Will Mike Kafka’s motivational speech inspire the Giants? | Blue Rush

Will Mike Kafka’s motivational speech inspire the Giants? | Blue Rush

No Jackson Dart versus Jaden Daniels, but we do get to see if Mike Cathka’s hard knock speech got the Giants all fired up for some Giants verse commanders on Sunday. And we’re down to the stretch run of the season. Can the Giants close this season off with some wins? It’s time for your week 15 blue rush. [Music] Week 15 is here. The Giants are out of a by-week. What’s up everybody? Brandon London in New York Post Sports Giants beat writer Paul Schwarz here for your Blue Rush preview show. As I said earlier, Giants Commanders on Sunday. Giants are out the by week and the Commanders are out of a QB one. So, I guess this one should be a thriller depending on how you look at it. What’s going on, Paul? Uh, how was the bye-week, my man? All rested. Uh, yeah. Um, yeah, the the locker room was very loose on Wednesday. Loud. Um, you know, loud louder than usual. pool ping pong just you know I think guys were happy to get get away um be interesting to see how they respond coming back you know the season’s not over even though it’s you know 25 30 degrees outside so you know we’ll see how that works out and um you like Mike Kafka’s um little um little hard knocks uh postgame the day after the Monday night game um you know as a son of a coach you like that um what what what did let me ask you something the f did you think about that I thought it was effing great you know I thought he was doing what he was supposed to do. You know, you’re trying to get these guys. You’re trying to It’s a It’s a reminder speech. One, we are what we are right now. We just got our butts effing handed to us up in Foxboro. So, when you go away on this by week, reset, refocus. Don’t let me hear anything about any ATV accidents or anything. Don’t bring any noise back with you. Just be ready to lock in for the last four games of the season and try and get some wins. Let’s try and turn this ship around. So, I saw all the I saw all the vitro on, you know, social media, a lot of Giants fans were were upset or unamused by it, but I like seeing that side of Mike Kafka because until he took over as as the head coach or interim head coach, I don’t know, I thought the guy was boring, but now you see a little bit of personality, you see a little fire in CFKA. So, kudos to him for that uh for that rant that he went on. You know, when when look, when you’re when you’re 2 and 11, you can get up there and you can be Lincoln giving the Gettysburg address and and people are going to say, “That sounds like garbage.” Yeah. And, you know, when you’re a winning team, the coach can get up there and, you know, recite nursery rhymes and everyone will say, “Yeah, man, that guy’s a genius. Look how he keeps them loose.” You know, that that’s look how look how he reads those nursery rhymes. So, you know, there was nothing Kafka was going to do or say up there um to be, you know, to be caught, not caught, just filmed on Hard Knocks cameras that was going to appease anybody who is sick of this Giant season. You know, the record is what it is. He hasn’t won a game. So, um you know, he’s he’s doing his best he can. You know, I I certainly didn’t have any problem with it. You know, there was a lot of fbombs in there. And um um I think it’s naive to think that um behind closed doors there aren’t a lot of fbombs in 32 NFL settings. Yeah. And and it’s funny cuz I like I like hearing that type of stuff cuz you know my dad doesn’t curse as a coach. So he’ll he’ll be yelling trying to get guys. Yeah. He doesn’t curse. He doesn’t curse. He’ll try and get guys. And it’s weird Paul because he’ll be like let’s go out there and kick some flipping butt. And you’re like wait what flipping butt? What is flipping? like, you know, so I mean, you know, it’s it’s two ends of the of the spectrum, but, you know, it’s more than one way to to to to kill or skin a cat. And, uh, you know, shout out to Mike Caffa for trying to get these guys kind of revved up and focused going into that by week. Uh, Paul, you mentioned you Wednesday because I didn’t get a chance to go into the locker room this past Wednesday. Uh, Jackson Dart spoke to media. Uh, anything interesting about Jackson Dart and his by-week and his mindset going into the last four games of the season? Well, um, you know, look, he did not he got away from it, but he didn’t really get away from it, okay? You know what I mean? I mean, he he seemed refreshed, you know, he said his body was right, things like that. But he said he self scouted every snap he has taken with the Giants so far. You know, he said we self I self scout. I said, you know, what does that mean? He said I said every snap. He said yes, every snap. Okay. And looking for um um see if he could find similar mistakes, you know, repeat mistakes and try to analyze those. Um he said passing concepts he needs to improve. He looked at some of those and um it was interesting to me that he said, you know, you