the last month that I think we were able to compete in. I think we’re getting better. Certainly not there, but I just think that the solidarity of the staff and the players is important, especially at the beginning of the year. Lots of hard workers. For many team players, the team comes first. But there is still a long way to go. It’s a game in a difficult environment. What I’m proud of is the way they reacted at the start of the game when the big game came around. It was very similar to Cleveland. Let me say this. Someone asked about the fans. Our fans were great again. We are in Washington and are on our way. I mean, it’s nice to hear the New York Giants sing at the end of the game. You know, so kudos to the fans.

Dabs, how much fun is it to coach Daniel Jones when he’s playing at the level he is at?

BRIAN DABOLL: It was always fun to train him because he is a real professional. Again, I always want the results, but I have a lot of confidence in him, how he plays, how he prepares. You know, it’s nice when you put the ball in his hands. We did that at the start of the game. We followed them a little bit and threw the ball. So I have a lot of confidence in him.

When he runs and drops his shoulder toward the defenders, does that kind of thing bleed in a good way?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yes, yes. Every time a quarterback does that. You have to be smart. But he is a real competitor. There was a game a few weeks ago where he was rushing the go-line in Cleveland. He is a competitive young man and Daniel Jones has done everything I and we have asked of him. He’s here early. He stays a long time. He has good leadership qualities. It’s never been easy for him, but everything we’ve asked of him he does as best he can. He played good football here. We will need him to continue to do that.

What about Slay… (indiscernible.) Then he comes right back and gets a big touchdown catch?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yes, I haven’t seen the play. Certainly something we’ve shown here in abundance over the last few weeks. I’m not sure he really did what I think he did – he was very regretful and remorseful about what he did. We talked about it a lot. And then we go ahead and look, on the play he made, he wasn’t even the main player. Wan’Dale (Robinson) was. They played a kind of double move and that was the secondary reading. Incredible play from DJ (Daniel Jones) and a great route from 86 in this big performance. I don’t know how many meters it was, Jordan?

(Regarding how this O-line group came together.)

BRIAN DABOLL: Yes, that’s what I said, they’re a veteran group. Well trained by Carmen (Bricillo) and James (Ferentz). There is good chemistry in this room. Lots of extra meetings, not just with management, but they stay late on Wednesdays and Thursdays and get all kinds of food. Running backs stay in there. You know, it’s good food too. It just so happens that they are a close-knit group. That’s what you need to be offensive on the line. They are veterans who have played a lot of football. This is also our second victory. Of course we would like more. But we don’t do that. So get back to work this week and do our best.

How much do you think it helped Tyrone Tracy find the right rhythm and (indiscernible)? Do you think it might be more important for a young running back to be more committed than just sitting around and waiting for his opportunities?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I would probably say there’s some truth to that. I think with any running back, the more carries you have, the more you get lathered up. The carriers must be productive carriers. You know, you go out there and you hand it off and you gain one yard and zero, you know, one of the things we’ve seen in the first four weeks of football in terms of self-catches on first down production at the most productive times count, and less on the running game. I don’t know what the numbers are today, but we’ll continue to look at whether we give ourselves a good chance on second downs or even miss some if we don’t have 18 third downs again. I don’t know how many we had today. But I definitely think that for any player, when they get into the right rhythm, it’s like a streaky basketball shooter. The more you shoot, the more you will earn.

Did you even consider that the quarterback stole the play that Eric Gray botched? Such a short distance there.

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, I’m not going to get into the strategy. There were a few things there. But they played well on the edge. We can do it. Again, I’m most proud of how we got back here.

Malik Nabers even texts you?

BRIAN DABOLL: I don’t know. I’ll see it right here. I have received 141 SMS at the moment. I’m starting.

FastScripts transcript from ASAP Sports