New York Giants News

Giants news, 1/4: Giants turnaround, defending Kayvon Thibodeaux, more

New York Giants headlines for Wednesday

By JamesPHickey Jan 4, 2023, 6:00am EST

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Good morning, New York Giants fans!

How did the Giants engineer surprising turnaround?

There were no expectations for the 2022 New York Giants.

This was a team coming off five consecutive double-digit loss seasons. At 22-59, the Giants were tied with the New York Jets for the worst record in football over that five-year span. They had gone through three head coaches in six years. They appeared to have a broken front office with the Mara family accused of exercising too much control over football decisions.

They were starting over — finally — with first-time decision-makers at head coach and GM from outside their organizational comfort zone. Those decision-makers were handed a highly-drafted quarterback no one was sure they could go forward with. They had a roster filled with holes and a disastrous salary cap situation that left them with little money to try and fix it.

“I want to make it the best I can,” Schoen said at the Scouting Combine. “I don’t want to go out and get my head beat in, ever. I want to have a competitive team and do what’s best for the franchise in the future.

“I’d like to build the roster the best we can so we can be competitive this year.”

The new head coach, Brian Daboll, said in the spring that the Giants would just “try to win each day.”

Let’s just say Schoen and Daboll could not be accused of over-promising.

From Big Blue View

Other Giant observations

Giants legend defends Kayvon Thibodeaux amid Colts’ Jeff Saturday’s criticism | NJ.com

Former Giants linebacker Carl Banks stood up for Thibodeaux by quote-tweeting a video of Daniel Jones getting hit in the head by the forearm of Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke, writing, I assume *coach* Saturday thought this was in good taste.

A reply to the tweet asked if Banks was “okay” with what Thibodeaux did. Banks responded: What? The Clean hit? He celebrated in the moment. I’m OK even though the optics weren’t great give the proximity. But I am fine with it

Love defends Thibodeaux, calls Saturday's comments 'weird' | WFAN.com

“He didn’t know that he was hurt, that was very obvious that he didn’t know,” Love said. “The reaction from the coach is weird, I think that’s just him maybe being an O-lineman and being very protective of the quarterback. That’s what you do, you defend your guys, same way our guys defended Daniel Jones when he got hit while he was attempting to slide. We don’t pay attention to it, I’m sure Kayvon pays zero attention to it. So yeah, that’s a weird comment to make.”

New York Giants' Formula for Success Starts with These Basics | Sports Illustrated

Win or lose, Daboll has been Mr. Consistency from the moment he pulled up to the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in his blue pickup truck.

Among the staples in his process is to keep the focus on the present and address every last detail necessary to ensure the preparedness is on point. Whether that's in the classroom, weight room, field, or lunchroom, leave no stone unturned, and the rest will usually work itself out.

Usually, but not always, things rarely go according to plan. But Daboll said he's fine with things so long as the processes that have been in place since the players reported for the off-season program in April last year are followed.

"I can live with results if we’re doing things the right way: we’re on time, we’re taking care of our bodies, we’re detailed in meetings, we practice our tails off," he said. "If we go out there and don’t get the results we want Sunday, I can live with that. I don’t like it one bit, but I certainly can live with it based on what they’re doing and what we’re asking them to do and how they’re doing it."

Should Brian Daboll, Giants rest starters against the Eagles in Week 18? | The Athletic

Giants general manager Joe Schoen elected not to deal for a wide receiver at the trade deadline. The cost was deemed too high for Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool, who was traded to the Bears for a second-round pick, and Jerry Jeudy, who remained in Denver because no team matched the Broncos’ asking price.

There was buzz the Giants could reunite with free agent Odell Beckham Jr., but nothing came from an early December visit as the receiver continues to recover from a torn ACL. So the Giants’ lone in-season acquisition at wide receiver was claiming Isaiah Hodgins on Nov. 2 after he was waived by the Bills.

Hodgins has 33 catches for 351 yards and four touchdowns in eight games since joining the team. Claypool has 12 catches for 111 yards and no touchdowns in six games with the Bears. Jeudy has 32 catches for 369 yards and three touchdowns since the trade deadline.

