Interim head coach Mike Kafka

KAFKA: Hey everybody, just real quick - we opened up the window for (cornerback) Art Green and (inside linebacker) Darius Muasau too. Just a little update on that for you.

Q: Did you get any time away from it? And if you did, I'm sure you didn't get 100% time away, what did you reflect back on maybe what you've done so far and what needs to be done moving forward?

KAFKA: Yes, to answer your first question, I did get some time. Took a few days there at the back end of it to watch my kids play floor hockey, indoor hockey, some sports. So, I was at some sporting events. That was awesome. So cool to watch them compete and have fun. Then yeah, I absolutely had some time to reflect and think about the first three weeks, think about kind of the future of it and what we wanted to get accomplished, whether that was a self-scout, which I spent a bulk of the time looking at offensively, defensively, special teams-wise, working with the coordinators on some self-scout stuff and just bouncing ideas off each other. So that was pretty cool and very productive. And it's cool to kind of see that come to life today in some of those meetings we had and had a nice little kind of walk through and talk through some of those ideas. So that's been a positive and really cool, just good energy in terms of coming back off the bye.

Q: This is very new to you, right? I mean, in this interim role, this is not very new to your roster as far as, you know, it's late in the season for them. It's earlier maybe for you in your mind because this is the start of something. I don't know if you would agree with that or not, but do you sense any kind of selling job you need to do with some of these players coming back after a late bye to focus on these last four games and not kind of wait till the end of the season kind of thing?

KAFKA: I don't sense that. I mean, if you're in our team meeting today, if you're in our walkthrough today and in individual meetings, you felt the energy and you felt the urgency for these guys to continue to improve and put together a great week of practice for Washington.

Q: With the late bye, with four weeks left, what is the message for these guys as they come back as far as what you want to accomplish the last four weeks?

KAFKA: You know, I think what the messaging has been is really just focusing on today, focusing on this week, not look ahead four weeks in the future, just focus on how we can improve. And then that's one of the great reasons why we had a great bye week is to evaluate all those things and evaluate our schemes, the play callers. Like, I did a deep dive into how I'm calling the games and where I can get better at, and it was cool to be really critical of the areas that I can get better at. So, coming with a great plan for the players, how they can improve, how we can get better, and then really all focus on Washington.

Q: What's the value of, I know a lot of guys are trying to compete for jobs, compete for roster spots, put good film out there. What's the value, at 2-11, for players of winning these games?

KAFKA: Regardless of the record, I mean, our focus and our vision is on Washington and how we can improve as a team, how we improve individually, and then as a group, and then as a team. So, again, our coordinators and our coaches have a really clear plan on how we want to do that, how we want to attack it. So now it's about bringing that to life and no better than our players having that opportunity and continuing to find ways for them to get better. I think as an NFL football player, you want to be able to maximize yourself, and that's what our challenge is as coaching staff, is to continue to maximize our players. So, putting them in a good position, continuing to have an aggressive mindset, and then attacking this week with great urgency.

Q: Twitter tells me you updated some practice windows, but other guys, last time we saw (running back) Tyrone Tracy, he was pretty banged up at the end of that game. (Outside linebacker) Kayvon Thibodeaux, do you expect those guys to be back on the practice field at all this week or before the end of the season?

KAFKA: Yeah, we'll see on both of those guys right now. They're just getting to rehab. Really, today is kind of one of their just kind of working out, getting through the walkthrough. Tomorrow, we'll have a better feel once we kind of see them in the training room today and tomorrow. So, I'll have a better feel tomorrow for you.

Q: What happened over the last week with Bryan Cox?

KAFKA: I'm not going to get into the details of what happened with B. Cox, just the same as I'm not going to get into the details of how we handle our players. Those are tough decisions, but I'm going to keep those in-house just out of respect for everybody. But, I mean, the one thing I will say is being in this job for the last few weeks, having to make some decisions and some of them have been very public. Many of them haven't been. I think what I've learned is how can we continue to put this team in the best position to win games. And that's what I'm evaluating. So, everything top to bottom, taking the time to do that, being very detailed, I would say just having a good pulse of what this team needs and understanding how I want to get that done and just having a clear message there. So, that's what we thought was best for the team. That's what I thought was best for the team. So, we went with it.

