Head Coach Brian Daboll
May 14, 2022
Q. Your quarterback depth chart was tested yesterday. You brought guys in off the street (GM Joe Schoen).
BRIAN DABOLL: There were a lot of tight wobblers out there. But they got to where they were supposed to get to. I think I know who you are talking about.
Q. So no truth to the rumor you are signing the guy?
BRIAN DABOLL: We need to see some more today.
Q. Why do you only have one quarterback (Brian Lewerke) for this game?
BRIAN DABOLL: I just thought that was the best thing. He’s been here for a while. He knows what we're doing. Takes a while to teach these guys some of the stuff and think he has a pretty good grasp of what we've been doing the last month, so that was the thought process behind it.
Q. Are you going to work Isaiah Johnson-Mack on both sides of the ball?
BRIAN DABOLL: We'll see. We'll see.
Q. You've never been in this position before but all the years that you've been in these rookie mini-camps and things, the way you're doing it on the field now as far as not giving them too much and more than ever, seems like they are going to go through the basics. Is that something you learned throughout watching these rookie camps, and saying, you know, sometimes we gave these guys a little too much and it was kind of a freak show out there.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think each year you try to evolve and do what you think the best thing is to do. I think the more stuff you have in your head, the slower you play.
These guys are pretty anxious as it is coming in new, learning the new building, learning new people, learning how we do things as a program. Just thought that was the best thing for those guys. They did a good job of it out there.
Q. Because they are really geeked up and they really want to impress you.
BRIAN DABOLL: No question. And they even practiced the right way, you know, not dragging people down and things like that. Again this is more a teaching camp. We are going to see them in individual drills and skillsets that they have, and when we go competitive periods, just making sure we are taking care of one another.
Q. At one point, you said "walk" through, walk; they don't want to walk. They want to run.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, you get that in the walkthrough. They walked through a little while ago, same thing. They are pretty amped up, they want to go out there and compete.
But teaching them tempo is another thing that you have to do.
Q. Is the teaching part more where you want to be juxtaposed to getting ready to play a game type of preparation?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I mean, that's such a long way away right now. We have so far to go.
So again, these guys, just to get from the locker room to there or from the locker room to the cafeteria, you've got to take all that stuff into account, how to log into their iPad and get into film. There's so many things for these players. They are moving from different spots. It's the first time for some of them just on your own. Sometimes there's a lot of family members that help out in college.
We are taking it slow and we are going to try to help them grow off the field as well as on the field.
Q. How do you view the transition for a guy like Evan Neal? What's one of the more difficult things for a tackle when you come from college, obviously playing in Alabama, a pretty good college.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. And coming to the NFL, what is he going to be facing in that regard?
BRIAN DABOLL: Elite pass rushers. Good edge setters for the most part. He's a big man, so it's there's not going to be a ton of people that are bigger than him.
But the athleticism of the players that he's going to have to face, the movement up front that he's going to get to, the quickness that some of these guys have and ultimately the experience. Every rookie has to go through it. You're experienced playing football. You're just not experienced playing in the National Football League. There's a lot of things that he's going to have to learn and keep building on, but I think he's a mature young guy. He's played a lot of different spots and I think that will help him, too, in terms of how he sees it. When you are a rookie, you have a long way to go, really with everything.
Q. On a scale of easy or harder position –
BRIAN DABOLL: Don't talk about scales, please. I’m trying to work on that here.
Q. What do you like about Jashaun Corbin, the running back, why did you bring him in?
BRIAN DABOLL: Athletic. Got some quick twitch. He had a pretty good day yesterday. Kind of stood out a little bit.
Q. How so?
BRIAN DABOLL: Athletic, quick twitch, good in individuals -- there's only so much you can see out there. But the individual drills, a lot of them, you're almost going out there on pro days or individual workouts. Some of the drills that we even do out here are some of the drills that we do when we work guys out so you get a good feel for them. You can compare kind of apples to apples.
Q. What's it been like developing a relationship with Mike Kafka, now that you're able to coach on the field together for the first time over the course of all these workouts and stuff?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, it’s been great. First of all, he's a good person. He's a good father, good husband, very easy to talk to. Smart. Obviously he went to Northwestern. But smart football-wise, too.
