Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: You kind of left it hanging out there, so I think you have to start here. Do you intend to start (quarterback) Russell Wilson this week?

DABOLL: Yes. Yep, and after a game, you know, it's an emotional game, it's a tough game. Didn't play particularly well, I would say, collectively, but in terms of making any of those decisions, really at any position or schematic changes, I'd like to do it with a clear head and watch the tape. Again, like I said yesterday, that game doesn't fall on Russell Wilson. We've got to do a better job collectively, coaching, playing, but Russ will be the starter.

Q: Was that even ever really a decision for you?

DABOLL: Well, again, it's right at the end of the game, so...

Q: I mean when you went back and watched it.

DABOLL: No, no, Russ will be the starter.

Q: What did you think of the offense when you went back and looked, like what did you see and what do you believe is the top culprit for the struggles?

DABOLL: Well, I'd say it was a collective effort. Again, we just we never got into a rhythm in the early part of the downs, which affected it. The line of scrimmage, there was a play here, a play there, a block here, a read there, that we just kept getting behind the sticks and could never get into a good enough rhythm. And then down in the red zone we had plenty of plays down there, it's a close game. It's a 14-6 game with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. Had two opportunities down there in the red zone, really low red zone and just didn't punch the ball in. So, have to do a better job in those areas. I'd say early down production, and that's everybody, and then red zone.

Q: Real quick, also I know we didn't get to this yesterday. Why did (punter) Jamie Gillan do the opening kickoff and what went into you going with (wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson) as a kick returner? Things we hadn't seen.

DABOLL: Yeah, I think Wan'Dale's good with the ball in his hands. We had a couple chances there if we could just sustain on a block a little bit longer. I think he's good with the ball in his hands. And then Jamie is good at some of those kicks with this new kickoff rule and where to put it. So, we've been working on that between Jamie and Graham (Gano) on kickoffs, particularly for that first game.

Q: What's the update on (inside linebacker) Micah McFadden?

DABOLL: Yeah, I'm gonna talk to the medical people. I'll have more on that for you tomorrow.

Q: They put an air cast on him. Do you have a feeling it could be (bad)?

DABOLL: I think he thought when he was out there laying on the ground, he thought he broke his leg. I know he didn't do that. But get some other things looked at here.

Q: What'd you think of the job that (cornerback Paulson) Adebo did, traveling pretty much with (Washington Commanders' wide receiver) Terry (McLaurin)?

DABOLL: Again, I thought he played well. Terry's a really good player, explosive offense, but you know that's something we've been working on as well. Thought he did a nice job throughout the entire game.

Q: How much of a difference does that make to have that guy? Obviously, (Dallas Cowboys' wide receiver) CeeDee (Lamb) is coming up and then probably 15 other great number one receivers. How much of a difference does it make to have that kind of guy for the defense?

DABOLL: Well, anytime you can have good players, I think it helps. Again, that's what we did for this week. Again, we'll see down the road once we get going on these other teams. But I thought he did a nice job in a number of areas for his first game for us.

Q: What'd you think of the edge rotation now that the snap counts are out? I think (outside linebacker Brian) Burns played like...

DABOLL: 48?

Q: Yeah, then (outside linebacker) Kayvon (Thibodeaux) played 50 and (outside linebacker) Abdul (Carter) played 30-something. What'd you think of that?

DABOLL: Abdul played 38 and then he was on our punt block team too. So, he had a total of 43. You want to rotate those guys, try to keep them as fresh as you can. We knew that Abdul was going to be on that punt team and again, just trying to keep those guys as fresh as we can with the packages that we have.

Q: So, you're saying, did you limit Abdul's snaps on defense because of the punt block role?

DABOLL: Well, he had 43 total snaps. Burns had 48 and I think Kayvon was what, low 50s or mid 50s. So again, we want to keep those guys as fresh as we can. I think they did a pretty good job relative to the roles. A couple things we can improve on in that area, but those three guys are going to play a lot. Try to balance out the numbers the best job you can so they can be as fresh as they can be.

