Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: Who's not going to be out there today?

DABOLL: People who aren't out there are rehabbing and everybody else will be ready to go.

Q: Are you guys making any moves today or saving all that for tomorrow?

DABOLL: Tomorrow.

Q: Where do you stand on your tight end room? Like how do you feel about it?

DABOLL: I think they've all done a nice job, working hard, getting better, good group.

Q: It would seem from the outside there's some tough decisions that are going to have to be made in that room in particular.

DABOLL: Well, I'd say there's tough decisions for every position on a team. That's why this time of year is tough. A lot of tough decisions to make and can only keep a certain amount.

Q: Does the practice squad rule and the IR rule help at this time of year piecing things together?

DABOLL: Well, the number is an advantage, but you never know what's going to happen. If you release a guy, could they get claimed? Like those are all conversations we're going to have in the next day, so you try to strategize, but it's similar to the draft. You don't know who could get claimed, who couldn't get claimed. Not a lot of people do get claimed. I think there's roughly 1,185 that get released. Take a look at how many people have gotten claimed over the last four or five years at each position, but it only takes one team to like a guy.

Q: Does that factor in when you're deciding between two guys? Like if they're kind of equal but one is more likely to get claimed?

DABOLL: I would say for us, for the coaching staff, there's more, 'This is who we believe earned the roster spot.' And then there's other discussions that could be had because I'd say (general manager) Joe (Schoen) and his staff know the entire league. They're looking at the entire league, they've been studying tape of all the preseason games, where the coaches are more locked in on our team and schemes and improving guys fundamentals and things like that.

Q: During your process of being an assistant coach, coordinator, head coach, I'm sure there's a change of how involved you are. For you guys this year, you put so much work into the roster going all the way back to evaluating last year. Is the roster very close to what you anticipated? Do you play the games of chance of what things will look like in August?

DABOLL: You know, we just come out here, we practice. We evaluate the tape of the players practicing and then their performances in the preseason, how they are in the meeting rooms, how they're picking up the system, what kind of teammate they are and that's where our focus is and then trying to build the best team we can. That's how we talk as a coaching staff.

Q: In year four, do you feel like when you take over in year one maybe you're more active on the waiver claim adding from other teams whereas now the priorities are to keep your guys in-house?

DABOLL: I'd say every year is different (in terms of) the conversations you have and the people that are out there. Again, our personal staff has been very busy watching other players on other teams as we're preparing for our practices and our fundamentals. Every year is different. You like a lot of the guys, you wish you could keep all of them that are out here working hard and put everything into it. Again, the other part of it is you're always trying to improve your football team so if there's people out there that the personnel department is looking at, then these next couple days, they might give them to a coach to take a look at and come together and have a conversation. That happens every year. I wouldn't say it's any different from one to two, to three, to four or however many years you do it. Every year, it's new year and all your trying to do is put the best team out there.

Q: Your Week 1 opponent just solved their biggest problem with (Washington Commanders wide receiver) Terry (McLaurin). Any reaction to that? When you guys have done any prework, whatever little you've done, did you always just assume he would be there?

DABOLL: We'll get to Washington here in the next few days relative to our conversation. We're focused on us. He's a heck of a player, dynamic, perimeter skill player. He makes a lot of plays, explosive, run after the catch, was very productive last year with (Washington Commanders quarterback) Jayden (Daniels), productive before that but even more so when he got No. 5 with him. Unbelievable person, I had a chance to go and have a pre-draft visit with him, and it was one of my favorite pre-draft visits that I had, with him, just the type of person that he is. He's a heck of a player.

Q: What goes into making it one of your favorite visits?

DABOLL: He was just a genuine guy. Very down to earth, very respectful, very smart, was productive there at Ohio State, just had a good vibe with him at the dinner that we had.

Q: (Defensive lineman) Elijah Chatman had a few snaps at fullback the other day. How much do you prioritize that versatility when you're looking at guys and making roster decisions? Also with other positions for special teams?

DABOLL: Special teams is huge, particularly for the players that don't start, and I'd say position flexibility comes into that as well. We're just trying to give some more roles out for players to be able to showcase what they can do. Again, when we evaluate the roster, we evaluate each position. There's a lot of things that go into it and our job is to try to put the best roster we can together.

