Interim Head Coach Mike Kafka

On the meaning of the win for the team...

Interim Head Coach Mike Kafka: "Great win. Really, all three phases stepped out. Saw plays on offense, guys like Wan'Dale [Robinson] stepping up and having a great day for us when we needed him most. Huge third down conversions, big plays across the field, our offensive line blocked their tail off in the run game and the pass game. Really proud of how Jaxson [Dart] rebounded from the last couple weeks in terms of stepping up. It's not easy to win in this league and for him to step up like that, like he did, not only throwing the ball but running the football as well. Really proud of our defense, I think held them at 63 rushing yards versus that back, who's an explosive player, did a great job running game. They had two turnovers, which were huge, with Bobby Okereke and Dane Belton having two picks. So really proud of our defense for stepping up. Had a couple critical -- even down the line that special teams wise, I thought they played with their hair on fire, and Tae [Deonte] Banks had a great play right there to kind of put it away and really make a stamp on himself. And for him to learn a new position in the off season, we asked him to do something that he really wasn't comfortable with to start and just kept on getting better and better and better. You can see it at practice, you can see his practice habits and how he was working that something like that would happen, and for him to have a 95-yard touchdown return, it's really cool for the kid to see that success."

On the excitement inside the locker room after the win...

Coach Kafka: "Like I said, I think wins, wins are hard to get in this league in general, and then for us to kind of come out here and play like they did, I'm just really proud of how our coaches coached it. They stepped up and made sure that our guys are prepared, that our guys were ready to roll. And they came out with that intent, to really play hard, play physical, play fast. I'm just really excited about the guys, because that's really who I'm thinking about. The guys have played and practiced, put in so many hours, early mornings, late nights, put in hours on their body and on their mind to get prepared for these things and for them to see the success, that's what it's about. You can hear it. You can feel the enthusiasm. You can feel the excitement for those guys because of all the hard work they put in."

On these teams playing for "draft order"...

Coach Kafka: "Yeah, I mean, the things that we were playing for were for each other. To a man in that room and having each other's back and playing as hard as we can for each other. You get into a football locker room, it's a family. Sometimes you have to go through the ups and downs, but you understand, you keep on plugging away, keep on putting in the hard work, and then you'll get the result you want."

On Jaxson Dart stepping up this game...

Coach Kafka: "Yeah, I'm really proud of Jaxson [Dart] how he stepped up for our offense and really did a good job of just controlling the game, managing the game, taking easy completions to start and then we had opportunities downfield. His guys worked for him, and when he got on the football he did a great job with his feet, whether it was designed runs or whether it was scrambles, either getting us back to line scrimmage or making plays with the legs and getting us first downs. So, I think for him to bounce back, it was something that I think we all saw in practice, how he approached it, and then for him to come out here and do this in the game, I'm not surprised in how he played, but I'm just really proud of how he responded."

On his first win as a head coach...

Coach Kafka: "It's not that I'm not deflecting, I'm serious that it's about the players and those guys together, getting a win for them and for each other, and we're all in this thing together. Everyone's working hard and putting a lot of hours in, because it means something to us and to see that locker room and feel that locker room in a postgame, and even during the game, you felt that energy, and you felt the urgency to finish this thing off. And again, I'm just really excited and proud of them, it's a fun ride back. And then we've got to get back to work."

On Wan'Dale Robinson's growth...

Coach Kafka: "Yeah, Wan'Dale [Robinson], we came in together, right. Like it was our first draft class, a guy that I know and love really well, and to see him continue to grow that position, what we asked him to do, he came in primarily as a slot. We asked him to play a little more outside this year based on injuries, and he just jumped at it. I think he took his craft to another level in terms of being able to play an outside perimeter receiver and still have the dynamic ability to play inside in the slot and create mismatches and matchup opportunities for himself. So again, to have that day, 11 catches, 113 yards, then to eclipse 1,000 is an awesome milestone for him. I know for him, it's really cool because you saw a lot of the production over the years. But a fifth 1,000 marker is a big deal. That's a big deal for him. And to get it, not only the way he did it, with explosive plays, but to get it and also get the win, I think it's kind of just the cherry on top for him. I know he was really excited about it. I'm super proud of him."