really check your mechanics to see if they’re in the right spot. You know, during the week it’s hard to do that. You’re game planning, right? You’re you’re in the next game mode, next game mode. you know, you know, you know, look at the look at the look at the film on uh Tuesday, practice on Wednesday, practice on Thursday, practice on Friday. You do individual drills, but you know, it’s about the next game and the game plan. So, he said he really was able to hone in on his mechanics. Um, but, you know, I I also like, you know, Jackson Dart didn’t say, “We’re losing. This is all terrible. I’ve been terrible.” He said, “Generally, I was happy with the offense. We’ve had some explosive plays.” you know, he discount, not discounted, he said other than this past game against the Patriots was, you know, he has said previously was embarrassing. You know, he said, “We’ve done some good things on offense.” And um he seems jacked up to finish the season strong. Um I am not sure if these veteran teammates are. We will see. Like I said, they sounded refreshed and upbeat in the locker room. Is that a sign that they truly are looking forward to these last four games or they’re kind of mentally looking forward to the end of the season? You know, that that’s always a hard thing to gauge. Um, we shall see. We shall see. You didn’t see any golf clubs, right? No golf clubs. No. Um, but there was there was, you know, guy look, you know, a guy like Andrew Thomas was sitting in his locker looking at his phone, not, you know, not partaking in any of this, you know. Um, Brian Burns was not partaking of any of this. Guys are what they are. Dexter Lawrence was not partaking of any of this. But, you know, am I going to criticize guys who always play pool for playing pool? Am I going to criticize guys who always play pingpong for playing pingpong? I mean, that’s always a coach’s decision, right? You know, you lose it six, seven games in a row, out. These things are out. You guys don’t deserve them. They’re out. I’ve seen coaches do that. That’s fine. if you win the next game. He’s a genius. He he he tightened up the locker room. Um you know, play better, perform better, uh um finish games better, and whether you play ping pong or pool, um you know, a guy’s going to be sitting on their sitting at their chairs in a locker um contemplating football 24/7 because these things are not available to them. Play better, have better players, win more games, coach better, do all those things. and um doesn’t matter what the heck you’re doing in the locker room. All right, so we got no Jackson Dart versus Jaden Daniels this matchup. Jaden Daniels is going to be out. Um how are you going to watch this when it comes to I guess evaluating Jackson Dart versus Marcus Mariota? Yeah, you know, it’s it’s um um you know, Jackson Dart has a relationship with Jaden Daniels. you know, it it’s it’s a it’s a onfield relationship for the most part, even though they both have the same quarterback coach, I think, from high school. You know, they they um they were one year apart in the draft cycle. But it’s interesting that they played against each other three times in college at different schools. Um I think it was 2021, I believe it was. Um or maybe 22, I’m not sure. No, 21. Um Jaden Daniels Arizona State team beat Jackson Dart’s USC team when they both were starters. And then a year later, um, Jaden Daniels LSU team beat Jackson Dart’s Old Miss team. And then in 2023, they hooked up for an epic game. Um, 5149, Miss beat LSU. Both quarterbacks had four touchdown passes, no interceptions, and one rushing touchdown. And um um when I brought that up to Jackson Dart, he smiled. He said, “Yeah, you know, I mean, that that’s, you know, it’s too bad I’m not playing Jaden Daniels this time.” and he said, “Believe me, I brought that game up to Malik Neighbors several times, you know, because Malik Neighbors was on the field and and Jackson Dart scored 51 and and Malik’s team scored 45.” But, um, you know, Jackson said, “Look, we’re going to play each other many times, two years, you know, two two games a season for the foreseeable future. He’s looking forward to that.” Um, but we don’t get him. Jaden Daniels is is not playing. Um, you know, we’ll get into a little later about the Commanders and their fall, which is quite remarkable. You have Marcus Mariota and to me you know you know Jaden Daniels and Jackson Dart have a connection. Marcus Mariota and Jameus Winston all have a connect both have a connection also. Do you know what that is? What’s that? They’re f the one picks one and two in the draft. Their year one and two in 2015. You know what I mean? And and if you went back then you know you know we’ve documented you know first round picks always don’t do great. You know first first picks in the draft always don’t do great. But you look at, you know, Jameus Winston, number one in 2015, he was a Heisman Trophy winner. You look at Marcus Mariota, he was number two in 2015. He was a Heisman Trophy winner. Um, Jameus Winston is on the