Q: What do you think, we're going to talk to him in a minute, so I'm curious, what do you think of the season (offensive lineman) Jermaine Eluemunor has had?

KAFKA: Yeah, really proud of Jermaine, being with him here for the last few years. His work ethic, his just intentionality in the meetings and then the production he's had on the field has just been super impressive to watch him go out there and play, play his butt off each play in the run game, in the pass game. He's up versus a bunch of different challenges this year in terms of pass rushers on the edge and he's stepped up every single time. So, I'm very proud of Jermaine.

Q: I'm just curious, when you said you self-scouted, just kind of how you call plays, just kind of what are some things you noticed as far as like during that observation you had?

KAFKA: Yeah, the tendencies, when I'm calling certain things, certain parts of the game, when I'm calling certain things or things that I'm not calling that I wish I would get to. I go back and look at the call sheets and see some of the things, like each game you have a call sheet and you kind of highlight the ones that we did call in that game and which ones we didn't call. So, I'm looking at call sheets saying, why didn't I ever get back to this play or this series of ideas. Just taking notes, looking at the notes from the post-game stuff and thoughts that we had after the game, things that we really liked that we wanted to get to. So, just being really critical of myself on things that our players do really well and how can we get to those things more? How can we get to some alternative things that complement it to give ourselves an advantage?

Q: Also, I know the Commanders, obviously they didn't play (Washington Commanders quarterback) Jayden (Daniels) the rest of the game that he could have played in. When you're looking at Washington, do you kind of prepare for both Jayden and (Commanders quarterback) Marcus Mariota, just because of how fluid that situation is?

KAFKA: Yeah, absolutely. You have to look at both. I think they both have a similar skill set. They're both able to run and throw and operate. Marcus is a veteran quarterback. I remember him from my time in Tennessee. We played together there for a hot minute for a couple weeks. But yeah, a lot of respect for both of those guys. And (Commanders offensive coordinator) Kliff (Kingsbury) does a great job with the offense. Yeah, so it's going to be a big challenge for us.

Q: Just curious, you've obviously been in this situation now as an interim head coach. I'm just curious, I know it probably seems like, I'm not sure if it seems long or if it seems like it just happened yesterday, but what are the challenges now that you're in this position to get things that you want done and the personalities that are involved? I would imagine it's just not as simple as, okay, I'm the head coach now, so I get to do it my way. So how hard is that to implement your way and how you see things in this role?

KAFKA: Yeah, I think what I know is that you open up lines of communication and collaborate with the great people we have here already. Sure, there's some things that if you feel like fits our team, it's going to help us win, those are some of the little things that you want to maybe tweak or change but just open up lines of communication across the board with really all the departments, communicating my vision, communicating how I see things happening, and then working with each other to get it cleaned up and fixed. So if there's problems and there's issues, then being able to be a problem solver and be an asset and clean those things up that I think need to get cleaned up. And then the things that are working really well, you build on that. I think there's just a lot of opportunity for growth across the board with our players, with our coaches, with our staff, how we can continue to grow and get better. And having this bye week really opened my eyes to some of those areas as best I can and in the amount of time I have to do that. Because, again, I come to the office, there's things you got to make sure you touch base with the players, the staff, but then also there's a game planning part. We have a game we have to play and getting that stuff organized. I'm lucky to have a great staff. I'm lucky to have a great group around me that can support me and kind of keep me on track. And then wherever I can, insert myself and put my fingerprint on it.

Q: The other thing would be a 44-year-old quarterback just signed with a practice squad in the NFL. Have you given up on that dream yourself?

KAFKA: Did that hit? I haven't seen it yet.

Q: (Quarterback Philip) Rivers signed to the practice squad in Indy. I'm curious, when you hear that, you know yourself, you know your body. I'm not comparing and contrasting, but could you imagine?

KAFKA: I know where you're going with this.

Q: Could you imagine a different world?

KAFKA: My time is over. That time is over. That time is over for me. But that's great for him. That's awesome. I hope he does great.

Q: I just had a real quick one since Indiana's been in the news lately. (Inside linebacker) Micah McFadden, is he up and running it looks like? And does he have any chance of coming back this year?

