00:00Cold and a gloomy day here at Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
00:08It's Wednesday, the Giants are preparing for the Packers.
00:11I'm Brendan London, a long time with long time New York Post sports columnist Mark Cannizzaro.
00:16This is your practice report.
00:19A lot to talk about, a lot to unveil.
00:21It feels like everybody who was on the beat had themselves a seat today.
00:25Mike Kafka, who was just named interim head coach,
00:27got a chance to make some statements to the media for the first time since taking over for Brian Dable.
00:33I guess, what was your biggest takeaways from Kafka's media availability?
00:38You know, Brandon, I think he handled himself well.
00:42Mike is not a very outward interview, if you will.
00:46I mean, you know, obviously, as you know, we speak to him once a week, you know, when the coordinators speak.
00:52I always find him to be a little bit nervous, you know, a little bit, you know,
00:55maybe not comfortable in his skin in this, in that role.
00:59I thought today he did a pretty good job.
01:01I think it was clear he was, you know, a little uptight.
01:04But, you know, this is a guy that's had a number of head coach interviews, as you know, the last couple of years.
01:11So he's obviously aspires to do this.
01:14He's, you know, I would certainly think preparing himself to do this.
01:17And this is a massive opportunity for him.
01:19I mean, this is a, you know, this is a last seven games of the season, I guess, right?
01:23So, yeah, I mean, he kind of, he didn't reveal a lot, but no coaches do, as you know.
01:29But, you know, I thought he did lay out a little bit of a plan.
01:33You know, he's going to tweak a few things with the schedule and whatnot.
01:36And as we'll talk about a little bit, you know, with the staff.
01:39With seven games left, no Malik Neighbors, no Cam Scadaboo.
01:45It looks like Jackson Dart may miss this game being in concussion protocol right now.
01:49We don't know what his status is.
01:51What would you call a successful rest of the season for Mike Kafka?
01:56Certainly don't go 0-7.
01:58Let's start with that, right?
02:00Listen, I mean, hopefully, Dart's not going to play this week.
02:04Kafka already said that Jameis Winston will start.
02:06And, you know, hopefully Dart is back next week.
02:10He gets, you know, gets to play the last six games.
02:12You know, you'd like to see the Giants win three out of their last seven anyway, if possible.
02:17Or, you know, if possible, more.
02:19But how realistic that is, I don't know.
02:22You know, again, I mean, we've seen Dart operate with a very thin receiving core.
02:27You know, and, you know, I was just talking about at practice with a colleague of mine a little while ago.
02:31You know, the good quarterbacks make, you know, the receivers around them different.
02:33And you, as a guy who's played receiver, you know that.
02:36So, and I think we've seen that with him.
02:39So, even though there's no help coming in, so to speak, you know, Neighbors is out for the year.
02:44He's not coming back.
02:46You know, I still think that Dart can do some good things.
02:48You know, I thought, you know, Brian Dable did a really good job with him, developing him.
02:52You know, I'm kind of sad to see Brian go.
02:54You know, I understand why he went because the results are the results.
02:57But, you know, Dart's obviously still going to be playing in the same system for the last seven games or six games.
03:03Hopefully he gets back next week.
03:05And, you know, so I expect to see, you know, his, you know, star continue to rise.
03:11Expectations for Jameis Winston this week now that he's been named QB1 because he's a fan favorite.
03:17He's a guy we know has had some success in this league.
03:21But watching Jameis Winston play at times can be a bit of a roller coaster.
03:25So, what do you think?
03:27Like, what are you looking forward to, I guess, with Jameis Winston now replacing Russell Wilson as the next guy in line to be behind Jackson Dart?
03:36Well, first of all, buckle up, you know.
03:37So, it's going to be a ride, you know.
03:39But I think that's going to be hopefully, and I think maybe, you know, Kafka said this was all his decision.
03:45And I think it was a good decision, whether there was influence from outside, upstairs, I don't know.
03:50But he said it was his decision.
03:52I think it was an important decision to make because I think if you rolled out Russell Wilson, you know, on Sunday, we know.
03:59I mean, the stadium's right over here.
04:00That place is going to be 50, 60, maybe 70% cheeseheads in there on Sunday.
04:05I mean, the Packers fans travel, as we know.
04:07So, and I don't, I think that there would have been a lot, the Giants fans that do show up, they don't want to see Russell Wilson play.
04:15I think at least there's an element of the possibility of a little bit of fun with, you know, with Jameis slinging it around a little bit, as we know.
04:23Now, hopefully he throws more touchdowns than interceptions, which is sometimes a challenge.
04:29But, you know, Jameis has been a fun guy.
04:32You've been in that locker room here this year.
04:33He's been uber supportive.
04:35So, I think there's, if there's anything for the Giants fan, who's obviously extremely disappointed and justifiably so, to look forward to on Sunday, it's to maybe, you know, see him slinging the ball around.
04:46Because, quite honestly, I thought Russell, and I'm not trying to kill Russell here, but he looked withdrawn, nervous, and lost in Chicago the other day.
04:54I mean, I couldn't believe, you know, it was as if they put some unprepared, it was as if they put DeVito in for the first time.
05:01And Dayball, remember when Dayball was, you know, wouldn't let him throw the ball.
05:04Well, that's what I felt like with Russell Wilson, and I'm thinking, this is, you know, Super Bowl champion.
05:08The guy's going to go to the Hall of Fame.
05:10So, I like what they're doing with Winston.
05:12I mean, I'm going to be covering the game, so it's going to make it more interesting for me, selfishly.
05:17And listen, he might be, he's probably going to be rusty, and he might not be good.
05:20You know, we know.
05:21I mean, Luke, you saw how well the Packers defense played the other day against Philly.
05:25So, it's not going to be an easy task, but at least it's something to look to that's going to be a little different.