Giants, that’s his fourth NFL team. Marcus Mariota is now starting because Jaden Daniels is hurt for the Commanders. It’s his fifth NFL team. So, you know, when you look at Jackson Dart, he they traded up to get him at number 25. Um, where will he be, you know, in 10 years into his career like Winston and Mariota? Do I do we think he’ll be on the Giants? I think we all hope so. Will he be on his fourth team like Winston? Will he be on his fifth team like Mariota? You don’t know, right? As much as you think you Oh, no. Jackson Dart’s not going to be one of these guys who just goes from team to team. Um, you never know. Um, you never know. Look, I’m not predicting doom for him. Um, you know, Jameus Winston’s a different, you know, different player. Marcus Mariota is a different player. Mariota actually has not played badly this year for the Commanders. He’s one and five as a starter, seven touchdown, um, seven seven interceptions, nine touchdowns. Um, you know, can you make a case that these are the two best backup quarterbacks in the league? Maybe you can, even though, you know, and they both had to start. Jameus Winston is 0 and2 as a starter this year. Marcus Mariota, as I said, is 1 and5. two excellent backup quarterbacks, terrific team guys. Um Jameus Winston’s not playing now because Dart’s back. Marcus Mariota is. And it just goes to show to those people out there that are like, “Oh, the Giants shouldn’t play Jackson Dart because they want them to lose these next four games to secure the number one pick just because you get the first overall pick in the draft.” Whether whether you take a quarterback or not, I don’t see the Giants taking Mendoza or any quarterback with that first overall pick, that does not mean that that quarterback is going to go on and how had a Hall of Fame career to go on and save franchises. So to the people that are out there loud on Twitter right now, Paul, that say that Jackson Dart or the Giant should sit Jackson Dart for the remainder of this season. What saith you to them? Stupid. Stupid. I don’t call Wait, wait. Did you say stupid or did you say stupid? Like, how’d you pronounce that? Stupid. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Either way. Either way. Look, I’m not calling anybody stupid. I’m calling that idea stupid. Can you imagine Mike Kfka and Joe Shane going to Jackson Dart during the by-week and say, “Jack, we love you. We want to protect you. We’re going to sit you these last four games, okay? You’re going to watch. You’re going to mentally grow. You’re going to physically heal and you’re going to sit and watch. You know, we’re not making a playoffs. Could you imagine what Jackson Dart would say? He might demand a trade.” Absolutely. You know, he might actually demand a trade. I mean, um, it’s just insane. Now, should you protect the guy? Yes. Um, god forbid he gets hurt in one of these games and he has to miss time next year. You say, “Why was he playing?” Because there’s no playoffs. Jackson Dart needs to play. That’s what players do. They need to play. They need to learn. Um, you know, if they’re losing a game 316 with six minutes to go, does he have to play? No, he does not. But Jackson Dart needs to get better. And to get better, you have to play. He sat the first three games and he sat two games with a concussion. That’s enough sitting for Jackson Dart. He needs to, you know, maybe by the first game in 2026, he will have gotten all this, should I slide, shouldn’t I slide, how do I deal with this aggressiveness, how do I deal with this blitz pickup, how do I deal with this loss? He can get that all out of his system and he can hit the ground running in 2026 as a, you know, secondyear quarterback who’s got the answers. So, um, you know, I don’t know how loud that that is to him not to play. You know, I know there’s a loud um maybe majority the Giants should lose these games for the first round for the first pick in the draft. I always say this, if you believe that, that’s fine. You’re a fan. Um, if you want to, you know, bang the drums on that, then I want you to come in the locker room and talk to Jackson Dart and talk to Brian Burns and talk to Dexter Lawrence and talk to Juan Delale Robinson and talk to Germaine Aluminor and and these offensive linemen who get down in a stance 70 times a game and they’re getting, you know, you know, having to prevent their head from getting blown up by some animal on on defense across the line from them and tell them play hard but lose, okay? because we want to pick like like like and and I go back to 2019. I forget if we spoke about this earlier on the podcast other podcast what happened in 2019, right? The Giants won their second to last game against the Commanders, right? They weren’t called the Commanders then. They were called Washington Football Team. They won in overtime. Uh Daniel Jones had a big game and everyone said the freaking Giants, right? They won a meaningless game and they screwed up getting the second pick in the draft. The second pick in the draft that year was