Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: What were your thoughts on (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart)?

DABOLL: Just about what I thought he would do. Efficient, effective, aggressive, confident in the pocket. Some stuff we can work on, but he's doing good.

Q: You talked a little bit about where he had to show some poise where he was pressuring the pocket, got the ball out with a nice screen he had in the turnbuckle. Were you impressed with the poise that he showed?

DABOLL: He does it in practice. I think I was asked a question about how he's holding on to the ball. Look, there's things he can be better at, but we missed some opportunities on third down, some drops that would have even been better for him and for us. But he's a confident young player. He's improved since he's been here. Still have a long way to go, but I enjoy working with him. I like his demeanor on the sideline. He sees the game well. Again, not that we're getting, we got a couple blitzes and things like that, but I'm glad he's here.

Q: How is his poise in practice is different than standing in there when the (Buffalo Bills tackle) T.J. Sanders hits you in the face?

DABOLL: Well, we saw that on tape at Ole Miss, though. He did that for a long time there. He's tough. I told you, good moxie. He's got toughness. He's got leadership. I think we threw the ball 51 times and didn't have a sack today. Credit the offensive line first and foremost.

Q: How about just how the whole progression, how promising it looked to have (quarterback) Russell (Wilson) open the game the way he did with the quick strike passing attack. Then just Dart taking over just the whole how it's set up?

DABOLL: Well, look, we've worked hard in practice. You never know how it's going to go. It's one preseason game. Russ has done this for a long time, so it's not his first rodeo. Gave him some plays to get in a little bit of a rhythm. I think all the quarterbacks led their offenses down to scoring points. Got held up in some of the fringe stuff, drops, a couple too many false starts. At one point, we were pretty good on third down. I'm not sure where we ended up, but big plays didn't have a ton, I would say, gave up far too many on the defensive side of it in a number of areas. So, it was a good first day, but I think each offense had about 400 yards.

Q: One of the criticisms that Jaxson faced when out of college was the offense that he played in.

DABOLL: From? No, who's criticizing him?

Q: Just draft analysts, all the draft criticisms on him.

DABOLL: Oh, draft analysts, yeah,

Q: The big picture coming out, which is why he might be more green, might take a year, he needs to sit, things like that. Was there anything that you saw about him that made you not be concerned with that, that, yeah, he's going to now be in a pro-style offense, it's not going to be a problem?

DABOLL: Yeah, pretty much everything. Stood in the pocket, was good under pressure, good with his legs, tough, competitive, accurate. Again, everybody comes from different offenses. You know, (Philadelphia Eagles quarterback) Jalen Hurts came from a running college offenses, he's doing pretty good. (Miami Dolphins quarterback) Tua (Tagovailoa) did when I was there. I mean, a lot of guys run offenses similar to that. There's not a lot of just this is what it does. Whether they run RPO offense, whether they run some, usually when you come to a league, the offenses are going to be different. Again, it's one game, he's had good practices, he's had practices we got to improve on. There's good plays out there, plays he can prove on, but again, just talking to him on the sideline, his demeanor, you know, it was a good start for him.

Q: There will be a lot of quarterbacks, too, that avoid the rush when it's in their face, but it's almost like they avoid the rush and then they just run, and Jaxson does have the ability to run, but it seemed like when he was back there, his eyes never left downfield, and he was moving.

DABOLL: Yeah, and that's something that's something else we saw on tape when he was coming out. He'll stand in there and take one now, but he's got good feel and good athleticism if he has to run. Again, pretty simple defense we're playing. We understand what it is, but it was good to be here in this environment, no surprise, packed house, first preseason game here in Buffalo, not a surprise, so we practiced with a lot of noise, and great first environment to be in for a rookie quarterback where some places you have 10,000 to 15,000 fans here, you've got a packed house, which is a good thing.

Q: What about getting the first team involved? When you made that decision, were you happy with what you got out of the first team on both sides of the ball?

DABOLL: A number of questions was asked about that leading up to it, and you know the answer is do what's best for the football team, so I thought we needed that. We'll do it again. We're going to play in the preseason. People that are able to play are going to play, and if they're not able to play or a doctor or a trainer says it'd be smart to hold them out, we'll hold them out, but other than that, we're going to play.

Q: You talked about earlier this week wanting to see Jaxson in different scenarios. He obviously got to manage a two-minute drill at the end of that half. What did you see from him in that?