Q: The punt on fourth and four from midfield, just what was the thought process there?

DABOLL: I thought we'd pin them down in there and have a chance to stop them and get the ball back.

Q: I wasn't going to ask this originally, but with that defensive outside linebacker rotation, there were very few snaps with all three of them on the field together, right? Is that a good problem to have and is that something that maybe you want to see those guys on the field together or can they really not play all together for an extended period of time?

DABOLL: Yeah, I think again, that'll be dictated upon game. Again, early on in the season, to keep these guys as fresh as we can keep them, that's something we're going to do.

Q: Do you think those guys can be together on the field for multiple snaps in a game?

DABOLL: Yeah, I think it depends. So, they're all capable to play different spots, if you will, and if we think that's the best and that's what we'll do.

Q: You always wear a lot of hats as a head coach, team psychologist or psychiatrist is obviously one of those hats you have to wear. Was this game, after this game, did you find you needed to put that hat on a little more firmly after this game? Because the expectations, especially on offense, were so high and the results were not there that you needed to calm the troops a little bit or do anything you needed to do with the troops?

DABOLL: The game was 14-6 in the fourth quarter. You're going to have games like that relative to... You'd like not to have them. We didn't score enough points offensively. It wasn't good enough. But you make a few plays here or there and it's a much more close game, if you will, particularly down in the red zone. So, again, what I try to do is be consistent. Here's things that we tried to get accomplished, here's why we didn't get them accomplished, here's some of the things we did well and here's plenty of things we didn't do as well. Everybody, coaching, playing, and then you meet as an offense, defense, kicking game, you go through those things.

Q: When you talked Abdul and the rotation, just one more thing on this, just from his perspective, because he was a rookie, did you want to not put too much on his plate or did that not even factor into the rotation and how much you wanted to use him?

DABOLL: No, we have a lot of confidence in Abdul. Again, they're 43, 48, 55. Maybe next week it's a little bit different just based on how the game's going and the series. But try to keep them, again, try to keep them fresh.

Q: Then the other thing would be from an offensive line perspective, was it a combination of physical mistakes and mental mistakes? Did you see one thing that you could point to and say, you know what, we just need to improve this this week, and we think we can eliminate some of the problems that we had? Because (offensive lineman Jermaine) Eluemunor said afterwards that again, it's one of those, one guy makes the mistake, and the group suffers for it and then the next play another guy will make a mistake, and the group will suffer for it. Did you feel that? That it's one of those things where you watch the tape and you think you can fix some of these things that maybe went wrong yesterday?

DABOLL: Well, yeah, you're going to go out there and you're going to fix them, but let's give credit to Washington and how they played as well. But again, there was a number of plays where one play it was this, the next play it was this, the next play it was this. They made some good plays too, credit them, but overall just not consistent in terms of the execution part of the phases that we needed to have. And we're going to fix it.

Q: Do you envision any changes in personnel up front?

DABOLL: No.

Q: We saw (offensive lineman) Evan (Neal) was a healthy scratch. Just kind of curious, what went into that thought process?

DABOLL: Yeah, the guys that we brought to the game, we felt comfortable with those guys and Evan was inactive.

Q: With the run game, obviously there was so much focus on Russ, but I assume making those goal line situations, those decisions not to run the ball. I know (running back Cam) Skattebo had one carry for negative yardage. Just how do you look at how the run game was established?

DABOLL: At the line of scrimmage, they had some guys in the backfield. We had a couple of perimeter plays, if you will, down there, the screen to (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) that they played well. Again, overall, just run game in general, if you have 15 carries for 30 yards with the backs, we need to be better.

Q: You mentioned first and second downs, obviously the Commanders played a role in that, but just when you look back at those second downs, what did you see that needs to improve on just trying to get more stops on second down?

DABOLL: Talking about our defense?

Q: Yes.