who? Edge rusher Chase Young from I Ohio State. The next generational edge rusher, right? They needed him. They didn’t get him. They screwed themselves out of that pick by winning a meaningless game, the second to last game of the season. So, the Giants fell all the way down to four and they had to settle for some offensive lineman from Georgia, Andrew Thomas, right? How did that work out? Andrew Thomas’ career versus Chase Young’s career. How did that work out? Don’t tell me draft picks are vitally important. They are after the season. Draft picks are for after the season. Now, if you need a franchise quarterback, okay, if you need a franchise quarterback and you can get the first pick, I’m not saying you should lose, but there are different mechanisms in place there. If that’s it, if the Giants don’t have a quarterback and their scouting is saying Mendoza is going to be the next whoever, my gosh, we we love this kid. Okay. Do you take some measures in the 18th in the 17th game of the year to kind of play hard with backups? Maybe you do. Maybe you do. You know, it’s sickening to do it, but maybe you do. The Giants don’t need a quarterback. Don’t tell me they need to get the number one pick. Now, I think if they got the number one pick, they would trade it anyway. Absolutely. So, if they get the number three pick, I think they’ll probably trade it anyway to get more picks. So, follow the games during the season, then worry about the draft. Yeah. And I I tell you know the the fans that I go back and forth with at times in the group chats and the DMs, what type of message are you sending to that locker room if you say, “Hey, we’re going to bench the guy that’s the future that needs to develop so we can lose games so hopefully this guy that we’re able to draft that the first overall pick can come in and be our savior.” And they always come back to me with, “Well, we look at the message now. they’re already losing it. So what what what does it matter? There’s a difference though between going out there and trying to win football games and losing as opposed to saying, “Hey guys, we are packing it in.” So if you have ownership of a Joe Shane, a GM and Joe Shane or Mike Kfka come in and have that conversation and then Dexter Lawrence or one of those guys gets wind of that conversation. If you thought Malik Neighbors was upset when he thought or question what are they doing in terms of winning that Detroit Lions game, then what do you think he’s going to be tweeting or the attitude that he’s going to have when he catches win that they’re not trying to win around here? These dudes are not serious around here. You know what, Brandon? It’s not even catching wind. You were a player. You were You didn’t need to catch wind of it. You know it. You know it, right? You know it. I mean I mean, did you ever look look a coach in the eye and say, “Coach, I don’t think we’re trying to win this week, right?” You know, I I would guarantee you’ve never felt that way. Is that correct? Ever. Ever. Not even in Pop One. You would know it. you would know it in the practice in what they’re saying and you were and you would say I don’t know if I were if I were you if I was a player I would say I’m checked out man I’m not I’m not doing anything on that field I’m not if they’re not trying to win I’m not trying to win you know if you’re going to put me on a field I’m going to check out I’m going to run halfass routes I’m gonna you know I’ll tackle a guy but I’m not going to you know I’m I’m not going to do anything extreme I mean it’s you can’t do it you it’s just not it’s not look I know fans are fans and players are players. I get it. And here’s another thing. Like it or not, John Maro wants to win games. That has been that what his father told him. Um and you know he and he and and and I remember Wellington Mar used to say and John Mar is a believer of this. He said if we start thinking like fans then we should be sitting in the stands next to them. Okay? Now he wasn’t ripping the fans. He’s just saying, “We love our fans and appreciate our fans.” And Wellington Mara despised going to games late in the season and seeing 25,000 empty seats, right? He always said, “Booing is much better than apathy. I want them showing up, booing us as opposed to not showing up. Apathy is is a killer for a franchise.” But he said, “If we start thinking like fans, we might as well be in the seats next to him.” And John Mara feels the same way. And like it or not, that’s what this franchise is. So when you break it down like that, the next three games of this stretch run are winnable games. You got home versus the Commanders, home versus the Minnesota Vikings. You go to Vegas. Don’t know if that’s on a Saturday or Sunday just yet. And then the Cowboys come into town to to to to end the season. The se the schedule eases up a little bit. Now, Paul, I don’t want to necessarily call it pressure or or meaningless games, but how are you watching these next three? Let’s just keep it to the next three with the bottom of the NFL type