DABOLL: Yeah, we manufactured one earlier, too, kind of an up-tempo, no-huddle, touchdown drive, I believe, where I told (assistant head coach, offensive coordinator) Mike (Kafka), let's kick it up a gear and go no-huddle. He's had different situations, third down, it was good to play him almost a half. I don't know what Russ got. What did he get, 12 or 13, 14 plays somewhere on there, 12. So, again, as many situations as we can put all the quarterbacks in. I thought (quarterback) Jameis (Winston) came out good, too. We got a couple of plays. We need to make those plays to keep drives going. We're a yard short on a stick, so then we kick it, and they get a short field, we bust the coverage there for a big play, and we have to do a better job, complimentary football. Good things to learn, a lot of things to learn from. Proud of them. It's always hard to win a game in this league, regardless of what it is, but a lot of things we have to improve on, a lot of good learning things that you get from the preseason that we got to make sure we watch, and we learn from it.

Q: Can you go into it and talk a little bit about his (Jaxson's) touchdown?

DABOLL: Yeah, sweet throw. He had a couple of them. We had a couple of chances down on some goes, too that we should have caught.

Q: What he was supposed to do, obviously, the touchdown works.

DABOOLL: He said, Connor, go out there, run a go against that corner. I'm going to throw it to you, buddy. So, luckily, we didn't have Connor out there, we had somebody else, and he threw it. It was a one-on-one play. Threw it up, threw a go. Receiver made a nice play, stacking them. Good catch, ball in stride. He gives guys chances down the field, doesn't throw the ball out of bounds most of the time and gives them chances to make plays, and then it's the job of a receiver to make a play when you're one-on-one. That's the job of a receiver. The job of a quarterback is give your guy a chance. Don't throw it out of bounds. Don't give them no chance when it's a one-on-one play. That's what we expect from all our QBs.

Q: (Cornerback, Deonte) Banks played long after most of the starters, what was the significance in that? I know you were short at corner, but is there also something?

DABOLL: Well, (cornerback, Cor'Dale) Flott wasn't here, but I thought D could use some work. So I played him as much as I wanted to play him.

Q: Your other rookie was pretty good, too, (outside linebacker, Abdul) Carter. Was he all right?

DABOLL: Yeah, not a ton of plays for those first guys. A couple series, which was the plan. Somewhere between six and ten plays, unless we were playing a certain way, maybe it would have been a little bit more. Again, there's some good. There's plenty of, I don't want to call it bad, but bad that we got to learn from. We got to build on it. We got a big week of practice here against A.G.'s (New York Jets head coach, Aaron Glenn) Jets. Expect good competitive practices with that group. Try to take another step. Still a ways to go. But beats the alternatives.

Q: Abdul obviously, he did some good rushing the pass but we expected that. But just in the face of those wide balls, how does he get some of that?

DABOLL: Not a lot of plays. Good week here coming up against the Jets. Keep on building with him. So, with all of these, with the rookies, with our team, with everything, again, let's take it for what it's worth. It's one preseason game. There's some good stuff, and there's a lot of things we need to correct, and that's what our job is to do, is to leave here and go home and some of the guys played a fair amount and make sure they're ready to go and then come back on practice and improve the things we need to improve on, which we can learn a lot from this tape, a lot.

Q: What did you talk about, I think it was (assistant General Manager) Brandon Brown who said it a couple months ago that, you know, when you're scouting guys and you see it on film in college, you're scouting and then they get here and all of a sudden they're on the field and you start seeing the same things. You just mentioned things you saw on tape at Ole Miss for Jaxson that you're now seeing now. Is that also part of the extended nature of these guys, especially for Jaxson?

DABOLL: Yeah, and again, we're talking about one game, but I've seen him in OTAs. I've seen him in training camp. I know his personality, developed a good relationship with him throughout the draft process. Got here, he's someone that I enjoy coaching and have a very good relationship with and see a lot of positive signs and he's very hard on himself. I said, I'm proud of you tonight. You did some good things. We got to make some more plays, too, on the perimeter. That's not what we do. You know, we got two or three chances to make those plays and whatever 'mid,' what's mid now mean? 'That was mid.' That was his response. He's pretty hard on himself. I'll say that. You got to ask him about what mid means. Six, seven.

Q: Everybody who didn't play was limited in practice, so we know why they didn't play except (wide receiver) Jalin Hyatt. Was that a medical thing, too?

DABOLL: Everyone that didn't play, didn't play because the medical team or the doctors told me that it's probably a good idea they don't play this game. Everyone, including, that would be everyone including Jalin Hyatt.

Quarterback Russell Wilson

Q: Could you give us an evaluation on your first series today and then also the offense in general and what you saw from your other quarterbacks?

WILSON: Yeah, I thought we did a good job. I thought our consistency throughout the whole game made some plays. I thought it was good to be out there, just be with the fellas and obviously to be a New York Giant, what a blessing it is to lead these guys and be a part of that. I think that every week we just want to keep getting better. It's so funny because I think these preseason games mean so much, just being able to get out there and the culture in the locker room to pregame warmups, to the whole rhythm of how we do that and how we do that really well. And I thought we did a great job of that, even on the sideline, game on the line, just everybody was in tune.

