Post-Game Transcript: Head Coach Brian Daboll

NYG Postgame (vs. Packers) Transcripts: Head Coach Brian Daboll

December 11, 2023

Q: What can you say about (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito) and that situation right there to lead you down the field?

A: It’s his job. Third game of over a hundred quarterback rating. He made good decisions, took care of the ball, used him in the run game. Just keep developing him. He’s improving. Still got stuff to work on, but like I said two or three times last week, I think he’s a young player that’s doing the right things and making the most of his opportunity. He earned the right to play today, and he earned the right to play the next week. The kid’s done a good job.

Q: Was that sort of an adjustment you made at halftime? It seems like he came out –

A: With the quarterback stuff? That’s something that I give (Offensive Coordinator Mike) Kafka and (Offensive Line Coach) Bobby Johnson a lot of credit of the discussion kind of right even before half, leading into it. We hit that one big one where he kind of ran into (wide receiver) Wan’Dale (Robinson). There was a lot of good discussion on the sideline, in the headset, and at halftime spearheaded by Kafka and Bobby.

Q: You have the game possibly sealed with (running back) Saquon (Barkley) on the long run. I mean, it's right on your sideline. It's just such a crazy play.

A: Pro football. Things happen. We had to go and make it tough on ourselves, drive down in two-minute (drill) with a rookie quarterback who made good decisions and nail a field goal with a new kicker. Probably like to do it the other way.

Q: What was the conversation like with Tommy on the last drive trying to keep his composure?

A: You don't have to worry about that. He keeps his composure. There was really nothing. Here’s a couple plays we like and go out there and rip that (expletive). Pretty simple.

Q: This team looks like, not Tommy going down the field, but his teammates look like they have a lot of confidence in him. They seem composed, not just Tommy.

A: Yeah, they do. I'd say really all three phases. The defensive guys do, but again, he's earned that, and he knows we’ve got plenty to work on. He’s only started four games, but they do. They see him at practice. He has good practices. He's not afraid to turn it loose. I mean, that flea-flicker we ran, what a play by Wan’Dale. I know I was getting asked about Wan’Dale last week; I think he played pretty good, too. Had a lot of confidence in him. It was one of those where he came off to me after we scored the touchdown. He goes, ‘I know I short-armed it a little bit, I saw him wide open.’ He goes, ‘I'll make good decisions.’ I said, ‘I know you will, man.’ But he does a good job of seeing it.

Again, tough game against a team, they don’t give up a lot of points usually. We did enough. There's still a lot of things we could do better. We had some short fields that we could have capitalized on. We obviously turned it over there at the end, which Saquon feels terrible about, and I feel for him. It was kind of a fluke deal where he let it go. It’s a 60-minute game. We knew it would be. They've been a successful team in December. So, I'm proud of our guys.

Q: What do you make of being one game out of the final playoff spot?

A: We’re going to focus on New Orleans. We’ve got a short week, so the guys are going to get in early. We’re going to just focus on this week like we always do. It’ll be a tough environment down there. They just played a good game. We’ll enjoy this one here for a couple hours and get to work here early short a day on preparation.

Q: Tommy wasn’t sacked tonight. How much of an emphasis was it for him to use his legs if he felt pressure or how did he avoid the sacks better tonight?

A: That’s always an emphasis. That’s just feeling the pocket. It’s something we evaluated and looked at. Again, sacks are — I think I’ve been asked this last week, too – a result of a lot of things. We could be better upfront, could be better at quarterback, could be better at getting separation, could be better at blocking protection. I think he’s worked really hard in trusting his feet and taking off when he needs to take off or trying to find an outlet if he can find an outlet. I thought our scramble rules helped us. We worked hard on those this week. I know you asked a question about doing things a little bit differently and scramble drill was one of them. We hit (wide receiver) Isaiah (Hodgins) in the back, Wan’Dale makes a great catch on the sideline. So, some of the stuff you work on, it’s good to see come to fruition in a game.

Q: Is a fourth-quarter comeback a notch that a quarterback gets under his belt? That’s not easy to do.

A: I would just say it's a team game. Everybody's responsible. Again, it was a tough opponent. We knew they were going to be a good football team, a tough out, a 60-minute game. That's what most of their games have been. Then to have that swing of events and to be able to stay focused and locked in...

