AUGUST 5, 2025 BRIAN DABOLL PRESS CONFERENCE…
New York Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll addressed the media on Tuesday (VIDEO):
Q: Any further clarity on what your plan is going to be for Saturday in Buffalo?
DABOLL: No, we’re focused on us right now. We’ll get to Buffalo later in the week. We’ll talk about it as a coaching staff, and do what we think is best.
Q: Can you talk about the things you’ve done this spring and summer in terms of changes in things you’ve done in practices, OTAs, more 7-on-7s and what was the reasoning behind some of the changes?
DABOLL: Yeah, I think every year is a new year. We’ve done that every year we’ve been here, try to make changes because we think it’s going to help us, whether it’s in the medical department, practice, fields, scheme, reps, pads, no pads, 7-on-7s, one-on-ones, less one-on-ones. It’s something we talk about in the offseason and then leading into OTAs, we constantly have communication. After every practice, we do that here so these things might change. You have a rough format of what you’re going to do and talk about and then as camp goes on or you need more things, you need to see different pressures, you need to see different motions from the defensive side of it, you need more one-on-one work, more red zone work. We’ll lay out a plan and then we evaluate it every day.
Q: How much of that was geared to hoping that you can get off to a faster start, which hasn’t been the case these last two years?
DABOLL: Yeah, we do that every year. Going through it and going through the structure, the process, is important. The most important thing is going out there and executing and doing it.
Q: With (center John Michael Schmitz Jr) JMS, I think he’s taken every rep as first-team center, why is that? Analytically, he struggled a little bit his first two years. Have you thought about using anybody else and challenging him with a position battle?
DABOLL: I’m confident in JMS. He has grown since we’ve been here. He does a good job of setting the table. There’s a lot of things on a center’s plate and steadily, he’s improved. I think he’s in a good spot so I feel comfortable with JMS and confident in him.
Q: You mention that he’s done a good job setting the table and there’s a lot of things on a center’s plate. How about just objectively, football-watching people think he struggles with power rushers or bull rushes? Is there anything you’ve seen from him to say that’s not the case anymore or maybe he put on some strength or anything from a blocking standpoint?
DABOLL: Yeah, you have to be able to do both, so that’s why we feel comfortable with him in there. I think he’s improved every year he’s been here, he’s had a good training camp and I’m confident in JMS.
Q: (Wide receiver Darius) Slayton is moving up the ranks in the Giants record book this year, he’ll pass a lot of big names. Can you talk about the consistency he’s provided through what’s been a rollercoaster and now here he is, when it’s all said and done he could be one of the Giants’ leading receivers ever.
DABOLL: Slayton is an excellent teammate and he’s been that way since I’ve been here. He’s been productive in the things that we’ve asked him to do. He’s an excellent leader, and I know people maybe don’t see it but from behind the scenes, and I’d say particularly this year, he’s been vocal, very good communicator, sets the standard on how we should practice and that’s why we wanted him back. I’m glad he signed both times back. He’s an excellent teammate and he’s productive in his craft. He’s a good veteran to have on this football team. It hasn’t always been easy for him. He’s had some rocky times and he’s kind of always persevered – this guy has always persevered when… I know the first year I got here, how it started out and then he just kept on grinding and grinding and you have an appreciation for people like that who are able to weather storms and overcome things and then look pretty good at it coming out from the back side. He’s been an excellent teammate. I love coaching him and I’m very impressed with how he’s taken another step in his leadership, particularly the communication, and there’s times he’s got up in front of the room and talked to the entire team and did one hell of a job. The most important thing he knows is playing well, but he’s available, he’s out there, he practices, he’s smart, he knows every position you could know on offense in terms of the skill guys. I’m glad we got him.
Q: A bunch of your players have said you guys might have the best D-line or the best pass rush in the NFL. You have (defensive lineman) Dexter Lawrence II and (outside linebacker) Brian Burns saying and repeating to their teammates, we haven’t proven anything yet. What does this say about those guys as veterans that that’s their mentality of wanting to prove themselves even with the hype going on?
