Brian Daboll sits down in his office with Giants.com each week for a conversation about the latest at 1925 Giants Drive. This week, the head coach talks about the state of the team heading into Sunday's season opener at Washington.

Q: The word "intentional" was used a lot this offseason, whether it was about the players you brought in, Russell Wilson's leadership style, and just overall how everyone went about their business. Is that something this team needed? Were you intentionally intentional?

Daboll: I think every year is a new year with different players. I think the veterans that we've added in free agency this year – Russ, Jameis Winston, Jevón Holland, Paulson Adebo, Chris Board, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles – are all really good examples for not just the rookies but for the entire team from what they're about, how they approach things. And we've had some good guys here, some veterans. We've had a core nucleus of young guys, but when you can add veterans that do those things the right way and have had some success in the league, it certainly helps the players.

Q: I know it's a week-to-week deal now that you're in regular-season mode, but everyone has been talking about the good vibes. Fans have noticed. They've commented on it. Was that also an intentional thing? Can you create that and then it becomes self-fulfilling?

Daboll: It's really just about how the guys have gone about their business. Each team is unique. You're always trying to build good vibes, per se, but it's something you've got to constantly water every day. But again, it's the offseason. It's the preseason. You can talk about it only so much; you have to actually go out there and perform well and be able to handle challenges that come your way throughout the regular season because there will be plenty of them. And stay focused on the process of how we do things, regardless of any outcome. Don't let anything external get in your way. Focus on the things that you can control. I think those guys and the guys we've had – the Dexters (Dexter Lawrence), the Burnses (Brian Burns), the Bobbies (Bobby Okereke) – have all done a really good job with that.

Q: Again, with the disclaimer it's only the preseason, but was that what a Brian Daboll team is supposed to look like? Guys were playing fast, decisive, celebrating each other. Maybe some mistakes along the way but played with confidence.

Daboll: I think you have to perform and have success to be able to do those things. Playing well and performing well and executing well, that's the most important thing.

Q: You showed practice clips of Brian Burns to the team throughout the preseason. Why did you do that?

Daboll: He's been great this spring, this summer. It's one of the reasons why he was voted captain, too. He sets such good examples for the entire team, not just the defense, of showing what hard work in practice really means. And what finish and effort looks like on a consistent basis. He created the habits for himself, but he also showed those habits to other players that, hey, if Burns is going this hard, my butt better be going this hard, too. It was easy to point him out because he did it on such a consistent basis.

Q: Carl Banks has talked about how his Giants teams had an "atmosphere of accountability" in his era. Is that the point you're driving home?

Daboll: When players can hold players accountable – we have to do it as a coaching staff – but it means more when the players can do it with the players.

Q: How important is that for Abdul Carter? He seems like a player who listens to vets.

Daboll: He's got a great room between Burns, Thibs [Kayvon Thibodeaux], Chauncey [Golston], even guys on the practice squad like [Tomon] Fox, who's been here. I'd say he's got a very good room in terms of the players and their leadership.

Q: On the other side of the ball, you have guys like Greg Van Roten and Chris Manhertz. They're not the big spotlight players, but they got some captain votes, too. How important are those types of players to a team?

Daboll: It just goes back to the leadership that the players provide amongst themselves. They're with each other in the locker room, in between the white lines, on the sideline when things are going tough, on the sideline when things are going good, after a win, after a loss. The consistency, the mental toughness, they have what you need to have in this league. Then the physical toughness, I think we have a lot of tough guys. But the mental toughness that they've displayed for the younger guys is important.

Q: Now for the spotlight players, is there anything that hasn't been said about Russell Wilson?

Daboll: No, no. Go out there and play well.

Q: He talked this week about your relationship and talking on FaceTime all the time. Anybody who knows you sees you FaceTiming constantly. Why not text?

Daboll: I just think it's good to see face to face, facial expressions. About the only thing I do with a computer is FaceTime and it's not even a computer. Plus, his phone never works when I call him on the regular phone (Daboll dialed him up at 7:30 a.m. and it didn't work). In a minute, he's going to FaceTime me. Relationships are important, particularly the quarterbacks. Again, there has to be the same vision and alignment between myself and all the quarterbacks. That's obviously a very important position on your team. It's not just about plays. 'I like this play, I don't like this play.' [It's not just about] protection, looking at defensive backs or linebackers. It's not just about that. It's about relationships. That's important. The overall sense of our football team, they're the leaders in the locker room. I'm with them every day. They have a very good pulse of the locker room, what we need, maybe what we don't need. I value their opinion.

Q: In the build-up to this week, you were asked when do you start preparation for the Commanders. In reality, you do a lot of work over the offseason. Can you explain that process and how much is done before you get to this week?

Daboll: I think it's important to study the players they have on their football team. I also think it's really important that you know what you have as your football team. That's why training camp and OTAs are so important. When you acquire these new players, whether they're free agents, whether they're draft picks, you don't know exactly what you have. You can evaluate them on tape, but until they get here, you learn their personalities, you learn their strengths and weaknesses relative to your schemes. Maybe you change some things based on them. It's what you should do. I think it's hard to get so far ahead until you figure out, hey, we're going through training camp and this has looked good, this hasn't looked good, maybe it was good for us a couple years ago, maybe it was good for us five years ago, whatever it may be. You spend a lot of time on the personnel side of it. I watch all their games. The coaches watch all their games. But the early part of the season you have so much information and you really don't know what you're going to get. You have a better idea as the season goes along – what teams are and what they become. It's really the personnel but then understanding what you are early on in the season from your practices and all the things you're going through. There's a lot of work that's done. There's a lot of evaluation and watching of tape. But really this early part of the season is a lot of focus on yourself.