KAFKA: Yeah, I think he does have a chance. Don't know when. Don't have a timeline there yet, but I think he definitely has a chance. He's certainly walking around with his chest pumped out a little bit more these days.

Q: What would be the benefit, I guess, of getting him back on the field, even if it's just for a game or two at the end of this year?

KAFKA: Yeah, he's itching to get out there. And I know as soon as our training staff feels like it's appropriate, we'll get him out there. I know he's chomping at the bit to be out there with his teammates and contribute in any way possible.

Safety Jevón Holland

Q: First of all, how was your bye week? Did you kind of get away and relax a little bit?

HOLLAND: Yeah, it was great. Went down to sunny South Florida. Just took some time off, chilled, kicked it with some friends, family. It was a good time.

Q: For you, how do you as a veteran approach the last four weeks? Obviously, you guys want to end this losing streak, does anything change with the approach with the reset? Or is it still the same, focused on this week, take care of this and try to turn the tide a little bit?

HOLLAND: I think you just reemphasize being 1-0 in the week. That's starting off with recovery today, yesterday, getting back right from the bye week. Wednesday, Thursday, locking in on those days. Friday, detail some things up. Saturday, you should be all mental prep and then you want to go 1-0 on Sunday. I think it just stays the same in terms of just like a 1-0 mentality week by week. We can't really control anything that happened in the past anymore, so we just focus on the week ahead of us and try to go 1-0.

Q: I know (outside linebacker) Brian Burns is not in your position room, but just being around him as a teammate, what have you seen from him that makes him, one, such a good leader, and two, makes him so great on the field, just from what you've seen on that back end?

HOLLAND: I think he just does the things that take no talent. He does those things well. The effort to the ball, handling his process week in and week out, handling recovery and making sure that he's on the job. I think he just handles the simple things very well and that allows him to have a clear mind when he's out there playing. When you have a clear mind on the field, you're just reacting and playing your best, so I think that's what gives him the advantage.

Q: When you signed here, you talked about coming here, being part of a winning culture. I think that's every free agent when they go to a new place, one of the things they're weighing, besides the contract, is where can I go and win? It's the first time you have a say in where you can go and win. How much has this come as a surprise to you to be where you are, and how certain are you that you guys can get this fixed?

HOLLAND: I'm very certain that we can get this fixed. I mean, I feel like every year you go through different swings of adversity, and you have to fight those with other forms of distraction. But I think this year, regardless of how our record is, I feel like we've been in a lot of games and down to the wire. I'm confident that in these last four games, we're going to be able to exemplify that we can win those games when we're close and towards the end of the fourth quarter. Leading into next year and just focusing on us being our best in those dire situations, I'm very confident and I think still to this day that we have that ability to go out there and win. I just think that the cards didn't fall our way and that just happens. It's any given Sunday. So, I'm not discouraged or anything like that. I mean what I said when I first got here and I'm going to continue to stand by that.

Q: It's interesting what you said about being in the games. Is a loss a loss? Or when you go home at the end of the season, or even last week on your bye week, when you have perspective, is there more encouragement in the fact that you're in a lot of games? Or is 2-11 still 2-11?

HOLLAND: I mean, 2-11 is still tough, but when you watch the games, and especially playing in the games, there have been moments where I'm like, man, we were right there. You know what I mean? It's one or two plays that kind of gave the other team the advantage to go and get the dub. And those are lessons that we can learn from and that we're continuing to learn from. But yeah, a loss is a loss through and through. 2-11 is 2-11. We do have to win those games, but we are learning a lot from them and it's encouraging knowing that we're in the game and we can play with whatever team that we go against. We just have to figure out how to continue to put it together throughout the whole course of the game.

Q: Some of your teammates are probably going to be in your position that you were in last year. Four years with the team that drafted you, and then you move on into the open market and you sign with a new team. Can you just think back on that a little bit? Was this a tough time thinking about that last year? Am I going to be here? Am I going to be back? Have any of your teammates who might be in that situation asked you about what might be coming for them down the road?

HOLLAND: Are you talking about right now with four games left, that I'm thinking about it last year?

