Interim Head Coach Mike Kafka

Q: Just curious, I know it goes back a ways, but how have you seen (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) as a young player kind of show his leadership and manifest that throughout the entire team and not just the QB room, the offensive huddle, from that respect?

KAFKA: I think I've seen, and I know I've seen Jaxson just become more comfortable in that role. He started the season off as the backup and that's a different role, that's a different set of responsibilities. Now being a starter, number one, focusing on his own job and what he has to do on a daily basis and a weekly basis to get himself ready to play, but then also, you're in the quarterback position, your quarterback role, so that leadership is natural. And for him, it's not about forcing anything, it's just about being himself and leading the way that he sees it and bringing guys along with him. Those are the qualities that we've seen since the first day he's gotten here.

Q: Like you said, the idea, it's inherent for the quarterback position, the idea that you're the quarterback, so that makes it a little bit easier. But for a younger player to kind of spread from one side of the ball to the other, guys on the defense have been talking about Jaxson and how much his leadership has meant to them. I was just curious, from your perspective, someone who's been in the league, you've seen a lot of players and a lot of young players, is there anything that stands out differently as to why he's been able to do that from the jump, really?

KAFKA: I don't think there's an age requirement for leadership, whether you're young or old or a veteran or one year or one month or however many. I just think if you have the leadership qualities, if you have the ability to, number one, lead yourself and then lead others and guys will follow you based on how you operate and how you carry yourself, then I don't think there's necessarily like a prerequisite for that. I mean, Jaxson does a great job because he's just being himself and he's controlling what he can control. He's doing all the things that make him great and he's just being himself. He's not trying to be somebody else. He's just his genuine self.

Q: A couple more with Jaxson, if you don't mind. You have been in on the ground floor with him, obviously, right? He came in as a rookie, you were his offensive coordinator, now you're his head coach. Do you believe that the year one to year two development for a quarterback is almost always pretty dramatic?

KAFKA: In terms of?

Q: Just being a better player. All the rookie stuff, all that rookie stuff and then you come in your next year, your second training camp, do you feel, you were a quarterback as well, that you're just going to be better almost always?

KAFKA: I think the growth, I think you learn so much faster from year one to year two. You have that full season, you're in the NFL style, you kind of know how things operate. You've built somewhat of a framework of a routine on how you want to prepare yourself, whether it's your body, your mind, getting ready for OTAs. And you now have a little bit longer offseason. It's not like right from your college season to a bowl game to prepping for the combine, prepping for pro days. Then you get drafted and you're thrown right into rookie camp and right into OTAs. It's kind of like a never-ending cycle, that rookie season. And then on top of that, it's a long season, right? It's more games than you've ever played in your career, in your life. So, that ends up being a long year. Now you have time after this season to go through, kind of refine the things that you want, how you want to operate in the offseason, and now you have some time to kind of look back and really dissect yourself and really can make some more steps to improvement.

Q: Do you have any doubt that he is a legitimate NFL franchise quarterback?

KAFKA: I don't have any doubts about that.

Q: How much have you enjoyed working with him and how anxious are you to continue - like I said, you were in on the ground floor with this - to continue this moving forward with him specifically?

KAFKA: Jaxson's been a pleasure to coach. He's been awesome. Learning every single day, absorbing as much information as he can and then also putting his own fingerprint on things, putting his own personality on it. And that's what's most important is you see the growth and you see a player that's continuing to learn from the good, the bad, and then continuing to take steps forward and continuing to step up and rise to the occasion when things aren't great and take ownership and take accountability and hold other guys accountable. Those are leadership qualities you're seeing from Jaxson and as a player, he's going to continue to grow and get better. I'm proud to be working with him and happy for him and I'm excited to continue to do that this week.

Q: First of all, you guys kept talking last night about enjoying the plane ride home. How was that plane ride?

KAFKA: It was good. It was a good plane ride. It was smooth. We got back in a few hours there and I think the guys enjoyed it. You can hear the guys talking about the game and the plays people were making. It was a cool atmosphere.

Q: How nice was it to just have that little bit of a vibe on that plane? The other two wins obviously weren't on the road, so to do that and be able to fly home with that?

KAFKA: Yeah, yeah, it was great. You kind of walked around the plane, you felt the energy, and for all three phases to play the way they did, it was great for everyone to kind of be involved in that.

Q: I wanted to ask you just to stay on the rookies. (Offensive lineman) Marcus (Mbow) and (defensive lineman Darius Alexander) DA, just what have you seen from their development and what do these reps mean probably for Marcus more, going forward with (tackle) Andrew (Thomas) out?

KAFKA: Yeah, there's no substitute for the game reps. So, watching these guys play and play at a high level and then yeah, there are certainly things that we can continue to improve on and we'll do that. This week we'll have a great emphasis for them in their individual periods and practice periods. But yeah, these are young players that are growing and maturing and having really significant snaps and these guys are doing a good job with it.