DABOLL: Yeah, I mean, hype doesn’t get you anywhere. Action does. So whatever people think, or they say, good or bad, the only thing that really matters is how we go about our business and ultimately producing when it matters, for all of us. So that’s our mantra. That’s our mindset is to just come in here, work hard, be prepared and go out there and coach our best, play our best when it matters. This group or that group doesn’t really have any effect on how you play. What has an effect on how you play is your preparation, process and then ultimately on game day going out there and doing it. Less talk, more doing.
Q: And I know you’ve been asked a lot about (outside linebacker) Abdul Carter, but having him and (outside linebacker) Kayvon (Thibodeaux) and all the kind of moving pieces, what does that do for (offensive coordinator) Shane (Bowen) and the coaching staff with the various things you might be able to do with that pass rush on the line?
DABOLL: Yeah, I think time will tell. So right now, we’re in training camp and we’re trying to improve in every area we can. Pass rush, stop the run, run game, protection, special teams. That’s what we’re trying to do right now. Where Abdul fits or Kayvon, you have pieces, you have to go out there and do it. So, I just think going out there and practicing well and doing things you need to do to be as good as we can be, all of us, the entire organization. That’s where we need to be at.
Q: I know you said you don’t have a plan yet for playing time on Saturday. I want to ask a philosophical question. The downside of playing in the preseason, it seems obvious, is just injury. But what’s the upside for guys who are established? You always talk about fringe players or young players that might help. But for (quarterback) Russell Wilson or (wide receiver) Malik Nabers, guys who you know what they can do in this league, what is the benefit, in your opinion, to playing guys like that in the preseason?
DABOLL: I think it’s different for every team. I’ve done a lot of research in terms of teams in the last few years, coaches, veteran coaches, what they’ve done. I worked for some people that have had pretty good success in how we did it. I don’t think there’s one right formula. Play them, not play them. I think you need to do what’s best for your football team. So, is it a series? Is it two series? Is it a half? You talk about that as a staff as we get going. Take a look at the practices that we’ve had. There’s no substitute for playing the game. You have to tackle. You don’t do a whole lot (in practice). Some people do some live tackling, but it’s not much. There’s no substitute for a quarterback when he knows he can get hit. There’s no substitute for an offensive guard cleaning the pocket or being very physical in the run game in gang tackling. That’s the game of football. So you try to balance that with what you think is best for the football team. You’re always going to have injury risk. In practice, you have injury risk. But we’ll sit down and do what we think is best for our football team. If that’s playing, it’s playing. If it’s not playing as much, it’s not playing as much. We’ve had a good camp to this point. I think we’ve got a lot accomplished. It’s been a physical camp. And we’ll continue to have a physical camp here leading up to the first game.
Q: Just piggybacking off of what Dan asked, how do you balance getting your starters work if they need to get work versus evaluating all the young guys that you probably want to see in game reps?
DABOLL: Well, that starts at the start of training camp. When you’re deciding how many reps, quote-unquote, the ones are getting or twos or the young guys are getting. And then you see how many reps you have throughout training camp with the players that you need to get more looks at maybe, or put them maybe with the ones if the ones are playing. You don’t know what the other team is going to do, either. You try to keep it as competitive as you can in practice. Call it the first team practice against the first team. So, skillful guys, veterans that do it for a while with maybe some of the younger guys that are just learning how to practice and have a different skill set. You try to practice them the best you can. And if they earn a spot to move up, you do that. But in terms of the preseason games, again, we’ll just look at everything holistically in terms of what we’ve done so far and then do what we think is right.
Q: I’ve noticed at camp with (assistant head coach/ offensive coordinator) Mike (Kafka) calling the plays, that’s kind of allowed you to be more of a, for lack of a better term, a butterfly. You’ve been going from group to group to group. And I’m just wondering, have you noticed or felt a difference with Mike calling the plays on offense? Has that kind of liberated you? Refocused your time a little bit? Made you feel better about getting to each group?
DABOLL: Yeah, the first couple years I did that. Last year, I kind of handled the scripts and things like that. Mike’s done a fantastic job. We all work together like we have since we’ve been here. But yeah, I’m pretty active in every area, which I need to be. And I’ll continue to do that.
THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Video clips of the media sessions with the following players are available on YouTube:
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The Giants practice on Wednesday from 10:00AM to noon, but the practice is not open to the public. The team’s coordinators and select players will also address the media.