On Deonte Banks' kick return TD...

Coach Kafka: "Yeah. I mean, it was a fourteen-play drive. These guys were defending every blade of grass they could. Geno [Smith] made a nice play on the scramble to find him. Te [Deonte Banks] just kind of put that play behind him and then attack the next play and made a huge one for us, right, and had the ability there to kind of shut it out mentally and really put a stamp on the game for himself and that was a huge play in the game. I mean, I can't understate it. That was a huge play for us."

On Jaxson Dart having a bit more swag today...

Coach Kafka: "Yeah, he had a good approach to practice. Again, it's not easy, you're a young player, going through the ups and downs of the season. You got to battle through that. You got to keep your mind sharp. You got to keep your mind clear, not let other things, the outside noise kind of bog you down. He didn't let it affect him at all. He's been great for me and you saw him just execute early in the game and just kept on taking what the defense was giving him, and when he had opportunities downfield, he had the ability to be aggressive and stay aggressive with it, and then he let his playmakers make plays for him. For him, to continue to see that, continue to grow that way is going to be important because there's going to be time for him that he needs to put the Superman cape on and go make the plays. Majority of the time, it's just about operating and operating fast. You saw that today, and I think that was a good turning point for him."

On what Coach Kafka means by Jaxson Dart being "great for you"...

Coach Kafka: "Just being able to talk to him because I've been in that seat. I've been in that chair in terms of being a young quarterback, a rookie quarterback, and you see that. I've been in other experiences having to coach a young rookie quarterback and have him go through the ups and downs of the season. Those conversations sometimes are easy. We got to have honest, upfront conversations about things that we need to clean up, things that we're doing really well, but things that we need to solve and solve fast, because the season is so rapid that you don't have the beauty of an off season to really mature in certain ways. Everything is sped up in season, so when I'm talking to him, we're having real conversations, upfront conversations about things we got to clean up. He's always attacked head on, and he's always detected with the right approach and a growth mindset to understand he's going to get better. Any kind of coaching points we've given him, he's attacked in practice, he's attacked in the drills, his individual periods applied to the practice. Then when you see a game like this, watch him show his footwork, and the phases and his processing speed up in the game, that's why we have those things for him. I'm proud of how he responded and again, I'm excited for him and excited for the players."

On the impact Abdul Carter had...

Coach Kafka: "Yeah, another week for Abdul [Carter], where he's taking the right approach and the right mindset, and I think he's starting to get into a groove in terms of a player and really understanding what are his strengths, what are his weaknesses, and how he can continue to study and attack the opponent's strengths and weaknesses. Charlie [Bullen] and the defense is doing a good job putting him in different positions to be successful. He's not just lining up on one side and he's able to line up over the center, over the guards. Then on top of that, he's got a couple other guys that offices have to have to think about, Brian Burns and Dexter [Lawrence II] so that it's also a part of that. He's going to get some signals, he's going to get some opportunities one on one, and when they do want to go double him now, that's opportunities for Burns and Dexter to have success."

On if he had any update on Jevon Holland's injury...

Coach Kafka: "Yeah, we kept him out. We'll get another look at how it looked on the knee. So I don't have anything full yet, until the report comes."

On what Charlie Bullen has done with the defense...

Coach Kafka: "Yeah, Charlie [Bullen] has done a nice job of just honing in on things that he's comfortable with, things that the players are comfortable with, and allowing those guys to play free and fast. He's trimmed down the menu a little bit in terms of what we want to do in certain situations. I think he has a really clear plan, and he's able to communicate that plan to the players and coaches very early in the week, so guys can really hone in on it and understand where my leverages are at what gap responsibilities I'm handling, and then they're able to just kind of cut it loose and let their natural ability show."

On if anyone in the building talked to him about how he was going to approach this game and the integrity of the game...

Coach Kafka: "No, the only discussions we had were just, how can we find a way to win and put our players in the best position to do that."

Quarterback Jaxson Dart

On how proud he was of his bounce back performance...

