AUGUST 14, 2025 BRIAN DABOLL PRESS CONFERENCE…
New York Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll addressed the media on Thursday (VIDEO):
Q: Have you made a decision on who is going to play as far as your starters on Saturday?
DABOLL: Yeah, we have an idea, but again, this is a normal Friday for us, so we’ll do our meetings at the end of today and make our decision with what we’re going to do. We’ll do what we think is best for the team.
Q: It’s the first game in MetLife. Can we assume that it will be similar to last week in terms of what starters might play?
DABOLL: Every game is different. Again, we’ll do what we think is right for our team. We’ll go out here, we’ll have our walkthrough today and sit down with the medical staff, get their input, where the guys that have been not practicing are and who can play and who can’t and decide what we’re going to do.
Q: How much do the joint practices affect who plays in the preseason game?
DABOLL: I wouldn’t say it affects it. Again, we’ll end up making the decision we think is best. There’s no substitute for tackling. There’s no substitute for cleaning the pocket. There’s no substitute for run after catch when you’re going to get hit. There’s no substitute for being live as a quarterback in the pocket. But we’ll end up deciding at the end of the day what we think is right for our team.
Q: And how would you characterize how (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) is doing and how close maybe he would be to returning at this point?
DABOLL: Yeah, you know, not going to get any injuries. He’s working hard to get back.
Q: I want to change gears a little bit. I want to ask you about (outside linebacker) Brian Burns. He said yesterday that he’s trying to take his game to a place where it’s never been. For a guy that’s had as much success as he has, he’s been in the league for six years now, how impressive is that kind of work ethic, that kind of desire? And how important is it for a guy like (outside linebacker) Abdul (Carter) to be around that?
DABOLL: I think it’s important for everybody to see it. He’s had a very good camp. Not just some of the improvements that he’s made and the techniques and the things he works on diligently, but I would say how he’s approached every day. His finish stands out. I show a couple of clips of Burns almost every day of what he’s doing at practice and the standard that he’s creating for not just his position room, for the entire team to see. He’s done good off the field for us. He’s done good on the field for us throughout training camp, throughout the off-season program. He’s been a very good leader for us since we’ve been back here starting in April.
Q: In your experience, when a guy comes to a new team, does it take him a little bit to get his legs under him sometimes? And maybe did you see some of that with him, and this summer, his second summer, he is full bore what you want. Is that anything there?
DABOLL: No, that’s a good question. Free agency, you’re adding guys to your team, hopefully impactful players, along with the draft, but just call it free agency because they’ve been in the league and they’ve played, and some have played at a high level. So when they get to a new team, it’s a new environment. There’s a lot of things to learn. You’re not a rookie, but you’re living in a new place. There’s new surroundings. There’s new support staff to help you. Maybe things are done a little bit differently, not good or bad, just different, and you’re learning a new system. There’s a lot of things that go into it, and I think for a lot of guys, their first year into it, not everybody, but from my experience, there’s a lot of guys are just free agents. They sign. They come in. They try to contribute in a positive way because they’re good football players that you are adding and I think that the next year you’re kind of a little bit more comfortable with everything surrounding you, your teammates, the system. A lot of times those guys take another step in terms of leadership because a lot of them that you add are very good players, and I’d say that Brian has really exemplified what we’re trying to do here throughout starting back in April, but the way he practices, the way he approaches things, I’ve been very pleased with Burns. He’s given us good reason to be very pleased with the way he does things day in and day out. None more important than the practice field.
Q: What did you think of the response from your offensive linemen when (running back) Tyrone (Tracy Jr.) got taken to the ground? You didn’t want anybody to fight, no punches, but they certainly made a case for standing up for him when they thought the thud practice went over the line there.
DABOLL: Yeah, competitive practices. We got a lot out of these last two days as a football team. Good situational work, good work against new opponents, schemes. I was pleased with the way those last two practices went.
Q: What went into making today a walkthrough? Was that like a sports science rep count thing to have it today, a walkthrough today and tomorrow? Because I think by my count you only have like five-ish practices left before week one, or is that feeling confident in who’s going to make your 53 so you don’t need as many, whatever, tryout reps?
DABOLL: Yeah, every day we sit down after practices and look at the next day’s practice schedule and see. There’s a lot of input that goes into it, whether it’s sports science, the trainers, strength coaches, the coaches, and we just do what we think is best for the team. So that’s why we chose to do what we were going to do today. Got a lot of good work the last two days.
Q: Totally different gear, totally different story. (Wide receiver) Wan’Dale (Robinson), I’m curious, he had kind of a historic year last year in terms of 140 targets and less than 700 yards receiving, one less yard than 700 yards receiving. How much more is there for him in terms of if he’s going to get that target share, different ways to use him, yards after the catch, because like I said, that’s kind of never happened before where somebody gets that many targets but has that few yards per catch.
DABOLL: Yeah, well first we’re not really focused on what happened last year. We’re focused on the things that we need to do.
Q: I’m just saying if he’s going to get that kind of workload, that kind of target share.
DABOLL: Yeah, every year is different. So there’s different players, different, I’d say, nucleus of offensive players. Every year is a different year. I have a lot of confidence in Wan’Dale and his skill set and the things that I believe he can do.
