WR Darius Slayton -- December 11, 2019
On playing with Eli Manning:
A: Like I said, it’s an honor to play with a Hall of Fame quarterback. A lot of guys don’t have that opportunity in their career, so I’m very blessed.
Q: How did Daniel (Jones) look out there today?
A: Good, he looks good. I know he’s happy to be out there on the field. He loves playing ball, so I’m happy he’s able to get back out there, toss the ball around a little bit.
Q: Is this losing streak weighing on any of you guys?
A: It’s definitely tough, but I know we’re going to keep fighting, keep on trying to find ways to win games.
Q: How do you stay positive during a streak like this?
A: I don’t know, you kind of just come back to work. You go over it, you watch the film, and then you kind of put it in the rearview mirror. Wins or losses, you kind of have to do it that way because at the end of the day you’ve got a new opponent, and so you’ve got to be able to put that stuff behind you and focus on the week ahead.
Q: When you look back on last week, do you kind of scratch your head going, “How could we be so good in the first half and then do nothing in the second?”
A: Yeah, I mean, it just kind of happens. It’s football, sometimes you have moments where you’re rolling, you’ve got all the momentum, and then you have little lulls. It was almost like in one situation if there was no halftime, we might have just kept rolling. Sometimes the little just lapse, you just kind of get a chance to sit and breathe and all that, so just got to find a way to keep executing throughout the game.
Q: Did you grow up watching Monday Night Football every week?
A: Of course, yeah.
Q: Some people do, some people don’t--
A: Yeah, every week.
Q: So, the fact that you did what you did in the first one, what does that mean to you?
A: It means a lot. First time around on Monday Night, we played against the Cowboys , probably not one of my best games, so I definitely wanted to come back out here. I was grateful we had a second opportunity to be on Monday Night and show what I could do on a national stage.
Q: Did you get a lot of feedback on that from friends, family, social media, that kind of thing?
A: Yeah, because I’m from the South, so the majority of family is down there, so games like that, everybody gets a chance to watch and see. So, I was happy to be able to perform well for them.
Q: On the second touchdown when you see it and you know you’re wide open, are you sitting there going, “Just don’t drop it?”
A: Yeah, pretty much. Sometimes it feels like the ball is hanging up there for 10 years when you’re wide open, but Eli made a great throw and I was able to make the catch.
Q: Has this year gone better than you expected? You’ve got a team high in touchdown catches, I think the yardage is a team high, you’re two off the team lead in total receptions, considering you didn’t really start on time.
A: I knew I wanted to come in and make an impact. I knew I could come in and make an impact. I didn’t really know how much I was going to be able to do that, but like I said, I’ve definitely been blessed. Daniel, Eli, having two really good quarterbacks to play with in my rookie season has definitely helped me out a lot.
Q: Are there any challenges knowing that nothing’s official yet as to whether it’s going to be Eli or Daniel for you guys as a group, as an offense this week as you move towards Sunday with kind of some uncertainty as to who’s going to be out there?
A: No, not really. Either way, they’ll both rep in practice, so whichever way it goes, we’ll be ready. Like I said, they’re both good players, so they’re easy guys to play with.
Q: Is there part of you, considering your trajectory with Daniel, that is hoping to close out this season with him on the field? Is there meaning in that do you think for a lot of you young guys who have kind of taken this journey together as rookies?
A: I mean, I definitely think us being young, as much experience as any of us can get is a good thing. But, like I said, whoever is out there at quarterback, I’m going to go out there and try my best to get open for him and make plays.