Q: What did you see when you watched Marcus on film particularly?

KAFKA: Marcus has done a great job. He's holding his own on the edge. He's doing a nice job in the run game. Like I said, there are plenty of things we can all improve on. Marcus is no different there, but he's doing a nice job. He's growing, he's learning just like any young player, but he's competing, he's finishing. All the qualities and all the things that we're asking him to do, he's doing them well.

Q: (Linebacker) Abdul (Carter) had another nine-pressure game yesterday. Is it as simple as he had a click moment when he started, I don't know, after the discipline when he started taking things maybe a little more seriously? Is it as simple as that was a click moment and now we're seeing the real player, or is it more complicated than that? Because his last, whatever it is, four or five games have been off the charts.

KAFKA: I'm just really proud of Abdul for how he's approached it. He's taken it upon himself to continue to get better and he's putting in the work. There's no substitute for hard work and Abdul is continuing to do that. He's getting in early, doing all the things in the meeting room and then on the field you're seeing it show up. So, it's a testament to him, the things that he's done just not only on the field but off the field as well. He's taken great accountability in that and I'm very proud of him for that. He's done a really nice job.

Q: As good as he was in training camp, do you think there's any part of like maybe he thought it was going to be easier than it really was when the season started because he was so good in training camp?

KAFKA: I don't think that's the case. I just think you see a guy who's learning and growing as a young player and sure he's hitting his stride right now and is feeling good about what he has to do. I think (defensive coordinator) Charlie (Bullen) is doing a really good job of putting him in positions to be successful, moving him around not only on the perimeter but in the core, complementing him with (outside linebacker Brian) Burns inside as well. Then on top of that, he does have a couple other pieces on that defensive line that are getting a little bit of attention in (defensive lineman) Dexter (Lawrence II) and Burns, so he's getting some one-on-one opportunities and he's taking advantage of it. When teams look to double Abdul, that's when Burns and Dex step up. So, I think you're seeing a well-run room up front. They're doing a nice job of getting pressures in general. In the back end, they're doing a good job of being sticky. Charlie's mixing up the coverages in the back end to allow these guys the opportunity to rush the passer.

Q: One more on (cornerback) Deonte (Banks). I know the big play was on special teams and not on corner, but there have been outside calls for two years. Like, Giants should move on from him, Giants should bench him. Obviously, you've only been in charge a few weeks, but how hard is it to stick with a player through those kinds of times and did you feel like that was kind of a reward for him and for you guys for sticking with him during tough times?

KAFKA: Listen, hats off to Deonte for stepping up for us. When (cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott went down, he just stepped up and rose to the occasion. Yeah, you're going to have plays where you're competing. I know it was kind of a loose play. The guy kind of got lost in the back part of the end zone. Really good play by them right there at the end of the game there. But yeah, he's a guy that stepped up for us in multiple roles. We asked him to be a kick returner and he really doesn't have a ton of experience doing that at this level. Just absorbed it, loved it and continued to grow and get better. We know he has some explosive ability. He has the speed and the vision and (special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial) Ghobi's done a really nice job with him, developing him and giving him an opportunity. Yesterday was just, I think, a culmination of a lot of hard work back there working with him and Ghobi and (assistant special teams coach) Cam (Achord), really working through the fundamentals of it. I was super happy for him that he had an opportunity there to score a big one for us. And that was much needed. I mean, it was right there to kind of put it away and seal the deal for us and Deonte did a nice job. I'm really happy for him.

Q: How much is the concern level on (safety) Jevón Holland? Is that anything long-term that he's going to have to worry about?

KAFKA: I'm not 100% sure right now. We haven't met with the docs, so we'll meet with them shortly. We'll have an idea of what that looks like for this week. I don't have the full story yet.

Q: I was just talking long-term. You know when it's something really bad or serious right away?

KAFKA: Yeah, I think we would know. We would know if it was really, really bad. But again, I don't want to speak without knowing exactly.

Q: How do you approach Week 18? Sometimes teams take different approaches. You're obviously probably already starting up on Dallas. How do you prepare for them and are you just preparing as if (Cowboys quarterback) Dak Prescott is going to play and play the whole game?

KAFKA: Yeah, we're preparing for everybody to have their full roster play. But we'll keep our same routine that we have been in terms of our installation process. We were kind of waiting to hear back when the game was going to be, whether it was Saturday or Sunday. Now it's Sunday at 1, so now our plans are kind of in place with our installation. We're kind of just in our normal routine in terms of the work week.

Q: And then for you guys, I'm talking personnel-wise, do you just expect to, hey, you know, we're already playing enough young guys. A lot of young guys, our quarterback's a rookie, our left tackle's a rookie. Do you just continue to play it as you have the past few weeks?

KAFKA: Yeah, that's the plan. That's the plan right now.