Q: It was obvious from the way you talked this week that you did want to play, regardless of what anybody else thought. It was important to you.

WILSON: Yeah, I definitely wanted to play. I think it's good to be, anytime you get to be in the white lines, it's a good thing, it's a blessing. I'm just grateful to wear the blue and what a great day it was.

Q: Can you talk a bit about (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart)?

WILSON: Yeah, I thought Jaxson did a great job. I thought he made some great throws. I thought LJ (wide receiver, Lil'Jordan Humphrey) came down, LJ is such a great contested catcher. He did a great job on that. I thought he really did a really good job. Jaxson and I were joking because, like I was saying to him, 'I remember my first touchdown.' Like, it's such a great feeling.

Q: Did you tell (head coach Brian Daboll) Dabs that you wanted to play?

WILSON: Dabs and I were both on the same page. He knew I wanted to play and vice versa. Yeah, he wanted me to play. I was ready to go. I love playing.

Q: You said it was important for you to play, but just also for you getting in the rhythm with everybody. How important was that for you to get out there and show that with the guys today?

WILSON: Yeah, it's great. We get to go against a great defense every day. We have that challenge every day to go against our defense, and so that makes us better. But to go against another really good defense, too, a team that's been in the playoffs, done some great things, to compete against those guys is a good feeling for us. It just creates a little mojo. Obviously, winning matters and to be able to do it together and to get that first win in preseason means a lot to us.

Q: You've seen a lot in this league, obviously through your career. I'm just curious, from an urgency and from a mental standpoint for you guys now, now you come off of this game, but now the next time you're on the field you're going to be against another team on Tuesday. I know you'll get to that, but I'm just curious from an intensity point of view, how do you keep that high? How does this team maintain that going through this?

WILSON: Well, I think the first thing is not to be too high, not be too low. Just remaining focused on the work, remaining focused on the progress, incremental gains, and understanding that we're doing this thing together, offensively, defensively, special teams. Winning is a habit, and we want to create winning habits not just on Sundays or Saturdays like today, but it's the process of winning that you have to enjoy. And I think when you love practice and you love it and you compete at as high of a level as we do every day and get after every day, it makes the games that much more simple. And I think that's the thing that we want to always establish. And you have to establish it every day. That's the good thing about playing the game of football. It's one of those things that you have to recreate that every day and that mentality. So we're on the journey of that, and that's what we're looking forward to.

Q: There's so much focus on that here, and I think you guys, however many times you threw the ball today, that there were no sacks and not that many pressures.

WILSON: Yeah, I thought the O-line did a great job. The ones kept space, some really good players on the defensive line for them. They did a good job keeping space for me. Receivers got open quickly in an on-time manner. That's all part of it as well. They have great confidence in our offensive line. They go against the best guys in the world every day, and that makes us better too. We have guys that are experienced guys. (Offensive lineman, James) Hudson's played a lot of football. (Guard) GVR (Greg Van Roten) has played a lot of football. (Center) JMS (John Michael Schmitz Jr.) is going to be a star in this league in how he communicates this, efficiency of how he communicates. (Guard) Runs (Jon Runyan), he's been playing the game for a long time. It's in his blood. He knows how to play the game. I think (Offensive lineman) Jermaine (Eluemunor) too. He's a lockdown right tackle and he can do a lot of special things. We got guys with depth coming off the bench too that have great experience and great talent. I think we just got a lot of great confidence. I think (offensive line coach) Carm's (Bricillo) a great teacher in the game. They create that space for us, allows us to make a lot of throws.

Q: You've been around so long. I'm sure you had some type of expectation as to what you thought would happen in the preseason opener. From what did happen, better, worse, the same?

WILSON: I think you always assess the film. We're going to watch the film, study it. I think there's a lot of good things today. There are always things that we can get better at. That's the constant journey, the constant quest for knowledge and understanding that we're always searching for. Listen, we have three of these preseason games. Luckily, we were able to win the first one. Not luckily, but we established ourselves to be able to win the first one. The second one's coming up. We have to get ready for that. I think it's the championship approach. Every time you step between the white lines, it matters. There are no days off. There's no one (game) that matters more than the other. Obviously, as you keep going, as you get tighter and tighter later, yeah. But I think that if they all matter to you and to us, it gives us a great chance. I think we established that today, and we've got to do it again.

Q: The progression of you setting the tone to start the game, and Jaxson maybe carrying it over through various aspects.