Q: What keeps a coach up at night when preparing for Washington?

Daboll: They're a team that went 12-5 and then 2-1 in the playoffs. They play good, complementary football. They have one of the best quarterbacks (Jayden Daniels) in the National Football League going into his second season who did things in his first season that not a lot of people have done playing this position. And he's only going to get better. That's the engine that drives the truck.

Offensively, [wide receiver] Terry McLaurin, you can throw him a slip screen like they did in Detroit and he can take it 60 yards or throw him a post or wheel route with 33 seconds left against Dallas when they're down 27-20. Then you add [wide receiver] Deebo [Samuel Sr.] to the mix, who is phenomenal with the ball in his hands. He's a tough tackle, very good receiver, but he's just a very good football player. He can do a lot of different things that create different issues for you. [Tight end Zach] Ertz is always a problem. He's been that his entire career. He's exceptional in situational football and the quarterback looks to him. You add [left tackle Laremy] Tunsil to the mix, one of the best linemen in the NFL. [Running back Austin] Ekeler is a proven vet much like Ertz relative to the things he can do and what he provides. So, offensively, they're a real challenge. They score a lot of points. They're good in situational football, and they're good at the end of games. Again, '5' is a major contributor in that, but you look around him, he's got a really good supporting cast. [General manager] Adam Peters has done a great job of building that team, quickly finding his quarterback.

Then you look at the defensive side, it complements it so well. The way they play in Coach [Dan] Quinn's, Coach [Joe] Whitt's defense, fast, aggressive. [Linebacker] Bobby Wagner, been talking about him for years and years and years and years and years. What a smart football player who can read and diagnose, very good blitzer, causes backs a lot of issues. [Linebacker Frankie] Luvu, I think this guy is really, really good. He's tough. He plays the game the right way. His effort is relentless. He's the same thing, a good blitzer. They can put him in different spots. He's a problem. Then you look at the defensive line, I've had [Daron] Payne at Alabama. They added some veterans, whether it's Von [Miller], [Javon] Kinlaw. [Dorance] Armstrong has given us problems in the past. Add [cornerback Marshon] Lattimore, draft [cornerback Trey] Amos, and then you've got the big three in the kicking game with [linebacker] Nick [Bellore], [safeties Tyler] Owens and [Jeremy] Reaves, who when you watch them, they play with their hair on fire and go down and make a lot of great plays. Fast, physical, a lot of familiarity with [special teams coordinator Larry] Izzo being at New England with him. He's been an exceptional coach in this league really since he left playing.

It's why they were 12-5. It's why they were in the NFC Championship Game. We'll have a big challenge ahead us. Two games against them last year, they got us in both of them. It's going to come down to playing well and executing like it always does in the early part of the season and doing fundamentals and taking care of the ball and trying to get the ball. It's certainly a challenging team. They were in that championship game for a reason.

Q: A lot of players and coaches will be making their debuts this week. What do you remember from your first game in the NFL as a defensive assistant with the Patriots in 2000?

Daboll: I remember all the way back to my first preseason game. It was the Hall of Fame Game against the San Francisco 49ers and Coach [Steve] Mariucci. I just remember walking the field over there. My buddy Josh McDaniels was in the stands. His dad was a legendary coach in Ohio. Talking to him in the stands, kind of, oh my gosh. I remember having a conversation with the late, God rest his soul, Greg Knapp (the 49ers' quarterbacks coach at the time), who was one of the nicest guys. It was the first time I was in the league. He came up to me and was talking to me pregame. It's just, oh my gosh, I'm part of the NFL, which is a pretty cool thing. That's what I remember.

Q: Players talk about the "welcome to the NFL" moment. Do coaches have those?

Daboll: I had worked for Coach [Nick] Saban before I got to work for Coach [Bill] Belichick, and they're cut from the same kind of cloth. You had to be a worker or you weren't working long. So, I had a good introduction to that at Michigan State back in '98 and '99 with Coach Saban and then early in my NFL career with Coach Belichick. Kind of like getting a masters coming right out of school and learning from two of the all-timers.

Q: Over the offseason, you added coaches to your staff who were longtime players. [Secondary coach/defensive pass game coordinator] Marquand Manuel played in the NFL for eight seasons. [Running backs coach] Ladell Betts was a second-round pick. [Cornerbacks coach] Jeff Burris was a first-round pick and played for a decade. What's the benefit of having their experience?

Daboll: I thought they were good coaches and guys who have had some experience playing in this league, I think that can be beneficial. But they have to be good teachers and good coaches as well. Just because you were a good player, it doesn't make you a good coach. Just because you were a good coach, it doesn't mean you were a great player. You have specific jobs to do. In the secondary room, we've got three former players (Manuel, Burris, assistant secondary coach Mike Adams), but the most important thing is they're good communicators. They're good teachers. And then they can provide some of that valuable, real-life experience when they played. That means a lot to these players. But more than anything they're teachers, they're communicators, they're excellent workers. Again, there's a number of them from [assistant defensive line coach] Bryan Cox, [defensive assistant] Grant Morgan – he had a cup of coffee on the Jacksonville practice squad but was an All-American at Arkansas. [Assistant offensive line coach] James Ferentz played, was a longtime lineman, obviously [assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike] Kafka, Ladell Betts was a high pick. There's just a lot of good valuable experiences that these guys can share with their players. If they couldn't teach or coach, then they wouldn't be of much value either. It's a combination of both.