DABOLL: Yeah, I mean they made some good plays. We're going to have to go back and look in terms of that area of the game, second down and long. They made some nice plays. We got to make sure we're doing everything we can coaching wise. Collective effort, just like everything else. Again, what I was proud of is it's a tough team offensively and we're not producing, I'd say, offensively the way we needed to produce. Held them to 14 points there in the fourth quarter. There's some good things that come out of that, but we have to do a better job collectively playing team football and put some points on the board.

Q: We'll wrap up where we started with Russ, I guess. What did you see when you went back and watched the film that made you stick with him?

DABOLL: Yeah, I'd say he made good decisions. Again, we've missed on the one-on-one matchups. Sometimes it's a throw, sometimes it's a competitive catch. It's a collective. It's not just Russ when you talk about this whole thing. It's the entire offense. Everybody, as far as me, coaches, players, we got to do a better job collectively. That's what we'll do.

Q: I think the world is very excited to see (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) play. I'm sure there's a part of you that is, too, at some point. How do you balance that with the decisions on who you're going to play at quarterback each week?

DABOLL: Yeah, I have confidence in Russ and we're doing everything we can do each week to develop Jaxson. He spends a lot of time in the building. He spends a lot of time after practice going through things that he needs to go through to prepare himself if he gets called upon to be ready to go. And that's what we're going to do.

Q: Will your decision be based on where Jaxson is or where Russ is?

DABOLL: Yeah, we'll just do what we think is best for our football.

Wide receiver Darius Slayton

Q: (Head coach) Brian Daboll just told us that (quarterback) Russell Wilson is remaining the starter. I guess, what's your guys' sort of confidence as an offense in Russell and what he can do?

SLAYTON: I've got full confidence. I think he's shown himself throughout this whole time that he's been here in the offseason and throughout training camp that he's a competent quarterback. He's plenty equipped to do the job, and we all have full faith in him.

Q: Going back to when you guys look back at the tape, just as an offense, I mean, obviously a lot of people have been talking about Russ, but as a whole, what did you guys see that made it hard for you guys to just kind of make plays consistently to get this offense going?

SLAYTON: Yeah, I think whether it was penalties or lack of execution or just different little things that derailed a couple drives we had. Then obviously, we got down in the red zone two times and weren't able to get the ball in the end zone. Or, we probably have a very, at least a better feeling about yesterday than we do today. But a lot of those things just come down to individual execution on a play-by-play basis.

Q: Obviously, you just had one target, it's just how the game goes. But just for you, how do you feel about that? Knowing that obviously the offense didn't get what it wanted. You only got one target your way.

SLAYTON: Yeah, I mean, ultimately my job is to get open and catch the ball when it comes my way. Unfortunately, like I said, I only had one target yesterday and I got face masked which didn't get called, but it's fine. But as a receiver, all you can do is run your routes and get open and try to be ready when the ball comes my way.

Q: I'm curious, when you go back and watch those red zone plays, what stood out? What was the problem down there?

SLAYTON: Part of it, really not even part of it, all of it was really just execution. Literally, one of the runs, we had a run through on one of the runs and on two of the passes, we were just a little bit off of the timing on two of the passes and the routes. That was literally the story of just about all of them was just like another split second here or there or a guy making a little bit better of a block or a guy running a little bit better route or whatever here or there and we're in the end zone.

Q: Did it feel frustratingly familiar? Like, new quarterback, new excitement, new vibes. And I feel like we're talking about some of the same things we talk about a lot on these Zooms. Like, was there a level of this feels too familiar, ee shouldn't be this way?

SLAYTON: No, I wouldn't say so. I mean, every year is its own year. Every game is its own game. Obviously, I see how you can get there as far as like a narrative goes. But that game, the reasons why we didn't win that game or didn't execute as well in that game, is different than any other game that we didn't execute how we wanted to. So, we have to address those reasons for why yesterday didn't go the way we wanted to go and then correct those this week going forward into our next game.

Q: Going forward into the next game, what's the message here? Because, you know how 0-2 teams are treated in this league and kind of what kind of a death sentence that is for a season. So, what's the urgency here as you get ready here for week two and trying to correct those mistakes?

