Defensive Coordinator Dennard Wilson

Q: Well, your cornerback battles have been looking pretty good so far. What are you seeing from (cornerback Paulson) Adebo, (cornerback Colton) Hood, (cornerback Greg) Newsome, and (cornerback Deonte) Banks just right now at this point?

DENNARD WILSON: Right now, I see a bunch of young men trying to get better. Every day they're going out there and they're competing against our offense. You've seen them in the games that we had in the preseason and in the preseason practice. They're coming out there and trying to detail their work. Right now, everybody's fighting to play, and I like where they're all at.

Q: Do you want two guys who play every snap come week one, or do you see a situation where you rotate a third guy in?

DENNARD WILSON: We're not there right now. Like I said, we're still in training camp. Everything hasn't been finalized. Guys are out there competing, and they're doing the best they can.

Q: Tae (Banks) has had his ups and downs before you got here. This year it seems like, this summer I should say specifically, it seems like it's been pretty promising for him and really promising in that game against Miami. What have you seen that's maybe different from what you watched maybe on film evaluating him coming in, and why does your defense seem to be bringing the most out of him?

DENNARD WILSON: Well, I think he just has belief in himself right now. He has a good group of DB coaches in that room that believe in him. The players believe in him, and he's playing with confidence. He's out there, he's making the plays he's supposed to make. He's detailed on his assignments, being where he's supposed to be, and that's giving him an opportunity to make plays. As long as he keeps doing that, he'll continue to get better.

Q: How does somebody at that position regain confidence after seemingly losing it for a little while? I mean, is it a coaching thing? Is it a production thing, just a combination of everything?

DENNARD WILSON: I think it's a combination of everything. Just like anybody in life, if you believe in somebody and you have a group of people believing in a player, or if you have your own kids and you believe in your kids, they come out more inspired. It's a little bit of that, and he's taking the personal pride to play better, to be better on the field, to be more consistent. It's a little bit of both, but I give the kudos to the young man. He's really doing a great job of just trying to be the best version of himself.

Q: What do you like about (defensive lineman) Chauncey Golston's skillset that allows you to move him around and also play on the front line a little bit?

DENNARD WILSON: Just watching Chauncey through the years, he's a very versatile defensive player. For us, we look at our defense as positionless. The more you can do, the more opportunities you get to play. And Chauncey's a very consistent player. He plays with great technique and detail, and you see it every day. Chauncey's just like some of the other guys; we can move him around and put him in different spots.

Q: Do you like this time of year to kind of experiment with some of the guys you have to see what you can get away with, what you might be able to use at some point, game plan specifics, stuff like that?

DENNARD WILSON: Yeah, I mean even with some disguises and everything else, you push it to the brink so they can have trust in it, and even with players. But we're trying to see what they can do, what they do well, who's the best 11, who's the best 13, or whatever, to line up and play. We give everybody a fair opportunity, and if you're not a starter coming out on that first 11, we still consider you a starter because at some point you're going to play.

Q: What do you like in (inside linebacker) Tremaine Edmunds as a leader? Obviously, he's the play caller for you, the green dot guy. What do you like in that perspective?

DENNARD WILSON: He holds everybody accountable. He's vocal on the field. He brings a toughness, and he also brings a calmness to the defense. He's a very intelligent player. He can make all the adjustments, and then when he lines up and plays, he runs and hits. Everything that he does in a pass game is good for us. He takes over the middle of the field because of height and size and instincts. We're glad we have him, and we love that he's here.

Q: What did you know about him before?

DENNARD WILSON: The same things.

Q: Did you hear from other people?

DENNARD WILSON: I followed him throughout his career. I remember when he came out. I remember when he was in Buffalo, what he did in Chicago. There are coaches that I'm familiar with on that staff, players as well. He's been a consistent player throughout his career, and we hope that consistency is an everyday thing going forward and when we line up and play the first game to the last one.

Q: What does that length that he (Edmunds) has and (inside linebacker) Arvell (Reese) have allow you to do when they're clogging up the lanes?

DENNARD WILSON: Some of the play-action passes, it's hard for quarterbacks to throw it over top of them, especially when their eyes are right. When they get their depth, they're long. They're big guys. So, it just clogs their windows. Both of them are very athletic in their zone drops. They do a great job of matching and taking windows away, and then ultimately, they have the athleticism to break on the ball. They have a unique trait or unique skillset, and it's good for the New York Giants.

Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Chris Horton

CHRIS HORTON: Good to see everyone today. I'd like to start off by saying I've been very pleased with the group, what they've done, the direction they're going. It's been fun to watch over the last couple weeks and just watching the progress that's been made from Week 1 to Week 2. These guys are trying to do everything right from an execution standpoint, from a fundamental standpoint, from a technique standpoint. And when it's not right, we go back into the meeting room, and we do our best to get it right for the next day. Questions?

Q: Not to make a broad stroke, but there are a lot of special teams coordinators around the league who kind of sit on their hands this week and wait to see what cut down day looks like because they're not sure what the head coach – how much the head coach will invest in what you've got. I would imagine that with (Head Coach) John Harbaugh, you're not worried about him putting an investment in your group as well around cut down day…

CHRIS HORTON: You know, I think that's one thing I don't necessarily think about. I think about the guys that are in the room, the guys that are on the field, the guys that are executing. Harbs (Head Coach John Harbaugh) and (Senior Vice President and General Manager) Joe (Schoen) will take care of the guys that need to be here. I think for me and my job is to voice my opinion and my expression of, 'Hey, these guys, these are some guys that are doing well, here's what we think.' But at the end of the day, those two guys will make the decision and we're going to roll with whatever we've got.

Q: But you feel like you're heard. I've talked to some special teams coaches that sometimes feel like it's – when they show up on Monday, they get the guys that are here. It's like you have a little bit more of an influence.

CHRIS HORTON: I mean, we're talking about our head coach, right? I think no one understands the importance of special teams more than our head coach. So, I'm very appreciative of that, for sure, I'll tell you that. But I'm excited, and these guys – there's still a lot more football left, there's still a lot more practices. We go out here, we play good football.

Q: Who are some of the guys that have stood out?

CHRIS HORTON: It's just been a variety of guys, right? It's been a different guy from week to week, but all these guys are putting in work. All these guys are gaining trust and just working the fundamentals and going out there and just competing. That's really what we want to see as we continue to move forward.

Q: What have you made of (kicker Dominic) Zvada's progression throughout training camp?

CHRIS HORTON: It's been tremendous. You just think about when he first got here, where he started, how he developed. Just working with (punter) Jordan (Stout), just making sure the ball placement – again, I kind of talked about this the last time I was up here, but about just ball placement and is everything right. Because the operation is very important to having a successful kick. But for him, he's done a good job. He's done everything we've asked.

Q: Do you have to take sort of a deep breath before deciding if you want to keep a rookie kicker for the season?

CHRIS HORTON: I don't think I have to take a deep breath. I think we've got two guys in this building that have performed very well. Two guys that we believe in, two guys that we know that whoever wins that job, whoever we put out there, will be the person, will be the right guy for this team.

Q: What have you seen from (wide receiver) Braxton (Berrios) that shows you he still has something at returner?

CHRIS HORTON: In the return game, it starts with just fielding the ball, right? That's the most important thing. He's a clean catcher. That's first and foremost. And anything we get after that is a plus. He can still run. He can still make guys miss. We've seen that in the preseason games. So, that's the first thing we look at. It's not – it's the body of work of what he's done in the past. And then when you get him here, you get him out there on the field, you put him in games, and he's still doing the same things.

Q: One of the guys you work with a little bit is (wide receiver) Calvin Austin (III). (Does) your heart break for him a little bit today?

CHRIS HORTON: I'm not going to speculate on anything like that, but anytime you see a player go down, your heart feels for those guys because you know how much they've invested into the game.

Q: What do you look at as your options in that punt return game in regard to a returner?

CHRIS HORTON: I think we've got a variety of guys that we can throw back there. Again, it just starts with who do you feel most comfortable with fielding the ball, catching the ball, and then just getting the ball and going vertical. Who can make guys miss. Those are some things we look at, but there are a bunch of guys in the room that can go out there and that have been good punt returners.

Q: Nobody wants to talk about the long snapper until he makes a mistake. You've got a rookie in there and he's essentially been in there from day one since he got here. What do you like about him as a rookie, and why has he had the success that he's had?

CHRIS HORTON: It started in college. When you go out, you work these guys out, you try to figure out, 'Okay, who's going to snap the ball the way we want the ball snapped,' 'Who's going to be accurate?' Those are the first things we look at, and then we talk about our punt protection. Who's going to be able to move and set and block people the way we want people blocked. It wasn't easy, and it's not going to be easy for him, but he's taken on the challenge. He's gotten better week to week, and when the pads came on and we went down to Miami – we get another team actually rushing us, he held his own, and that's what we're going to expect. But you're exactly right, no one notices him until that ball's rolled back there, it's on the ground, or that snaps not where it's supposed to be.