Q: Are there areas of his game that you feel are untapped that we could see more of? Like I saw him running an outside comeback route or whatever the other day. We haven’t seen a lot of that from Wan’Dale. Do you feel like there’s areas of his game that he could tap into?
DABOLL: I think Wan’Dale has been a productive player for us. He’s smart. We ask him to do multiple things. What that’s going to be relative to week to week, I think that changes for every player. But Wan’Dale’s a good teammate, a good football player, and we’ll do what we think is best.
Q: As you kind of watch (cornerback) Paulson (Adebo) sort of navigate the summer here and the joint practices and getting some reps against some tough wideouts, just what have you learned about maybe watching him navigate the cornerback position and just how he sort of approached this summer?
DABOLL: We evaluated him throughout free agency. Thought he’d be a good fit for us. He’s a pro. He’s a good football player. Again, he’s learning a new scheme similar to what we talked about with Burns. He’s had a good football camp. He’s been good in the meetings. He’s been good in a leadership role in terms of the cornerbacks. So we’ll keep on refining everybody, but glad we have Debo. He’s been a good teammate. He’s been a good signing for us throughout this process here.
Q: How important has that, and just his presence been in a room where there is that competition for the second spot, just what can his presence sort of add to that or just maybe helping (cornerback, Deonte) Banks and (cornerback, Cor’Dale) Flott sort of go through that?
DABOLL: Yeah, I think anytime you have veteran players in rooms, it’s always important because they can give their input as to how they see it on the field or what happened. So as many veteran players that are good players that you can have on your football team, I think that that helps everybody. It helps the team, but it also helps the young players that are in those rooms as well. There’s good conversation pieces, again, with Debo and (safety, Jevón Holland) Hol. Those were two good additions for us.
Q: A philosophical question for you, if I may. A lot of times we ask players, what’s your goal for the year? Some guys will tell us what their goals are in terms of numbers, and they’ll be very specific. Some won’t. I’m just wondering how do you and your staff kind of work with these guys to determine goals? I mean, obviously the goal is to be as productive as you can, be healthy and whatnot, but when guys attach numbers and certain metrics that they want to reach, how do you work with the players to kind of keep them realistic so that they’re not disappointed by the end of the year when they don’t reach the goals?
DABOLL: Yeah, I’d say that in the middle part of your question, you answered it. To be productive and to be as healthy as you can be to be there for your football team and do your job day in and day out. Every team needs each player to be at their best. That’s what we encourage. That’s what we try to teach. We have a number of discussions with every player, position coaches, coordinators, myself, of here’s where you’re at, here’s what you need to do to get better, and that’s the way we approach it. Try to do everything you can do to help the football team and be as good as you can be. Stay on the field and make plays when your number’s called.
Q: And then one more, if I may, about Paulson. I think most of his career he has basically played one side, and I think if I remember correctly, yesterday he was traveling with (New York Jets’ wide receiver) Garrett Wilson. What is it about his skill set that you feel allows him to be flexible to play with both sides?
DABOLL: Paulson’s a good player. He’s done a nice job since he’s been here. How we deploy guys, what we decide to do, I think he’s comfortable with whatever we ask him to do. I think he’s got a good skill set to play the corner position, and then, again, every week we’ll decide what we want to do and how we want to do it. But he’s been a great teammate. He’s done everything we’ve asked. He’s improved. He’s learned our system. I’m happy we have him.
Q: I know we ask you about (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) seemingly every day, and we’re going to continue to do so. I wanted to know some of the plays that he’s made both in practice and in the games, it seems like he has an awareness, you’ve mentioned his instincts, for the little things in a play. Yesterday he had the going through his progressions, kind of reading, getting the receiver to go to a certain spot, that comfort level. It looked like he made the right read the other day in the joint practice at (New York Jets facility at) Florham Park for the catch by (wide receiver, Zach) Pascal. I’m just curious from your perspective, when a guy has instincts, how do you teach beyond the instincts? How do you kind of tap into that to show that he’s making the progress that you want him to make?
DABOLL: Well, I think when you’re teaching players as a position coach, you have your select group of guys in there with the quarterbacks. It’s only four. It’s usually a small group. You have your teaching methods of how you’re going to incorporate, whether it’s footwork, vision with your eyes, decision making, situational awareness. Those don’t really change. I think when you have players that have instincts, which that’s a very important quality to have at any position, certainly at the quarterback position, those have to take over. You don’t want guys that are box thinkers. He’s got good vision. He’s got good awareness. There’s going to be times where, he’s a young player, that he gets tricked or maybe doesn’t do the thing you want him to do, and then you just go back and you correct it just like you would with any other player. But players that have good instincts, that can go out there and play fast and can see it. Seeing it is also you’re teaching what to see on tape and you’re going through defenders, you’re going through coverages. But a lot of times these quarterbacks, the ones that can see, are the productive ones. Talk about see defenders, see defenses, understand spots. It’s a very good quality to have as a quarterback.
THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts and video clips of the media sessions with the following players are available in The Corner Forum and on YouTube:
- OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (Video)
- CB Paulson Adebo (Video)
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
There is no media availability to the Giants on Friday. The team plays the New York Jets on Saturday.