SLAYTON: I think the urgency is high just because it's always high in the NFL. Whether it's 0-2, 2-0, 3-0, the urgency to win every – It's not the NBA where you play 90 games or wherever it is – we play 17 weeks of football. So, every game is urgent regardless of what our record is, our situation may or may not be. Every game is urgent, every game is important, especially against a division opponent like we have this week. So, I think the urgency is sky high, but I would say it's always there. It needs to stay there.

Q: The deep ball. I think we all expected to see it more. Were the Commanders taking that away? Did you just not have long enough drives to get it? I mean, with the speed you guys have and that being such a big part of (quarterback) Russ (Wilson), I think we all expected to see more deep throws. What happened there?

SLAYTON: Yeah, I think we got a couple of them up. We only completed maybe one of them, maybe one or two. I can't remember, maybe one of them. I think we actually completed one or two of them, two of them. I think we completed, but we got a couple of them up. But again, for a variety of reasons. Whether it was us making a play on the ball or whatever, maybe a DB making a good play on the ball, what have you. We just have to find a way to complete those chances when we get the opportunity.

Q: After the game, you said you really couldn't tell how Russ played because your back is to him most of the time, but watching the tape and everything like that, what did you see from him specifically?

SKAYTON: I think for the most part, he operated pretty well. Obviously, we all made mistakes yesterday. If Russ was sitting here right now, he would tell you that there's things he could do better in the game, but I could tell you the same thing, the things that I could have done better. So, at the end of the day, there's room for improvement all the way around, but overall, I think he operated well.

Q: I guess at some point you were made aware of how your former quarterback, Daniel Jones, did with the (Indianapolis) Colts. Had you seen that? What was your reaction to that? And did you reach out to him after that?

SLAYTON: No, I mean, I saw it. I didn't reach out to him. He's not my teammate anymore, obviously, but he's a good football player. They have a good offense over there. Whatever they did clearly against, I don't know who they played, but they had a good day and good for him, more power to him.

Q: Were you surprised at how well he did? You know, because he obviously did not do a lot of that the past couple of years with you.

SLAYTON: No. Because like I said, like he's a good football player and that's what good football players do. They go out there on Sundays, they make plays, and they're effective. I don't think it changed anything about our team and the players that we have. We have plenty of good football players over here, too, and we just have to go out there and show that on Sundays.

Q: I'm wondering, what did you guys think when Brian didn't say anything yesterday definitively that Russell would be your starter? And did you guys hear that? Did you know that? I mean, you're a guy that's usually pretty in tune with what's going on publicly.

SLAYTON: Yeah, honestly, I didn't. It was after the game whenever you did media. So, I wasn't really privy to whatever it was or was not said. Yeah, honestly, I don't even know what happened to really even comment on it, to be honest with you. So, I just leave that up to whatever Dabs said at the time.

Q: I'm sitting here waiting for the call, and you see people on TV and all over social just saying, you guys should start (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart). What do you think when you hear people say that?

SLAYTON: I think that's the natural thing these days in the sport of football, which is unfortunate at all levels of football. Even at the college level, the pro level, is that everybody wants new as soon as they think that things aren't going well. But the reality is, is that things take time and not everything is just a 9-1-1 situation. We have good coaches. We have a good quarterback in Russell Wilson and it's one week. I think in the history of football, if you kind of look at the history of football, it hasn't always served people well to just throw people in the fire, because I know that I wouldn't want to be thrown in the fire like that. Obviously, Jaxson believes in himself. He obviously believes he's a good football player. We believe he's a good football player, but at the same time, this league is hard, this league is tough, and you see players get chewed up and spit out all the time by this league, which is something I would never want to happen to him. So, as all that goes, like I said, he said, Russ is our starter for however long, and he's playing and he's going to play good ball. We're going to play good ball as an offense, and whenever Jaxson's time comes, it comes.

Q: In terms of that not everything's 9-1-1, when you talk urgency, I think there's a perception that, well, urgency means everything's got to change. How does urgency manifest itself in your mind for a team this week, and how high that urgency is?