Q: (Running back) Tyrone Tracy (Jr.) hasn't played a lot of special teams the first two years, but obviously you're mixing him in. What have you seen from him on those units?

CHRIS HORTON: You just see a guy that, he's got the want to, he's got the right attitude, and he wants to go out there and he wants to do whatever he's got to do to help the team. So, we're looking for, 'Okay, where could he best fit to help this team?' And there are a lot of different positions that we practice him at, we play him at. He's a good kick returner, he's got some value there, he's done it in the past. He's played a little bit. He's played enough to give me confidence that, you know what, if I put him out there, he can go have some success.

Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy

Q: Where is (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) in his development?

MATT NAGY: I would say, you look back at a week ago or two weeks ago when we talked here, it's definitely a lot better, which is expected. He's growing, he's confident, he's in a place where I think each day his composure, his competitiveness, confidence in what we're doing is growing and I think you saw that, probably in Miami was when it really started jumping out. You get a new defense, some different looks. He's really executing well, and so that part, that growth is key to have. And I think every single day, almost daily, he's getting better and better, and that's the exciting part as a coach.

Q: How much pressure is there on the play caller for a second-year quarterback who's being asked to take a second-year leap?

MATT NAGY: Yeah, it's a lot of pressure because you want to make sure that you put him and the rest of the offense in the best position possible to score, and there's going to be some good play calls and there's going to be some bad play calls. And we need to work together and make sure that we're understanding when a play goes the wrong way, how do you fix it and why. So, that's just that daily, constant communication. We've had two good games now to be able to talk through adjustments within the game. I think that part's good, but I want to be able to put him in the best situation possible between the staff and our teammates, and then there's going to be times where, like that touchdown pass he had in week one, right? The play wasn't open, and so he turned it into a scramble and a beautiful, spectacular play. That's rare, what he did, and so he made that look like a good play call in the newspaper, but really the play call per se didn't work.

Q: How do you know, when do you know when a young quarterback has it? When is the guy the real deal?

MATT NAGY: I would say you've got to win, you've got to see it within more than just one year. You'll know when you go into it, do you know if the guy has the it factor, some of the intangibles, you can know that right away as you get into the first several months. I saw that right away with this kid, with Jaxson in OTA's. I didn't really know him that well when he came out, but when I got here and got to know him, I knew within probably two weeks of the person part of it that he had what is needed. Then you start seeing his competitiveness and where he's at, he's so competitive that he wants to be perfect, and there's times right now where if we have eight good plays and two bad plays, those two bad plays can't affect the next ten plays. He's still young, he's 23 years old, so him understanding that sometimes that's going to happen. And I think that's what I've seen the most here from the start of training camp until today, his growth and maturity in that part has been great. Now we've got to take it to the season and see how it goes during the year.

Q: Does he still ask you even now about (Kansas City Chiefs quarterback) Patrick (Mahomes)?

MATT NAGY: Not much, he did early on, just trying to understand some of the things within this offense that we're going to do, which I think is more than fair. Most quarterbacks will ask those questions, but we want to make it real clear from the beginning that Jaxson's going to be Jaxson, and I think that's very, very important for him to know and for us to know as coaches. Whatever your strengths are, we better maximize that, and he's got a hell of a lot of strengths.

Q: What will fans notice about your offense this season?

MATT NAGY: Well, I would just say wait and see. I'm not going to get into a whole lot of the scheme part of it, but I think it's going to be exciting. I think it's going to be fun. We need to be able to be complementary, but we're very optimistic on how this thing's going to go. Because of how OTA's has transformed into training camp and training camp how it's going right now, we feel really good. But now you've got to be able to do it when it matters most.

Q: What did you see on that deep ball to (wide receiver Darnell) Mooney? What did you see from Jaxson in that moment?

MATT NAGY: Well, I like the fact that he gave him time to adjust. So, when that ball was in the air, it was so high that when Moon (Mooney) was running, he actually had to adjust and turn back over his right shoulder. So, he put enough air on it for him to adjust. We talk a lot, man. When guys are covered, they're uncovered. That's a mentality. And he wasn't wide open, but he threw him open. So, just being able to have that trust factor, which as we go through this offense right now, for Jaxson, that's the other part too I would tell you is his trust is growing week by week with what we're doing. And when you see that as a coach and you understand the trust that he has, he gives feedback to us, and then we're able to in turn work together to do what he does best. So, that's a great example of being able to take a shot and take advantage of it with a completion.