Q: No, no, I mean, I'm sure you're not thinking about it now. I'm assuming last year at this time you were closing out, you were getting ready to end one chapter and begin another chapter, which you've started with the Giants. Other guys in your locker room are probably going to be doing the same thing. Is that a difficult thing for an athlete to think about and maybe do you have some suggestions or recommendations for some of your teammates about what they might be headed into?

HOLLAND: Last year when I was (at) this point right now during the season with four games left, there was no thought of me going to another team. It was just the thought of me finishing out the season. And I feel like there's no one on this team that has that thought process of thinking about next year, where they're going to be at. Everybody's focused on where their feet are. When the offseason comes, I'll have all the advice that they need, but right now I don't (have) any advice for them because I don't think anybody is going to ask for that advice, for real.

Q: And that's a discipline that you believe athletes have? I always try to put myself in a situation of somebody, even though I'm certainly not a player like you are, and think, boy, I don't know where I'm going to be next year. Sometimes that just goes into your head even though you don't want it to. You're saying that you feel the discipline is such that you're thinking about this week, and the players mostly don't think about, I wonder where I'm going to be next year? They're too disciplined for that, you think?

HOLLAND: Yeah.

Q: That was a very disciplined final answer. Thank you.

HOLLAND: Yeah. That was the point.

Q: Why do wins matter when you're 2-11? Why does it matter to you guys to go out there on Sunday and win? I know it's about doing a job, I know you're a professional, but what is it about winning a game, what does that mean to you and to this team?

HOLLAND: I just hate losing. I'm a competitor, so winning is what I want to do. I don't want to lose. I don't care if it's for anything. I play the game for fun. I happen to get compensated for it, which is great for me and my family, but I play the game for fun, and I want to win because winning is fun. That's what winning means.

Q: Do you think that gets lost sometimes when all the focus is - I mean, look, everybody wants to win championships and win divisions and win a lot of games in this league. But when you get to a point, there's only a small group of people who are actually still playing for that this late in the season. Does it get lost sometimes? Do you have to remind yourself of why you play the game as a team, collectively, maybe not necessarily you as an individual?

HOLLAND: That's a good question. I don't necessarily think you have to remind people why we play the game and whatnot. I think the people who end up winning championships, they realize that looking at the championship game is not where your focus needs to be because you have to win the next game in order to get to the championship. So, if you just focus on the next game, then that's the only way that you can step forward and move forward throughout the postseason, late in the season, December football. If that answers your question? Because if you focus on trying to win championships, obviously that's the overall goal, but you can't get to the championship if you don't win the next game right in front of you. If you overlook the next game in front of you, then that's how teams take advantage of you. There have been plenty of times when a team has a bad record and then a really good team plays them and 'the bad team' beats the good team. And it's like, oh, these guys were overlooked, yada, yada, yada, but a lot of the time that's not the case. Teams are just focused on winning the next game regardless of their record.

Q: The last time you guys played Washington, the outside buildup was like a huge measuring test for the Giants against the NFC Championship Game participants. Is this a reminder for everybody that it's such a year-to-year league? Is it even a reminder for players that a team's fate can flip from one year to the next?

HOLLAND: Not really. No. I mean, it's the next game, so it's important. But I don't think it's - the 'outside buildup' is kind of what I was focused on in your question, and I feel like, I don't really care what the outside buildup is.

Q: I just meant Washington's fate of going from NFC Championship Game to, I don't know, I think they're 3-10 or whatever. It just shows you how much things can change from one year to the next?

HOLLAND: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, their quarterback went down, they had some things going on. Same with us, you know? Our quarterback had gone down a little bit, we've got some guys banged up, so, it happens like every year. You never know when it's going to happen, you've just kind of got to take the crookeds with the straights.

Offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor

Q: You have said that you feel like you're playing the best football of your career individually. How much would it mean to you just personally to make the Pro Bowl to get an honor like that when it's all said and done?