SLAYTON: I think it's in a sense that, like you said, urgency sometimes you associate that with change, but there's other times where it's not change, it's who's doing it, just doing it better. Urgency doesn't always mean oh, we got to fix this and fix that, change this and change that. No, sometimes you have the right people, you have the right things established, you have the right culture, you have the right everything aligned, and it's just a matter of people doing better. Doing more better is what ultimately wins football games, is when one team does more things better than the other team for four quarters, and that's all we have to do. Doesn't take massive changes, doesn't take a brain trust, it doesn't take calculus. It literally just takes 11 men going out there on both sides of the ball and doing better.

Q: Is that something that you've always appreciated, or as a player, has your perspective changed on that through the years?

SLAYTON: Yeah, I think it grows for sure. As you learn in this game, I've been around a fair amount of coaches now, I've been around, even though I've only been here, I've been around a lot of coaches, been around a lot of football players, and you just kind of realize, as Coach Daboll says a lot of times, it's a player's game. Obviously the coaches do the best they can, and they know where they can be better and where they can improve, but at the end of the day, the only people that can really impact that game are the guys that are out there on the field, so it comes down to us when it's all said and done.

Cornerback Paulson Adebo

Q: I remember we talked in the summer about the whole idea of traveling. Obviously, you did it yesterday, just curious what that was like. I don't think you did much in New Orleans, you said, right?

ADEBO: Yeah, I mean, when you're traveling, you're going up against a receiver, but I feel like the preparation is the same. You kind of just dial yourself in on one guy and focus on whatever the play call is and executing your technique. But I don't think there's too, too much into it.

Q: And then just as you go forward, is that something you want that responsibility every week or you just say whatever the coaches say?

ADEBO: I think you just look at it and come together with the coaches. I have confidence in our coaches and the scheme that they have. Whatever they ask of me, week in and week out, I am ready to do.

Q: After watching the film, what did you see?

ADEBO: I thought on defense, we did a lot of good things. On offense, we did some good things as well as a team. I think just a little bit of some technique stuff and a little bit of some detail stuff that we can clean up. But I think you just come in and look at the things we could have done better, focus on those things and then also keep doing and improving on the things we did well.

Q: Back to the question on traveling. I understand team first guys always want to do whatever the team wants. Is there a part of you, though, like the best cornerbacks in this league travel. Obviously, you've got the contract of a top cornerback, too. You're here. You want to prove it. Is there a part of you that says like, yeah, give me the best guy every week, I want that?

ADEBO: I think you definitely want to do whatever is best for the team. So, if that's taking out their number one guy into a week and taking on that challenge, then absolutely. You just kind of look at if a team has one receiver, two receivers, three receivers. A lot of times, outside looking in, it'll look like one guy is the guy. But as a football player and knowing that the number two guy is also really, really, good sometimes and the third guy is also good. Different receivers have different strengths. Sometimes it's a matchup thing. Sometimes it's a scheme thing. I think you don't want to get your ego involved in it. Like, I don't want to take the guy every time – it's more just like, hey, we're trying to win the game. Whatever is needed, we're willing to do. Then obviously, you trust the coaches and they have the same kind of mindset.

Q: Looking ahead to this week, obviously, one of the best receivers in the game is on the Cowboys. What's your history from New Orleans with (Cowboys wide receiver) CeeDee Lamb? What are your impressions of him as a player? I don't know if you've dived into the film, but just over the years.

ADEBO: I played against him last year down in Dallas. And obviously familiar with him the last couple of years and what he's been able to do. He's a good receiver. Great, pretty much an elite receiver. Does everything well, runs well, catches the ball well. So somebody you've got to prepare for it. Obviously, they have a couple of other guys as well, (Cowboys wide receiver George) Pickens, they have some other guys. So, it's definitely going to be a full team effort to stop all of the guys that they have.