Kafka called a great game. He did a great job in the two-minute (drill). It was very similar to our two-minute situation we had in practice. He was really focused and dialed in. He gave him good plays. Tommy executed the plays, he knew them. Wan’Dale made the biggest play and made a great route, he created great separation on a bow route there. Then (kicker) Randy (Bullock) made the kick, field goal protection. Again, it was a good win, but it’s a short week. Got a lot of work to do leading up to New Orleans.

Q: What was the plan with (defensive lineman) Dex(ter Lawrence II) tonight? He was obviously on a—

A: Pitch count. Yeah.

Q: On that wildcat run to Wan’Dale, Saquon, was that part of the play call for him to fake that he had fumbled the handoff? Did you see him do that?

A: No. No.

Q: He improved that?

A: No, it was just the ball handling probably could have been a little bit better.

Yeah, no, the ball handling, that was like crap when I saw it. But then he held onto it and he skirted out there. Then we ran it again later in the game, and they did a good job of playing it. They kind of squeezed and moved around and Saquon just tried to save the play. But that was a big play, and it was a good call by Mike.

Q: Speaking of improv, it looked like Isaiah rolled to his right with Tommy at the same time.

A: Yeah, scramble. Yeah, scramble rules. Look, we did two periods against our defense this week where it was two five-play periods, three of them were just drop back, call the play, but I told DeVito under no circumstances throw it on time. Make sure you scramble. We’ve got to do a good job of it; our defense has to do a good job against (Packers quarterback Jordan) Love when he does it. So, it’s something we practiced, I'd say put a high emphasis on this week. It was two good plays that we made out of it. Guys did a good job of taking things to practice to taking it to the field.

Q: What does it say about your team that you were 2-8, you won three in a row with your backup quarterback, that you’re in the playoff hunt despite starting that way this season?

A: All we try to do is do our best each week. Prepare as hard as we can to go out there and play as good as we can on game day. Our coaches do it. Our players do it. It’s a close-knit group, I'd say, both coaches and players. Tough league, again, we’ve talked about it I don't know how many times last year, this year. It's a league of adversity. So, you’ve got to be able to weather storms with a positive mindset, with good solutions, with great focus, intensity, passion, competitiveness, all the things that you need to try to be a competitive team. That's all we focus on. Certainly, results are not always what you want, but you believe in your process, and you go out there and try to keep improving.

Q: You brought the playoffs up this week to your players. Did you bring it up to them in there in the postgame locker room?

A: What I say to the players will stay in-house. We’ll get ready to play New Orleans.

Q: Do you appreciate the uniqueness of what Tommy's doing? Because we see first-round picks, second-round picks who can't do this. We see big free-agent signings who can't do this.

A: Yeah, I don’t really worry about free agents, where they’re picked, when they're picked. That doesn't matter to me. We have a philosophy of how we teach our quarterbacks. He's bought in, he's worked really hard. Look, he's four games in, too, so I know he's had three pretty good games, good decisions. He’ll be the first to say that he's got a lot to work on. I appreciate how he handles himself. I appreciate how he is during the week. I appreciate when guys are leaving, he's in the meeting rooms and meeting with (Quarterbacks Coach) Shea (Tierney) and Kafka for quite some time. The way he's handling it, I know it's probably not easy for him being that he's from around here. I kind of know how that goes. So, there's a lot on your plate that's going on, and you’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing, which is football. Again, we've had four games with him. I'm proud of him. He’s put a lot of work in really since he's got here, since the first day he was working out in the local pro day. He spent a lot of time in meeting rooms, he's earning what he's getting. But again, we’ve got a long way to go. I know first round, free agents…

We have a way we teach our quarterbacks. We believe in it. We try to put them in the best position, but they ultimately have to go out there and do it and do it at a high level. I'm not worried about 300-yard passing games or this or that. His objective is to take care of the ball and lead the team down to score points, regardless of the quarter, and play your best when it counts the most. The only way you do that is through your preparation, your hard work, and again, I think Shea and Kafka do a really good job of developing quarterbacks. So, time will tell. We’ll have a tough one this week against a really good defense.