WILSON: Yeah, I loved how we went forward on 4-1. I loved how we competed. I loved how (wide receiver) Wan'Dale's (Robinson) route on the side. That was a big chunk, big play. We made some good plays. I think we're going to knock the field goal down, getting back into field goal range after a penalty, just staying poised, not panicking. I think that's a big part of championship teams. How do you respond to adversity? I think we did that. I think that offensively, Jaxson stepped back in. I think they got stopped, and then he came back in. He got a touchdown. Then fast forward, we were able to create some momentum, and then I think (quarterback) Jameis (Winston) came in, made a great throw in the back corner. What a snag. I mean, just two plays in a row. Then (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito) did a
great job keeping that pressure on him. I think our defense did a great job, though. That turnover was huge for us to recover that fumble, give the defense credit to give us a chance to close the game out.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart

Q: Could you take us through the touchdown pass to (wide receiver, Lil'Jordan) Humphrey?

DART: Yeah, me and him have been, if you've been following along, me and him have been connecting a lot during camp and whatnot and he's been a great contested catcher on goal balls. So I like my matchup one-on-one and he was able to win over the top and made a great play.

Q: (Head) Coach (Brian) Daboll said the operation would be the most critical thing he wanted to see from you today. How did you feel about the cleanliness of the operation?

DART: Yeah, I felt good. I felt good about it. It's kind of my first time doing like a silent cadence in a road game atmosphere. So we did have a few pre-snap penalties that we got to grow on and continue to improve on those things, but I was happy overall about it. I was really happy with how our O-line played. I don't think that we had a sack all game, if I'm right. They played amazing and I was really happy with the operation.

Q: You showed your daring a little bit there on a couple of those runs.

DART: Yeah, a little bit. A little bit. People haven't seen all of it though. So we'll continue to be smart with it for sure.

Q: Did they yell at you for not sliding on that scramble?

DART: I think Dabs likes it, to be honest. But it was more of my teammates. They're like, 'hey, like we don't need to see you take any of those extra shots. So make sure you're sliding.'

Q: Daboll said you called the performance 'mid.' Is that true? Did you really say that? We're all sitting here raving about it and you called it mid.

DART: I just felt like the only reason that we stopped ourselves from scoring touchdowns were just some of those third downs and not converting. And I feel like personally, I'm really hard on myself. So, in those moments, like I want to capitalize on that. Those possessions in those crunch time situations really determine the game. So, like I said, I feel like I can do a lot more, but I was happy with how the guys played around me.

Q: How did the game meet your expectations in terms of the speed, the quality of the play? Maybe things that you thought you might see or didn't see?

DART: Yeah, I thought it was really cool that I was able to go out there early. I think for a few of my drives a lot of their ones were out there. Kind of feeling the play speed of it all. Obviously preseason is a little different with how much defenses are going to incorporate and put in and whatnot. But there is definitely a little bit faster, but I've had a lot of great practice going against our guys each and every day. So, I'm just going to try to continue to grow.

Q: It seemed like when there was pressure, you evaded it, eyes stayed down the field. I mean, it's rare to see that from a rookie.

DART: Yeah, I just trust those guys. I've been able to sit in that pocket clean at practices. I think that there's been a few things where people are like he's holding on the ball pretty long. But how I see it is I've been having great protection. So I can do those things. Big shout out to those big boys up front for keeping it clean. I know guys were going to get open right when I was about to get hit or whatever it may be. But I'm comfortable sitting in there when the windows and the pressure gets on me.

Q: You're not getting hit in the mouth on the touchdown pass. That guy was one step from hitting you in the mouth. It's been a while since, you haven't done that since college. How did that feel? Why were you able to stand in there and take that hit?

DART: Because I knew the opportunity that we were going to have. One-on-one with LJ went over the top. A lot of times those are some of the biggest plays in games. Just in those split seconds, being able to get the ball off when you're about to get hit. I think it was (Buffalo Bills tackle)T.J. Sanders who hit me. I've been hit by him a few times in college. So, it's kind of funny how it came full circle when we talked about that after.

Q: Did you even see the play? Were you able to see the completion of the play? Or did you have to wait until afterwards to see the replays?

DART: Honestly, I haven't even seen the play. I kind of just blacked out and I was just super pumped. I was trying to get down there and celebrate with the guys.

Q: As starts go, how promising was this as a start for you, a preseason debut?

DART: I mean, I expect myself to play well whenever I'm on the field. I don't expect myself to not play well. So, I was just trying to operate the offense and get the ball out of my hands pretty quickly to get guys the ball in space for them to make plays. And I thought they did a great job at it. Just kind of try to stack these and the more reps that I feel like I'm going to get, I'm going to get more and more comfortable.

Q: I was just curious about your emotions entering the day. First time on an NFL field against another team. Just describe the day and leading up to getting into the game.

DART: Yeah, I was just super excited. My parents were here. Them taking the red eye last night and not getting any sleep and being here, meant the world to me. But I felt really prepared coming into this week and just the preparation I put into each and every day. I felt like when I got out there on the field, it was just football at that point.

Q: Did your sister take her necklace back?

DART: Shoot, I forgot to wear it. But I'm going to put that back in the routine for sure.