teams. How are you watching these next three games? I talked to tight end Theo Johnson the other day in the locker room and he said the word, “These games are opportunities.” And I think there was a good word for a player to say, you know, they’re opportunities for us because, and I know what that meant, and I looked at him and I know what he meant. It meant, you know what I mean? That that if they were going, if they were playing, you know, the Packers this week in Green Bay, I would, you know, that is a opportunity to win, but it’s more likely an opportunity to lose. Um, the Commanders are three and 10. They have lost eight straight games. Okay. The Giants are 2 and 11. They’ve lost seven straight games. You know, if if the NFL could flex this game to 900 a.m. They would have, I think. You know, I mean, they have to leave it at at 1 100 1 p.m. Um, how am I looking at these games is there are jobs on the line and there are jobs on the line. Um, you know, I think Joe Shane, um, it would be better for him. You know, I don’t think fans want to hear this either either, but I think it would be better for Joe Shane if the Giants won some of these games. It’s not like I don’t think ownership is saying these are meaningless games and, you know, the die is cast with him. Yay or nay. I don’t think that’s the case. Um, the Commanders are bad and they’re playing with a backup quarterback. Um, you’re playing at home. Um, why can’t why shouldn’t you win that game? You know, you said winnable games and I kind of cringe when you say that because for a team that’s two and 11, um, is there such a thing? Well, yes, there is such a thing this week. Three and 10. The Vikings are five and eight. I think that’s a little bit misleading. We know they’ve had huge quarterback issues, you know, tremendous, but I think they they’re kind of a pretty good team. They were a really good team last year. They’re a pretty good team masquerading as a bad team right now. And you have the Raiders 2 and 11 who, you know, are one of the three worst teams in the league. And you have to put the Giants in there as well. But, um, I think, you know, your you can make a case for the Raiders being the worst team in the league. And I don’t think Las Vegas is going to be a hotbed of Raider Nation um you know ferocity. I think the Giants will have fans there. So yes, these next three games you said it eased up a bit. This is the first time all season the Giants have had this. The VI Giants have had consecutive back-to backtoback games against losing teams. So the Giants are a losing team, too. So if they want to be the worst of the worst, they’ll lose these games. If they want to say we’re not judged by this company, then they’ll win some of these games. That’s all there is to it. Yeah, just win, baby. They got to win these games, Paul. Like, I just think about the psyche going into the off season. Talk about trying to get that that losing stank off of you. And when you’re a guy like Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, you I know Brian Burns, this is only his second year here, but he’s he’s played for some losing teams. I don’t think he’s been to the playoffs his entire career uh as an NFL athlete. So, he hasn’t been close. He hasn’t been close. He hasn’t even been close. So when you’re Juan Dell and you’re up for, you know, you’re you’re up for a re-up year and Cordell Flot, uh, Theo Johnson wanting to show that he is the TE1 that this team needs to needs to have or he can be for Jackson Dart. I love the way that he used the word opportunity because it’s there for absolutely everybody in the room. And when you think about the Jets, how they blew, the Jets blew up, you know, Quinnon traded Quinnon Williams away, S Gardner, fans hated it because they love those guys. But when you’re losing, you got to go. You look at the Mets, Brendan NMO, Ed Edwin Diaz is gone now. Pete Alonzo, everyone’s in the uproar, but that core never really won any meaningful playoff games or never got past the NLCS. When you’re losing, things get blown up. So, you want to try and end on the best note or the best foot as you can when it comes to NFL seasons because you are going to be judged that off season about not only what you did that prior season, but what your team did and the impact you had on the winning and losing as well. So, it’s unfortunate that we’re here, but at the end of the day, the show must go on and the Giants got to put their best foot forward for the next four weeks. Uh, thank you all for watching the Blue Rush preview show. We’re going to have the postgame show live right after the Giants Commanders game on Sunday. For Paul Schwarz, I’m Brandon London. Thanks for watching. Blue. [Music]

With four games remaining in the Giants’ lost 2025 season, Paul Schwartz and Brandon London discuss how Big Blue should handle the rest of Jaxson Dart’s rookie season while looking ahead to New York’s Week 15 home matchup against the Washington Commanders and much more.

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