ELUEMUNOR: It would be cool. If you look at my career and the trajectory I've had. I got drafted to Baltimore. I got traded to New England after my third year. Well, during my third year there in the preseason. But if you look before that, I got cut, got signed to the p-squad, then got elevated, started a game, and then was on the active roster for a season in New England. I was inactive that entire 2019 season, or the majority of it. Then 2020 season was a COVID season, and I played and then didn't play, went on IR, came back, was a starter, but got benched, and then started the last couple games at left tackle, and then the year after that, signed in Miami in June, right before training camp, and then got cut midway through training camp because I just wasn't a fit there with the regiment they had there. And then I go to Jacksonville for two days, fly to Jacksonville, I'm with the O-line coach at 11, 12 a.m. in the morning, wake up, fly to Dallas for the preseason game, get back to Jacksonville, get cut, then literally within minutes of getting cut, fly to Las Vegas, signed with their active roster with (former Raiders head coach) Jon Gruden, and I'm there for three seasons. That first season I was there in '21, started a couple games, but then got benched because they just had guys that they wanted to play over me, which is how the NFL works, and then re-signed there for a minimum contract, and ended up starting a right tackle having to rotate the first couple games because they wanted to see if I was a good right tackle. And then the next year, re-signing there again, and starting to rotate with guys, and then finally getting to start the rest of the season and then signing here. And finally, being able to be the guy, but then last year I moved to left tackle because of injuries, and then now we're in the 2025 season where I'm able to stay at one position for the entire season. So, you know, there's been a lot of ups and downs throughout my entire career, but it just goes to show that you just put your head down and work, and you believe in yourself throughout everything you're going through then you can accomplish whatever you want to accomplish in this profession, and the only person that will stop you is you.

Q: Is there a balancing act in your mind? You have four games to go, and you don't have a contract for next year. Is it just as easy as saying, I'm just concerned about this next game, or would you say that you are concerned in some way, shape, or form about what comes next for you, and where are you going to be, those kind of things?

ELUEMUNOR: No, because I've been on one-year contracts ever since my second year in the league. So, every year for me has kind of been a proven deal, or a situation where I don't have anything guaranteed for the next season. This was my first long-term contract I signed, or multiple-year contract I signed since my rookie year. So, like I said, I've been on one-year contracts ever since 2018. So, for me it's kind of same old, same old, but it's cool because I'm playing my best ball right now. I'm confident. I feel great out there. I'm having a lot of fun. I think that's why my play has been the way it is. I don't really worry about the future. I just worry about the present and what I'm going through. I got four more games to just show this team that I can be part of the future, and just show the rest of the league that I believe I'm the best right tackle in the league. So, you know, it's just, it's been a fun season for me and the offensive line as a whole, and I'm just looking forward to the last four games.

Q: You said, you prove to this team and the league. What's the priority there? This team or the league?

ELUEMUNOR: Always starts with the team you're on. I can't control whatever people think about me, but as long as in this building, they think highly of me and the way I go out there and I play and prepare, and I do everything I can on this team, that's what matters most to me.

Q: Do you have any sense on what they think about you and moving forward, those kind of things?

ELUEMUNOR: I mean, I'm still starting. So, obviously if they believe that you're a starter, they think highly of you in this profession. And I know that because I've not always been a starter in my career. So, in order to be a starter, that means they trust you and I feel like I've done my job on a high level this year, along with (tackle Andrew Thomas) AT. So, I believe they think highly of me. My O-line coach does, and to me, that's all that matters.

Q: Now, do you think highly of them? You're 2-11, you know what I mean? And signing into a team that has been losing the last two years.

ELUEMUNOR: No, I mean, that's why I came here, because I want to be a part of the change. Like I said, last year was last year, but then if you really look at games this year, obviously we're 2-11, but a majority of those games, we were winning or we were dominating at the line of scrimmage. And for me, that's all I can control is how I do my job and how we do our job as a collective offensive line. And like I said, if you look at what I've done and what AT's done, (guard Greg Van Roten) GV, (center John Michael) Schmitz (Jr.), (guard Jon) Runyan (Jr.), as an offensive line, we've been one of the best in the league. So, we can't really controlled the wins and losses. We've controlled the way we play on a weekly basis, and I think that's been a high level.

Q: You detailed your personal journey in the league pretty well at the beginning. Just in terms of, out of any players that I've spoken to, you've been very in tune, since I met you, in terms of the personal versus the collective and the idea of I guess part of it is being an offensive lineman, you have to think about yourself personally, but you're always thinking of the collective. How do you balance that year-to-year, even game-to-game, the idea of you want to focus on your individual, but you also don't want to lose sight of what's going on in the bigger picture, and how does that balance kind of work into your success or maybe what you're not succeeding at as a team?

