NOVEMBER 3, 2025 BRIAN DABOLL PRESS CONFERENCE…
New York Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll addressed the media on Monday (VIDEO):
Q: If I’m not mistaken, with like two minutes left, (wide receiver) Darius (Slayton) was checked for a concussion. Is he in the protocol? I don’t know if we ever heard the results of that.
DABOLL: He cleared.
Q: Trade deadline tomorrow. There seems to be a lot of (talk about) will the Giants be sellers? Will the Giants be buyers? What would your argument be for why the Giants, sitting here at 2-7, should add a player at any position? Why should you guys give up some draft capital to add players to this team where you are right now?
DABOLL: I understand the question. My focus is on doing the things we need to do better on the field with the guys that we have here and that’s what we’re going to do.
Q: I didn’t see this live. It looked like (quarterback Jaxson) Dart was in quite a bit of pain on the broadcast, shoulder-wise. How’s he feeling today? How did he come out of it? It looked like maybe after that last touchdown.
DABOLL: He’s good.
Q: Would you like there to be trade reinforcements here, as you sit currently?
DABOLL: Again, the focus for me is the guys that are on this football team and doing what we can do to help them improve. That’s where my focus is.
Q: The perception that I’m getting from your comments this time and last time about the trade deadline now is that you’re kind of hands-off. Is that pretty accurate?
DABOLL: I would say that during the year, as a coach, your focus is on doing what you need to do to help your team be as successful as you can. So, that’s what we’re going to try to do, that’s what we need to do, and that’s where all my focus is.
Q: I heard some of your players say that you had to go to a silent count at home. How often have you seen that and how often have you been part of that?
DABOLL: There have been some times. Again, the two false starts weren’t a result of a silent count. We were using cadence and we flinched on one of them. Then we used cadence again and we jumped on another one. So, we adjusted on the sideline to that, I’d say, after those two things and we went to a silent count for a while.
Q: On your defense, what did you see? What did you see being the problem and more importantly, how do you fix that going forward? Right now you’re three straight weeks at 30-plus points allowing on defense.
DABOLL: We’re working, we’re working at it. We had a long meeting like we do after every game and looked at some of the things that were good and then a lot of the things that need to improve. And that’s collectively, that’s all of us, from the coaches to the players. We’re doing everything we can do. Obviously, we’ve had morning meetings today. Players are meeting now with the coaches. We’ll continue to do that here throughout the night and tomorrow to make sure that we’re doing the things we need to do to be successful. There were some good things in the run game and then there were some things that weren’t. It wasn’t one person, it wasn’t one position, it wasn’t one call, it wasn’t one missed tackle. Just overall, we need to be better.
Q: You keep saying, ‘We need to do better.’ In what ways? You’re going to go into this week and try to teach and learn from it, right? In what ways do you need to get better?
DABOLL: There are a number of things, from technique to maybe changing up the scheme a little bit to open field tackling. Everything that’s important on defense, we’ve got to do a better job of. That’s collectively, that starts with me and that’s what we’ll work on doing.
Q: You’re focused on the guys who are here. Just curious, with (wide receiver) Jalin Hyatt at kick returner, what was the thought process behind that? He told us he hadn’t returned kicks since high school, so what was the thought process using him in that role?
DABOLL: He’s been working at it for quite some time here, this year. Obviously, we had (cornerback Deonte) Tae (Banks) back there. We were down in numbers in the secondary. We had (running back Devin Singletary) Motor back there. We were down in numbers at running back. So, Jalin’s been working at it. We felt comfortable with him being back there and that’s the reason he was back there.
Q: I can’t remember if we asked last week or not, but he (Hyatt) was inactive last week. I’m just kind of curious, what was the thought process with that? Then obviously, with injuries and whatnot, was that a reason why he was made active this week? Take us back to last week. What was the thought process and did that affect anything for this week’s plan?
DABOLL: I’m not going to go back to last week. Again, every week’s a different week and based on the numbers that we had and the people that were available, not available, Jalin would have been up. He was going to be our kickoff returner. We’ll see how it goes this week.
Q: (Offensive lineman) Evan (Neal) was active this week. Is that just a matter of numbers with (offensive lineman) Jermaine (Eluemunor) being out?
DABOLL: We had quite a bit of guys that were inactive because of injury and all available healthy bodies were up this week.