05:30And as a former reserve receiver, special teams guy that got, you know, limited reps on the offensive side of things,
05:36selfishly, I'm looking forward to seeing a guy like Gunnar Osheski, who, as you see,
05:41the last couple plays in the 49ers game came up big on the corner route, the touchdown pass from Jackson Dart.
05:48But he is someone that Jameis Winston relied on a lot during the spring and during the summer
05:55in terms of training camp and the preseason.
05:58So, that's a guy.
05:59I know that's not like the sexy pick or anything, especially going up against it.
06:03He's a football guy.
06:04He's a football player.
06:05You know what I mean?
06:05He doesn't have the size, but he's got a lot of heart.
06:07And, you know, you see it in his return game.
06:10So, I agree with you.
06:11Listen, I mean, this is what you're looking at in the last seven weeks.
06:14I mean, there's not much else to look to.
06:15So, not to say he's the future receiver for the Giants, but, you know, I mean, listen,
06:20I would think that all of the Giants receivers will be looking forward to Jameis slinging it around
06:26because I think we pretty much know he's going to.
06:28You know, and the Packers are pretty good against the run,
06:30so I'm not expecting this to be a dominant running game, you know, offensively for the Giants either.
06:35So, yeah, listen, I think at the end of the day, you want to give somebody a chance.
06:39You know, the Giant fan who's obviously downtrodden, something to look forward to and cheer for on Sunday.
06:44They want to see effort.
06:46They want to see guys come out and compete, and I think that's what Gunnar has done the entire time.
06:50He's kind of gotten back here since last year.
06:53Last but not least, we can talk about a little bit of the coaching changes.
06:56Tight ends coach Tim Kelly, who has called plays in the NFL before, gets bumped up to OC.
07:02But a lot of people are going to be talking about the change that didn't happen.
07:06Defense coordinator Mike Kafka is still going to go with Shane Bourne as DC.
07:10So, first, what do you think of Tim Kelly now being, I guess, offensive coordinator in name
07:16and then Kafka not making any changes on the defensive side of the football?
07:21You know, Brandon, I think with Kelly, you know, and you kind of said it right there, in name.
07:25I mean, basically all Kafka that I see he was doing is just placing somebody in the offensive coordinator chair.
07:31Mike is going to continue to call plays, which he said to us, you know, which is going to be, you know,
07:36it's a difficult, it's a lot on somebody's plate, a lot of head coaches who are, I mean,
07:40Dave's wasn't calling plays, you know, a lot of the time.
07:42And he was, you know, that's what he loves to do the most.
07:45So, yeah, I think the Kelly thing is, I don't think you're going to see anything dramatic changes there
07:49in the way the offense, you know, plays.
07:52In terms of the Bowen thing, I really, listen, I don't know Shane well.
07:57I'm here.
07:57I talk to him in the press.
07:58You know, we don't have one-on-one time with these guys.
08:00He seems like a super nice guy.
08:02I just don't, I have not seen a particular identity on defense here since he got here, in my opinion.
08:11And I really feel like if he was, if he had been replaced, I don't have all the answers with whom, I don't know.
08:17But I think that to some degree, I think Brian Dayball was almost to a fault loyal to his people.
08:24I feel like he probably should have been replaced after the Denver game.
08:27I mean, after what happened in Dallas, they let it happen again in Denver.
08:30I think that should have been the last straw for Shane.
08:33And maybe Dayball saves his job, you know, if they don't blow for these fourth quarter leads.
08:39So, you know, we'll see.
08:41Listen, in fairness, I thought the Giants played the run a lot better than they had.
08:45Obviously, a lot better than they had because they've been gashed.
08:48The numbers weren't great at the end of the day, but that was because, you know, Chicago got some stuff late in the game.
08:52But I actually thought they improved their run defense against Chicago, which was number two in the league in Russian defense last week.
08:58But we just need to see more.
09:01I mean, I get it.
09:02The players make the plays.
09:04But, you know, I mean, we're just – I don't like the way they've used Abdul Carter.
09:09I just don't feel like they've kind of, you know, isolated and given him as much of a chance to make plays.
09:14I'm not trying to make excuses for the kid.
09:16Obviously, he's – but I don't know.
09:17It's just – there's been something missing on that offense, I mean, on that defense.
09:20And I can't 100% put my finger on it.
09:25But the common denominator is Shane, you know, Shane Bowen.
09:28I mean, I just feel like it's not been a good product on the field, you know, compared to what the talent they have on the field, if that makes any sense.
09:38Lastly, you've covered New York sports for a long time.
09:41You've gone through coaching changes and regimes.
09:44I mean, Tibbs gets replaced by Mike Brown, Robert Sala gets replaced by Aaron Glenn, and now Mike Kafka on the interim level replaces Brian Dable.
09:54Is this coaching change comparable to any of the – any that you've seen in New York sports history?
10:00Well, there's been too many of them in the last few years on – you know, for both teams, really.
10:05I don't know that I would compare it to anything.
10:07I just – I am a little bit curious to see how the Giants operate under Kafka.
10:11I mean, mostly because he's been – you know, as I mentioned up top, he's been a head coach candidate for the last few years.
10:18He's been – he's been getting a lot of interviews.
10:20I have never – and this is maybe an unfair thing to say, but it's just an impression that I have.
10:26He doesn't come off to me as an incredible leader of men, if that makes any sense.
10:31He's very kind of milquetoast, kind of flatline.
10:33But, again, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors, you know.
10:37So, I think this is a massive opportunity for him, you know, to show how the operation looks under his watch, you know.
10:46And he's got seven games to do it.
10:48All right.
10:49Seven games to do that.
10:51Giants take on the Packers 1 p.m. on Sunday right there at MetLife Stadium.
Be the first to comment