ELUEMUNOR: I'd say you have to be able to not think about the future in a sense, especially playing offensive line, because it's such a high-pressure position, being out there on the island at tackle. If you think about things that you can't control, then you're going to go out there and just lose the battle. This year, we've had a lot of great matchups out there, me and AT, (offensive lineman Marcus) Mbow, and for the most part, we've won those. But for me as an individual, it has been about on a weekly basis, how can I be the best me? How can I be the best version of myself? And how can I help this team win and put this team in a winning position? And that's just by going out there and locking people up and doing my job. And at the end of the season, I'll be where I want to be individually because of what I've been doing during the year. But I've been in this position multiple times now where you don't know what's going to happen next season and your play and the film you put out there can determine that. And sometimes I let it get to me and certain matchups I didn't perform how I needed to perform because I was thinking about the future. This year has been cool because I don't think about that at all. And obviously, there's four games left that's coming up, but I don't really think about that now. And I'm also not worried about it because I'm having a lot of fun this year. But I'm also doing what I need to do out there where when that comes, it will handle itself because of what I've been doing and what I've been able to accomplish this season.

Q: Players probably don't need a reminder of it, but it kind of is a reminder. When you guys played the Commanders the first time, it was like, oh, it's a measuring stick for the Giants against the NFC Championship game runner-up last year. And now here they are in a very similar position to you. This game kind of serves as a reminder for people that the NFL is a year-to-year league. Just because you're good one year doesn't mean you're going to be good the next year and vice versa. Just because you guys are having a tough year doesn't mean another tough year is coming next year.

ELUEMUNOR: No, 100%. I mean, I think you see that throughout the league. Like the Detroit Lions, they made the NFC Championship a couple years ago and (Detroit Lions head coach) Dan Campbell after that season said there may have been an only chance and they haven't been back since. (Cincinnati Bengals quarterback) Joe Burrow made the Super Bowl a couple years ago and people thought he's going to make this a seasonal thing and he hasn't been back since. You want to see what the Chiefs, they're 6-7 and they were in their dynasty, quote-unquote. So, it's really hard to win in this league on a yearly basis. It's really hard to be the team that everyone is looking towards as the standard. There's no standard in the NFL. There's teams that win and teams that lose and every year, every week is a new challenge, and you have to be ready to meet that challenge head-on and, obviously, losing sucks. You don't go out there to lose games. You go out there to win, and every team has lost games this year. There's no perfect team in the NFL. I mean, there won't be a perfect team in the NFL. It's hard to go 17-0, win Super Bowl without losing a game. So, I think every week you just have to look at yourself in the mirror and be like, what can we do better? What can we accomplish in this game? And how can we put ourselves in a better situation moving forward? These last four weeks we're going to try to accomplish that. Go out there, win these games and don't worry about the future. Just worry about the present. Put ourselves in the best situation moving forward.

Q: Has the closeness of this year's games been harder to swallow for you or easier than last year? Like, last year didn't feel like you guys were knocking on the door quite as much. Has 2-11 this year hit any different than 2-11 last year? And if so, is it harder or easier to swallow?

ELUEMUNOR: Yeah, 2-11 sucks, period. I mean, I'm not going to look at this record and be like, yeah, we're 2-11 now, we're 2-11 last year but it's different. No, it's not different. It's the same. We're 2-11. Like, you did things last year that got you to 2-11. We did things this year that got us to 2-11. I can say that our play is different. We're in close games, but we didn't finish those games. I'm not the type of cherry-pick at things and look at the positives. I'm a positive guy by nature, but at the same time we are 2-11 still. So, obviously there's a lot of things for us to improve as a team and me individually, but there's no cherry-picking at the record. I feel like that's kind of like a losing mentality to be like, oh yeah, let's look at this, look at that, no we're 2-11. We fight every single game. Every single game, this team puts their effort forward and effort is not a question. The want is not a question. It's just about us as a team just being better. Like I said, these last four games are huge for us because we win these next four games, we put ourselves in a great position going forward and put this franchise in a great position going forward.