Q: I happened to be on with (Jets head coach) Aaron Glenn this morning with the Jets conference call. And he was talking about traveling and he had done it a little bit. He had (Jets cornerback) Sauce (Gardner) do it yesterday. He said he always found it to be a little easier of an assignment than having to prepare for everybody. I was wondering if you found that to be the case?

ADEBO: I think it's on a week-to-week basis. So, depending on what receiver you're going up against, depending on what scheme the offense has, I think all the different offenses are nuanced, right? If you're facing a quarterback who stays in the pocket versus one who's constantly scrambling. A lot of these different things change the dynamics of how you have to prepare. You prepare for one, your assignment, but the offense as a whole. I think it just depends.

Q: You were on a team last year that started out really hot, was kind of the darlings of the NFL for a couple of weeks and then obviously things took a turn. Are there any lessons you can take from that and kind of spin them towards these Giants? Now that the start wasn't what you were expecting and that doesn't necessarily maybe set the tone for the whole season…

ADEBO: I don't know if it's a lesson that I learned then, but I think just focus on every week. We're focused on this week and coming in and coming in with the right mindset, doing anything and everything we can to prepare well, to be able to execute on Sunday.

Q: What I always wondered is that, in terms of a guy like CeeDee, and there are receivers in this league that love running out of the slot. When you're following a guy into the slot, if you do, how does that change your game? Because people have always talked about, you know, the nickel inside. You talked a couple weeks ago about (cornerback) Dru (Phillips) and the different responsibilities that are in there when you're inside. From that perspective, schematically, is that kind of also what you're talking about in terms of, you follow guys, but also you guys may come up with a different plan for different guys week to week.

ADEBO: I think as you look at an offense, you try to see how they try to get their top targets the ball. So, you try to come up with schemes and come up with the game plan to be able to stop that from happening. But at the same time, we have confidence in all of our guys to be able to cover. So I think that's where you start. You have a bunch of guys that can go out there and line it up against whoever. Then if there's an adjustment that needs to be made and we want to move guys and travel guys, we'll take care of that with the coaching and all that.

Q: I'm sure through every level of football you play or any sport, the idea of balancing urgency. Look, things didn't go well, so we're going to change everything up versus the patience of, you know what, things didn't go well, but we have trust, we have belief. How do you work that fine line between not doing enough or doing too much?

ADEBO: I think you just stay objective, whether it's a win or a loss. I think you go back and you look at the film the same way, week in and week out. You're able to see the things that you didn't do well. You're able to see the things that you did do well. And you don't necessarily rely on the fact that you won or you lost to make your improvements, right? So personally, I go back, and I look at what did I do well, what didn't I do well – because teams are going to look at that and they're going to try to hit you on those. So, I think you just remain objective, as objective as possible. And that's kind of how you do it.

Q: Obviously, this is not your first NFL game by a long shot, but this was your first NFL game with the Giants. From the outside looking in, sometimes a guy comes to a new team, he's acclimated, he's on a new team, easy. Is it easy? Did you feel anything different playing in a Giants uniform than you did before that? Maybe did you and (safety) Jevón (Holland) say something before the game, kind of a second chapter of a career sort of thing?

ADEBO: Definitely coming in and kind of…I also haven't played in what, however long it was. Definitely just was eager and excited to come out and play. I love playing football. And then to be able to play with all the guys that we have and the energy that we felt on the sidelines. I think all that was just amazing and fun and just a glimpse of what's to come.

Q: As a defense, as a unit, when you don't stop the run the way you want, how frustrating is that? Is there a sense they can kind of dictate to us what they want to do because we can't take this away from them?

ADEBO: I think just as a defense, when you're not playing as well as you want to, you can definitely get frustrated. But it's all those things that we'll look at and improve.

Q: 21 points is not a lot of points to give up in the NFL. Is that something you and your defensive teammates look at and say, this wasn't perfect, and it might not have been great, but it was 21 points against a team that was very high scoring last year?

ADEBO: I think when you look at a defense, I mean, their defense held our offense to less points. So, for us, it's about beating their defense, right? There are things that we can clean up. There are ways that we can be better. So, 21 points is too many points in my opinion.