Q: How much can somebody do something today to negatively or positively affect which side of the line they're on?

DABOLL: Yeah, it's getting down to the wire. There's still some discussions that have been had this morning, they'll be had tonight. We're getting pretty close here, so we'll have another practice here today and make our decision and unfortunately, do that stuff tomorrow.

Q: Is there a world that you can see keeping all four quarterbacks?

DABOLL: Yeah, look, there's a lot of discussions we've had, so we'll do what we think is best for our team.

Q: Going back to Chat, how do you try and measure out how many snaps a guy gets on both sides of the ball? Obviously it's not common but how do you measure what he can do on both sides?

DABOLL: Look, if you're not a starter, you got plenty of opportunities – whether it's special teams, that you're going to have to perform at and if you're not a starter on defense and we find a role for you on offense, that helps, but there's a lot of discussions that have taken place on a variety of players, I would say, on the entire team and we'll do what we think is best.

Q: Obviously, (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito) came as an undrafted free agent. How much has he proven to you that he can be a quality quarterback in this league?

DABOLL: Tommy's done everything we've asked him to do since he's been here.

Outside Linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux

Q: Chat (defensive lineman Elijah Chatman) obviously playing fullback. What is it like seeing another lineman, I guess, get in that role, hitting somebody from a different capacity?

THIBODEAUX: Opportunity, man. Love to see a guy who's been working his butt off to find his position on the team and he's just getting more and more opportunities.

Q: How much have you learned in terms of this kind of limbo week, the week after the preseason? I don't know about you, but no one wants to talk about Washington yet. You're just kind of focusing on yourselves. What is it like for you?

THIBODEAUX: Man, I'm talking about Washington (laughs). No, I'm super excited though, I think this is, I call it like zero week, where it's just time to grind. You kind of find what you're made of. You fine-tune all the things. You figure out what you need to get better at. In the next, now it's probably 12 days or whatever, but you just keep working. This is definitely the time to keep building on the foundation from training camp and preseason.

Q: Do things feel different for you now going into this year, maybe than your other years here with the Giants? How does the team feel?

THIBODEAUX: Super excited. I mean, this is the first week. Everybody's first part of the season is always exciting. So, we just want to kind of keep that momentum.

Q: When the offense scores 30 points a game in the preseason, I know it's the preseason, but all your career here, it's been a struggle to score. Does that give the defensive fire that you might be pass rushing up?

THIBODEAUX: Definitely, definitely. When you put up points and you go up in the first half, that's more opportunities to pass rush. So, we're licking our chops. We're excited.

Q: Obviously the other side of the ball, but you drafted the year before (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito) got here. Just regardless of what happens tomorrow, can you talk about what it's been like watching the Tommy DeVito experience here?

THIBODEAUX: It was dope. Him coming in when he did and winning those games definitely brought some fire to the team. Super grateful and excited for his journey and excited to have been a part of it.

Q: When you did the wrestling in the offseason, I'm curious, how long did it take you to kind of master some of those techniques?

THIBODEAUX: Well, I wouldn't say anything is mastered, but I would definitely say it took me about a month to start to hone in on the technique, and then now it's taken another month to kind of translate it to football.

Q: Have you been able to see it kind of, like, translate it into everything?

THIBODEAUX: Yeah, definitely. And my movements, my techniques, my energy, for sure.

Q: Who recommended that to you?

THIBODEAUX: Nobody. I just kind of thought of it on my own.

Q: What is the, I don't know if you want to pick a number, I'm going to pick a number. Could this be a top five defense, a top three defense? Like, how do you look at the ceiling for this defense?

THIBODEAUX: For the whole team, you know, we're trying to win the Super Bowl. So, I think from the coaching staff, from the front office all the way down, I think we are all steams ahead on winning the Super Bowl. So, super excited, super grateful for the opportunity. We're just going to keep working, taking it one day, one week, one game at a time.

Q: When you guys are going up against each other in practice, it's one thing. But when the pass rush has the success that it did against the Jets, did that make you, all three of you guys, or the whole group of you up front, kind of look around and be like, 'Man, we can be something really special this year if we put our minds to it.' Something better?