Q: Obviously he’s been inactive all season, so I’m just kind of curious, where do you see him right now? Is he working towards a new position? Where do you see his role at this point, nine games in?
DABOLL: Evan’s one of our backups. He continues to work. He’ll continue to work to improve at his craft and that’s where we’re at.
Q: Why do you think Shane (Bowen) is the right defensive coordinator for this team still and what gives you faith at this point that he can still get it right?
DABOLL: Again, nothing’s good enough. Offense, defense, kicking game, we all can be better. That’s what we’re all working towards. I know that’s what Shane is working towards. That’s the defensive staff, that’s the offensive staff, that’s the kicking game. That’s what we’re going to try to do. We’re doing everything we can do to try to improve it and I’m confident we will.
Q: The front seven, you have a lot of talent there, so much invested there, why is that not propelling that side of the ball?
DABOLL: Well, again, I think there were some good things. I think there were plenty of things, obviously, that need to be corrected, not just with the front seven, the back end. Our run fits, our eyes, our hands. Again, there were some good things when you go back and watch the tape, not enough of them. But have confidence in those guys. We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing everything we can do to help them be in the best position they can be in. That’s what we’ll continue to do. I have confidence in those guys.
Q: You mentioned how you’re shorthanded in the secondary. A team that doesn’t play much 11 personnel, any thought to playing (cornerback) Dru Phillips outside just to get one of your better tacklers in the secondary on the field?
DABOLL: This week we were going with the guys we had outside. Dru’s pretty locked into the inside part of it, in terms of the nickel. You never know how that can go down the stretch here, but as of right now, he’s our inside guy.
Q: You’ve been in this a while now, obviously, as a head coach. Do you sometimes find yourself at wits’ end with every week talking about some of the same things and the losing and just the inability to get this team where it needs to be?
DABOLL: No. Look, you put everything you’ve got into it. You look at the things that aren’t where they need to be and you try to fix them. Whether that’s changing things on the schedule, whether that’s different periods of practice, whether that’s changing little parts of the scheme, again, that’s where we’re at. We’re at where we’re at. I look forward to doing everything we can do to continue to work on fixing this thing and getting it the way we need to get it. I know everybody’s locked in on that, and that’s what we’re going to do.
Q: You’re not new to this as far as hearing questions about your job security. Jaxson got it for the first time yesterday after the game. That’s a new thing for him. Do you address that with your players? You obviously don’t want them to be asked that, but they’re going to be asked that. What is the dynamic of that situation that you’ve been in before?
DABOLL: The biggest thing for us is to control the things we can control and that’s the way I’ve always approached it. That’s the way the players are going to approach it, and that’s what we’re going to do.
Q: Is Shane Bowen still your defensive coordinator?
DABOLL: He is.
Q: Is he still your defensive play caller?
DABOLL: He is.
Q: You mentioned a change in scheme potentially to address some of the issues. Could you elaborate on what is required with the scheme in order to improve the results?
DABOLL: It’s not drastic. I would just say each week you do that. You look at what you need to do, what isn’t going right, whether it’s on offense, the kicking game, on defense. It’s not, I would say, a drastic thing. I’m not saying it’s a drastic thing. I’m just saying obviously it hasn’t been good enough, but that’s collectively, and that’s my job. It’s not the defense, it’s not the offense, it’s not the kicking game, it’s all three phases, and that’s my responsibility.
Q: Are you getting involved any more in those rooms and meetings and conversations given the last couple weeks especially?
DABOLL: I sit in those meetings with all three phases throughout the week. Again, you take a look at the game and say, okay, where did we fall short? You look at it and you make sure you’re making adjustments to it. It hasn’t been good enough the last two weeks, but that’s collectively. Again, it’s not one person, it’s not one play, it’s not one side of the ball. It’s the collective, and that’s my responsibility.
Q: When you blame the collective, is that really addressing the issues? Is that holding the individuals accountable? Every play is different, right? So, it’s not the same thing every play, but if you just say it’s on everybody, does that actually address this person’s reluctance to tackle on a play, or this person being in the wrong gap? Does that actually fix those problems?
DABOLL: Those issues get addressed.
THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts and video clips of the media sessions with the following players are available in The Corner Forum and on YouTube:
- OG Jon Runyan, Jr. (Video)
- OLB Brian Burns (Video)
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The players are off on Tuesday and there is no media availability to the team. The players return to practice on Wednesday.