Q: Two weeks ago, is that something maybe that he probably wouldn't have done because he's still kind of learning the intricacies?

MATT NAGY: Yeah. And we were also, like I said, we were probably halfway through, maybe just past halfway through the installs. We're now through all of them. And so, what's happened now is they're able to kind of see the foundation of this offense and where that starts. But now we also start getting into being able to put some little different factors into it and change some things up because they know the foundation. Now we can start saying, okay, we see now what you do well. And so, now we want to be able to kind of put it all together and make it make sense that ultimately they can play fast.

Q: Are you going to be able to find a role for (wide receiver) Malik Nabers?

MATT NAGY: We'll see. I know this much, being out there on the field, having him out there and seeing what he's able to do is really cool as a play caller. And you have him out there. We're going to continue to just take it day by day with him. And I sure as hell hope he's out there, but we're going to be prepared if he's not out there, we'll be prepared either way.

Q: Do you have anything to say about (wide receiver) Calvin (Austin)?

MATT NAGY: Yeah, I have no idea. I just know when you go through those moments right there, obviously you see what we all went through when we saw it. And you don't know what it is. But I'll just say this about Calvin Austin is, what an unbelievable kid, what a great person and a great talent. And so, I think naturally you always think the worst when something like that happens, but we don't know. I don't know. So, all I'm going to do is go in there and tell him I love him, and I appreciate everything about him and I hope he's okay and he's back at practice tomorrow.

Q: It looked serious. How big a blow would that be if you had to go forward without him?

MATT NAGY: Yeah, for sure. It would be a disservice to him if I said it wasn't a blow. It would be a blow. But I think the beautiful part of what Harbs (Head Coach John Harbaugh) has done with us as a staff and as a team, his message this whole time has been positivity of understanding that the next guy has got to step up and play. And everyone says that, but that's what's real. And so, we feel like we have a great amount of competition and depth here. And the next guy has got to do that. And so, if it does go that route, that's a part of football. It happens across the league and it sucks, but that's what's real. So, we've just got to be able to step up and adjust from it.

Q: Can you speak at all to, talking about kind of the next man up, just (wide receiver) Braxton (Berrios) and since he's been here what you've seen from him? He's probably one of the next guys up in that slot spot.

MATT NAGY: He's really done a great job. Braxton's been, he does everything right. He's been in a lot of different offenses. So, him coming in here, like most of them, some of the words were totally different from what he's done in the past. But he picked it up super fast. And one thing he's put on tape is he is at the right spot all the time, Braxton. He does a great job. So. we'll see. We'll see what happens, but Braxton's a great player.

Q: What about (wide receiver) Odell (Beckham Jr.)? Where does Odell stand in that competition?

MATT NAGY: Same thing. I would say, so Odell got here towards the end of OTA's and, I mean, really didn't know anything. He's just trying to get out here and physically show that he can make plays. And we all know who Odell was and what we want him to be. We get back here in training camp and every day he's getting more and more reps and he's starting to understand within our system. In the pass game, for instance, if we have certain concepts, he now knows why those concepts are paired together to make sense for certain routes in a concept. So, now he can play a little faster and let his physical skills really jump out to all of us and make plays. And so, I know he's super frustrated about that drop he had in the game the other day. We all know nine out of ten times he's going to catch that, but I like where he's at. The biggest thing with him, though, is just being able to really stay focused and locked in on the details of the specifics, whether it's a formation, a route depth, a conversion, a blocking assignment. To be a great wide receiver nowadays, you've got to be able to adjust post-snap and you've got to be able to know where to line up. And so that's a process. He's been very patient and I'm proud of where he's at.

Q: (Running back) Tyrone Tracy? When you're playing only a few snaps in the preseason, those plays can get magnified. How do you weigh, hey, he's had some bad plays versus he has a two-year resume?

MATT NAGY: Sure. His resume speaks for himself. It's tough when you have a block that you know you should go to and make the block, then the next week you have a fumble in the red zone. But one thing we're not going to do is, at the moment he knows it's not good. He understands that. That's common sense. But what are you going to do about it? So, you've got to be able to bounce back. He got the ball the very next play. And so, all we've told him, 'Listen, man, you've got to just step up, keep playing ball, we know who you are.' Just show him our confidence we have in him and see what he can do