THIBODEAUX: Yeah. I mean, really all through camp. I think the excitement, the energy is there because we all got personal goals. And I think the more we continue to gel together and face other teams and go through these battles and these trials and tribulations, we're going to continue to grow.

Q: Like you said a minute ago, it's preseason, it's optimism time, it's the fun season. Do you feel like what you just said, winning the Super Bowl is more realistic or making a deep playoff run is more realistic at this time this year than years past? Or is that how you feel at this point in time?

THIBODEAUX: Yeah, I feel like I'm on a winning team and we're a winning team every year. But obviously, the roster is different, the coaching staff is different, the energy is different. It's a new year. No year is the same in the NFL. So, I'm super excited about this one.

Q: I know you said you came up with wrestling on your own, but what did you see that made you think that that could translate?

THIBODEAUX: Making tackles. That's really it. There's nothing really super deep about it. I mean, wrestlers literally tackle people to the ground, like that's the whole goal. So, it's like just learning, just seeing that the part of my game that I wanted to elevate was the finish. And that's kind of the start to a wrestling match.

Q: So, it's just kind of like just watching it?

THIBODEAUX: Yes, just watching it.

Q: Is that better for pass rush moves, the wrestling? Is that better for pass rush moves or is that better for getting running backs to the ground?

THIBODEAUX: Both, running backs, quarterbacks, anybody who has the ball. I think it's understanding leverage and just translating your eyes, your hips, your shoulders to the attack point.

Q: Did you hire a wrestling coach?

THIBODEAUX: Yes. I hired a wrestling coach. Let's just talk football though.

Wide Receiver Darius Slayton

Q. Could you guys as an offense have drawn it up any better than it went in the preseason? 30 points every game?

SLAYTON: Probably not, honestly. It went about as well as it could go.

Q. Especially with you having grown up with one quarterback here, but to see what a rookie quarterback can do in the preseason, what did you think of (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart)?

SLAYTON: He did a great job. He learned fast, came on fast, played well fast, operated well in every game he played in, stayed away from mistakes, pretty much all together. Stayed away from any mistakes so he played about as clean as you can play.

Q. When you play for a team and they draft a quarterback early like that, do you go back and watch any film yourself of Jaxson to see who you can potentially be working with? Do you wait until you see him on the field? What's your process and now that camp is almost over, did your thoughts change of him?

SLAYTON: No, I didn't go back and watch anything of him. I watch college football so I had seen a couple Ole Miss games, or I've seen him play here and there, but for the most part I try to base my first opinion off what I see when we get out here because ultimately I feel like college is different than the NFL so I try to wait and save my first opinions for when they first get out there but he's definitely been impressive so far.

Q. What was your first opinion?

SLAYTON: I feel like at first, it's kind of impossible to show up day one and know everything so you look for flashes and I think he made some throws pretty early on where it was like, 'All right, he has an arm on him.' I think that was kind of the first thing that flashed for me.

Q. You've talked candidly about how hard this offense is to learn or grasp fully. Have you seen that growth from (wide receiver) Malik Nabers entering his second year? What could it be now in year two?

SLAYTON: I think he's definitely done a good job of learning, but I think he's grown probably mostly in ways that are outside the game. I think he's grown a lot in his routine, his habits and trying to lead when he can. He's grown a lot in those areas which are some of the most important ones.

Q. You've talked from the beginning of when (quarterback Russell Wilson) Russ was getting here about the deep ball etc. Now that you've spent a lot of time with him, is there anything you've learned that you didn't know or wanted to know about him?

SLAYTON: I think he's disgustingly consistent. He's so consistent like it's almost nasty. It's like how is this possible? I think that's probably the number one thing. You see somebody from afar, I feel like he's always had this persona of being a positive person, but I feel there's a lot of people that just have a good day on camera and that's kind of the perception we all walk away from them with, but at some point, every day at 7:00 am, there's somebody smiling telling you, 'Good morning,' it's like you're just wired this way. I think that carries over to the way he plays football and why he's so consistent with his throws and his accuracy and things like that. I think that's just his life. He's just a consistent human being.

Q. What's it like to see and catch a moon ball compared to other deep balls?

SLAYTON: I'd say it's like catching a beach ball. It feels like you can't miss because wherever you're running, it doesn't feel like you're running to the ball, it feels like the ball is flying to you if that makes sense. You just run and kind of 'poof' right there so it's pretty nice.