Jaxson Dart: "Yeah, I was confident that we as a team were going to bounce back and play better. I knew that I was going to play better this week, and I liked the game plan. I felt like we got into a flow early and kind of just controlled the game from there on out. We were just super balanced, and, yeah, it definitely felt good."

On how much the game plan suited what he wanted to do today...

Dart: "Yeah, we were kind of interested to see what they were going to be playing on the on the defensive side, especially with some of their guys out, and they played a lot of soft zone. And when you have guys like Wan'Dale [Robinson] and Slay [Darius Slayton] and Zay [Isaiah Hodgins] and Gunner [Olszewski] and Belli [Daniel Bellinger] and those guys just being able to find the windows in the zone. We just played really efficient, and I felt like, besides the sacks that I just kind of slipped on, I just felt like we were always ahead of the sticks and just played sound football."

On how he saw he performance and taking another step forward in his development...

Dart: "Yeah, like I said, I'm going to continue to learn. I'm going to make mistakes here and there, and I'm going to bounce back from them. I'm going to have some hits that I took early on that I saw was kind of unnecessary, and then you just make adjustments. And at the same time, you got to continue to just play your game. You can't make somebody into somebody that they're not. So, yeah, I just felt like I definitely played smart and just got away from any of the unnecessary stuff."

On if he knew that Wan'Dale Robinson was close to 1,000 yards this season and if he was purposefully feeding him the ball more to get there...

Dart: "Yeah, that's my guy. That's my guy. I mean, I have all the confidence in the world in him, and I know that he can beat any coverage. And he's just a guy that competes at such a high level. So, when you just have that trust with a guy out there and you can make checks on plays to get him on little option routes and whatnot, and I think that he's just a mismatch, and you got to see it today what he can do with the ball in his hand and making people miss. But I'm just really happy for him, because he's a hell of a player, and he definitely deserves it."

On if he saw the report that the Giants would consider drafting a quarterback if they got the first overall pick...
Dart:

"No, I did not."

On how he processes a report like that...

Dart: "I'm going to continue to play my ball. I know I'm going to be here for a very long time, and I'm just excited to start winning more games and turn this place around and do my job, and we have a bright future. And that was one thing that, I was just standing on the sideline and I'm watching Abdul [Carter] ball, I'm watching DA [Darius Alexander] ball. Skat [Cam Skattebo] was here today, and when you just think about this rookie class, I think that we have a really bright future, and we're going to be a big pivot and turn this thing around."

On how long nine weeks felt like without a win and what it felt like in the locker room after a win...

Dart: "Way too long, definitely way too long. We got to start doing this more because it definitely feels a lot better, but just looking forward to this plane fight with the guys for sure, just to kind of have that good energy with every single one of us. And then, just try to do our best to finish this year out."

On the talk outside of the building and if he had any doubts on if the team would approach this game differently...

Dart: "No, I didn't. I felt like it was just noise. Sometimes that just happens with us not really having the year that we've wanted, and people just start talking, but from a player perspective, from a team perspective, I felt like we were dialed all week, and we needed to win. Just a morale, just some excitement, finally. We needed to win, and that's how we felt."

On what it felt like in the locker room after the win...

Dart: "I mean, it just feels great. You definitely want to just start doing this more for sure."

On what his favorite part of his performance today was...

Dart: "I just felt like I was efficient, took what the defense gave me, didn't try to force the ball into unnecessary things when they're playing kind of a deep shell and trying to keep everything in front of them. And sometimes, as quarterbacks, we can get a little impatient because you want to have a big play, and I felt like I just played deficient, used my legs, just felt like I was in a rhythm really."

On if that performance was the blend he was looking for in terms of passing and running...

Dart: "Yeah, I think that I'm a player that can do a lot of different things throwing the ball. I think I'm a smart player. Think I use my legs as an advantage. So, just felt good to be back out there and in a rhythm. And thought the guys around me played really well. The O-line blocked their ass off and did a great job protecting me, giving me time, and the guys on the outside and the perimeter were able to find the zones, make great plays after the catch, break tackles and yeah, just felt like we're in a flow."