I think he's had good upbringing in this profession. He's 34 years old, but he's learned a lot from Coach Reid and the things they did at Kansas City. He has some really good ideas and thoughts on some of the stuff they did there.
Easy to work with in terms of integrating and mixing systems of how we are doing things and trying to come up with the best thing for the Giants. Good leader for the guys. Kind of reserved, if you will, but that offsets me a little bit, too, which is good.
Q. The Andre Miller kid from Maine.
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. You guys are converting him, he played wide receiver?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.
Q. You're converting or looking at him at tight end. What intrigues you about the kid?
BRIAN DABOLL: He’s got good size. Obviously he played on the perimeter a lot there in Maine. He has good size and he has some skill set that we can maybe develop here a little bit in the inside part of the offensive formation, wherever that may be, whether it's attached and off the ball a little bit in the slot, maybe some in the backfield.
Just trying to find a role. Has some athleticism. Ran well. Hopefully he can contribute on special teams when he's here. Just a guy that has some athleticism, want to take a look at in that role.
Q. Going back to Mike Kafka, a former NFL quarterback, how much of an advantage does that bring when you have a guy like Daniel Jones and guys behind, is there an advantage to be had?
BRIAN DABOLL: I think the advantage is he's a good teacher, first and foremost. But I think experience at that position is always helpful. That doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be a good coach at it, but he started the right way. He started way back at Northwestern and kind of went up the ranks. Has really good eyes for the position. He sees it obviously like he's playing it.
But he's really good at teaching, which is an important part of being a coach. You have to be a good teacher and make sure they can see it through your eyes and have good communication with your players. I've been happy with him.
Q. Roy Mbaeteka just walked by; what have you seen from him, and how big is this transition from where he's coming from to here?
BRIAN DABOLL: I'd say it's big, yeah. The rookies out here have played a lot. We're starting from ground zero with him and he's trying to soak everything up. There's a lot at that position. There's a lot of words and a lot of communication that goes on. He's got a great personality. Bobby (Johnson) and Tony (Sparano) have done a really good job just meeting with him, but we have a long way to go.
Q. Jordan Mailata, that's the baseline for those kinds of guys now, hearing that comparison, maybe he could be the next one.
BRIAN DABOLL: I don't know. We're just trying to teach him what a ‘sort’ call means right now. He's learning. But we've got to continually do it day-by-day.
Q. When they present a guy to you and they say, this guy has literally never played football before, when you look at him, it's like, all right, kind of looks like a player, right. He's a big dude.
BRIAN DABOLL: I've been around. I've had some experience being in the league as long as I have -- Steve Neal was a guy, and I’m not comparing him to Steve Neal by any stretch, the wrestler. But when you're playing a new sport for the first time, you have size, you have some athleticism, you have some length, but there's just so much you've got to learn. When things start happening at a fast pace, particularly in that position where things happen so quickly.
You know, we'll work with him day-by-day. He's a good size, length, athletic guy to work with. But certainly a long way to go.
You guys see that goal last night?
Q. There were a lot of them.
BRIAN DABOLL: The last one? Great shot by Kreider.
Q. You're all invested?
BRIAN DABOLL: Heck, yeah. That was a great game. That was a great game.
Q. You going to be at Game 7?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I hope so. Yeah. I'd love to be. Really good example, though. You're down 3-1 in the series, 2-0 in Game 5 and 2-0 in Game 6 and everybody is writing you off, and what do they do? They just keep competing. Put one in right after the other, then the other team comes back, scores right away, lose a little bit of momentum, and finish off the game strong. That's pretty cool team to watch right now.
Q. Can you take lessons other sports teams that go through that and teach them?
BRIAN DABOLL: Absolutely. Absolutely. Look at the Kentucky Derby the other day. Horse wasn't even in the race, was it, until the last day? That's athletics. That's sports. You go through a lot of tough times. Got to stay mentally strong.
Q. Give you a little taste of what winning could be like in New York, huh? The Rangers?
BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, it's cool. It's an awesome environment. It's a great environment.