Q. Can you talk about what it's been like playing with (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito) and what he means to you and this team?

SLAYTON: It's been awesome. I kind of feel like I've been like in a cameo of like The Sopranos or something like that, but it's been awesome to have him around, be able to see a local Jersey kid and the community rally around him and him being able to have the success that he's had here and it's been awesome to witness somebody in real time get that type of opportunity where they're from.

Q. Back to Russ. (Wide receiver) Jalin Hyatt talked about how he gets a text from him every day about motivation and that kind of thing. Is there anything between you guys that you can share that he's taken to you?

SLAYTON: Nothing specific that I can think of, but it's always encouragement. It's always encouragement and I feel like he has his little buzzes for whoever he's talking to. Something he might say to me would probably be different from Jalin, different from Malik, (wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson) or what have you but it's always something, again, like I said just very positive person so something encouraging, something to jumpstart your day or maybe to pick you up if you've had a bad day.

Q. You've gotten a chance to see the secondary with (cornerback Paulson) Adebo and (safety Jevón) Holland. What have they brought to the secondary?

SLAYTON: I think Holland's brought great range. He gets sideline to sideline, gets down and tackles. I feel like he's kind of everything you'd want in a safety type of deal and Adebo's kind of a little bit of your modern press man-to-man corner – a little bit bigger guy, does well at the line. I think the addition of both of them would be good from our secondary.

Q. You've personally been here from the beginning and what it represents. I imagine it's a different chapter now, you signed in the offseason, this is your home. What are your goals? Are you feeling any differently going into this season compared to the last couple of years?

SLAYTON: Yeah, I think right now, goal No. 1 Is to try to build off this offensive momentum. Hopefully, if we can build off this offensive momentum and score like we scored in the preseason, I think we all know what our defensive front's going to be able to do if we can get ahead in games and something like that is motivating, but I also feel like we're very capable. We have a very good receiver room, we have four good quarterbacks, our offensive line is playing the best they've played since I've been here both in the run and the pass. I think that it's kind of at that point now where we have to go and do it. I think we've got the tools, we got the pieces and it's so far been pretty good, as far as the preseason goes but it's time to roll that into the regular season.

Q. Do you get to a point where you don't want to talk about all the things that are going well because you've been here when just when you think things are going well…? Do you think let's not get too excited, let's get out there Week 1 and see what happens?

SLAYTON: I think it's important to roll off the positivity, to use that positivity, but also at the same time understand that real football's coming, regular season's coming, and still preparing like it did all go bad. I think that's the idea is using the positivity as fuel but preparing as if it went terribly and we got to get it together and we got to start fast. That's the mentality I'd take.

Guard Jon Runyan

Q: How do you feel like the offensive line came out of the preseason?

RUNYAN: I think we really started to develop the identity and brand that we wanted to put on display. We're building from last year, with returning basically all the guys that we had from last year, continuing to get comfortable and develop that culture we have as an offensive line going forward. I feel like I really like where we're at all across the board with our veteran leadership, our young guys, and our coaching staff are all really pulling in the right direction. I feel like we had a good training camp, good preseason, but it doesn't really mean a thing until week one against Washington. We're all super excited to get going and prove who we are.

Q: How would you describe that brand? I think you said 'brand and identity' of the offensive line, or whatever the words you used there. How would you define that?

RUNYAN: I think we just want to be, kind of what (head coach Brian Daboll) Dabs talks about all the time – smart, tough, dependable. We really want to be the heartbeat of this team and this offensive unit, both sides of the ball – offensive and defensive line. I think we're one of the most veteran positions on this team. We've got a lot of great players, and I just feel like this offensive line unit has the chance of being one of the best in the league. I feel like we've been proving that to ourselves each day in training camp. We're all really excited to get going coming up against Washington.

Q: You've proven yourself in this league to this point, individually. This week is always that weird week, right? It's between the end of the preseason and the start of regular season. As a veteran, moving forward now, how do you challenge yourself on a daily basis, and obviously during a game week, to be better than what you were the day before? Do you lay out a plan for yourself? Here's what I've got to work on today, here's what I'm going to do tomorrow. Or is it just within that structure of the practice?