The Daniel Jones debate is over after Giants clinch playoffs | ESPN.com

ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan writes:

Gone with 2022 is the debate about whether Daniel Jones is good enough for the New York Giants.

That conversation, which began when he was drafted with the No. 6 overall pick out of Duke in 2019, officially ended on Jan. 1. Jones did what nobody saw coming. He led the Giants to the playoffs in a year when his No. 1 receiver was eighth on the depth chart during training camp. He did it by playing well from start to finish.

Every NFL team’s biggest 2023 Pro Bowl snub: LT Andrew Thomas | PFF

There haven’t been many offensive tackles better than Thomas this season. In fact, he’s the third-highest-graded offensive tackle in the league (87.8), behind only Trent Williams and fellow snub Christian Darrisaw. Thomas has allowed only three sacks and three quarterback hits this year as he’s developed into an elite player.

Andrew Thomas said SIT DOWN pic.twitter.com/tQpJmyaqCM
— New York Giants (@Giants) January 2, 2023

2023 NFL Mock Draft 1.2 | The 33rd Team

23. New York Giants: Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas. If the Giants elect not to franchise Saquon Barkley, how fortunate would they be to replace him with Robinson?

Giants drop $40K on party at NYC hotspot after making playoffs | New York Post

The New York Giants celebrated to the tune of $40,000 after clinching their first NFL playoff berth in six years. After defeating the Indianapolis Colts 38-10 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, we’re told the entire team went back to New York City and “shut down” Asian fusion restaurant Sei Less “for a private celebratory event.”

“Members of the team started coming in at 10:30 p.m. and stayed until 2 a.m.,” an insider tells us, noting that the hotspot’s employees “kept the kitchen open late” for the over-the-top soirée.

This week’s opponent

NIck Sirianni takes responsibility for pick-six that iced loss to Saints | ProFootballTalk

“I’ll take responsibility for the interception,” Sirianni told reporters. “We came back to a play that we had run earlier in the game, and they recognized it and they made a play off of it. We gave them a recognizable formation and they made a play off of it. We put them in a tough spot right there. I think that’s obviously a major turning point in what people envision Gardner [Minshew’s] game being. They’ll put a lot of that on that play. But I’m accepting responsibility for that. That’s on me. We put him in a tough spot right there.”

What's the latest on Jalen Hurts, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Josh Sweat? | PhiladelphiaEagles.com

When Hurts is cleared to play, Sirianni expects him to be ready to go, to play as Jalen Hurts plays.

"First and foremost, we're always going to want him to be healthy enough to not put himself at danger. That's first and foremost," Sirianni said, "but also so that he can perform at a high level. When you're talking about throwing the football and an injured shoulder, it's a little different than other injuries. He's got to be able to throw the ball down the field. He's got to be able to throw it accurately. He's got to be able to throw it with velocity, so that he can be effective as a quarterback."

Eagles rookie report card from the loss to the Saints | Bleeding Green Nation

After a first half where the Saints had a much easier time moving the ball, the Eagles defense clamped down and made it impossible for New Orleans to do much on offense. Jordan Davis saw a light snap load, but continued to draw attention, eat up space and make things easier for his teammates. Some people might want flashier play from Davis, but he is doing a solid job right now.

Around the league

Commanders' Ron Rivera doesn't regret starting Carson Wentz | NFL.com

Washington's attempt at rectifying the QB position ahead of the season didn't work out, and it has Rivera reiterating the importance of having a solidified QB1.

"I think the biggest thing that's been the toughest thing right now is really being able to solidify the QB1 spot," Rivera said. "... That's the thing that we gotta do. I was asked that question about eight, nine weeks ago what's the difference? Well, that's the one position that we've gotta solidify going forward more so than anything else."

Source - Panthers owner, Jim Harbaugh talked coaching job | ESPN.com

NFL teams cancel media availabilities Tuesday | ProFootballTalk