RUNYAN: It's a little mixture of both. I feel in myself, during this time, I'm just focusing on the little things I see myself, not focusing on completely but trying to keep reiterating small things to myself. That's an individual period, it's carrying it over to team, and watching myself in practices, and always trying to think of one small thing that I can focus on and get better at each day. I feel like I've been doing that this training camp, and I'm starting to feel really good and comfortable with myself and this offensive line as a whole, and the five guys we have out there. It's really kind of a week-to-week basis things, what I'm seeing in the practice or the game, and what to expect against whichever opponent we're playing going forward. At this point, not necessarily focused on Washington right now, just kind of keep building on what I can do to get myself better and our offensive line better.

Q: What have you seen from (tackle) Andrew (Thomas) since he's been activated?

RUNYAN: I think he was out doing individual periods. He's getting there. He's probably one of the most valuable pieces of our entire team, a cornerstone of this franchise right now. Getting him back out there, it's a little jolt to the guys. I'm excited to see our leader and captain out there. Whenever he's ready, we'll welcome him back with open arms.

Q: Do you feel like you'll be able to just slide him in? As much as he's played and whatnot, do you feel like he's the kind of guy you could just slide in after not having him all training camp?

RUNYAN: I'd like to hope so, for sure.

Q: So would the fans…

RUNYAN: He was awesome to play with the first few weeks I had him and made my life a lot easier. Whenever he's ready, glad to have him back, but I don't necessarily feel like there's any hurry to rush him out there early in the season. I feel comfortable with this offensive line, where this team and our defense is heading. I just want him to be 100% out there, both physically and mentally, before he goes out there trying to push him. That's his decision, and he's going to deal with it how he does.

Q: How would you assess how (guard) Evan's (Neal) done in preseason adjusting?

RUNYAN: It's a big transition. Every position on the offensive line, center to guard and guard to tackle, they're all completely different positions. I know from the outside, they kind of all look super similar, but a lot of players have gone through it. I went through it when I was coming into the league. Went from guard to tackle. It's a different world. He's been doing a great job. He's such a big body. He understands you get your feet in front of the guy. It's a little different from tackle. You can't really run people up the field. He's got the frame, he's got the build. He's got the strength to be in there and throw his body around. He's a fantastic run blocker. Bigger bodies on the inside, but you've got to stay in front of the guys. It's tougher to stay in front of the guys on the inside because you've got to square them up and don't give up too much pressure. He's been doing a good job. I'm looking forward to him developing and keep getting there. There definitely is something there, and I'm excited to see him keep working at it. It's tough to make a position change just over a training camp, but I think he's been doing a good job so far. I'm excited to see how he continues to develop with it.

Q: How long did it take you to get comfortable when you made that change?

RUNYAN: I wouldn't necessarily say I felt comfortable after one full training camp my rookie year. Even my rookie year, I was our scout team center, so I moved all the way from tackle to training camp, mainly guard, and then once we got into the season, I was a scout team center. Being thrown around, I really don't even think I felt good at guard in my second training camp in the league. My first start was week two at guard, so I'm still really trying to feel it out. I really feel comfortable now, obviously. I feel like left guard is my home, and I feel comfortable there. Each position is like a different island. Center, you have to be able to work both sides, left and right. Guard is from a tackle's mindset, a different mentality. With tackle, you can get a lot deeper, run the defensive end up the field and by around ten yards. With guard, you've got to square guys up, dig in the ground and fight, and not get pushed back in the quarterback. They're all different and unique in their own ways.

Q: (Offensive lineman) James Hudson, what did you think of his camp, how he's played next to you for a while? He's a pretty important guy here…

RUNYAN: I think bringing him in here was really important. He's done a really good job. He has the versatility. When he was in Cleveland, he played left and right tackle, and he (brought) that here. He brings a different mindset…

Q: Kind of like an edge?

RUNYAN: Yeah, a good edge, physical player. Extremely twitchy as well. Fun playing (with) him. I played with him in college as well for a couple of years. Getting back to that with him, it's just cool. Those moments when you grew up playing with someone, whether that was in high school or college. Now you guys are both living out your dream together and you share that together. It's been really awesome playing next to him and feeling that connection we have. He's been great. He's been that kind of tone checker for us at tackle and he's doing well.