Mike Kafka Previews Matchup vs. Vikings | New York Giants

Mike Kafka Previews Matchup vs. Vikings | New York Giants

Just a couple updates on practice. So Bo Collins won’t go today. Flanigan Foss Nacho and Kavon. Everyone else will be up. We’re open up Evan Neil as well. So he’ll be out there today. It’ be good to see him. >> You said Nacho’s not going there. >> No. >> Why opening up Neil at this point? >> Just he’s he’s ready to roll. Good to get him out there and get some get some work out, you know, out in practice. >> Who’s going to be kicking for you this week? Is it going to be Ben? Well, yeah. Right now, Ben Ben will be Ben will be rolling today. You guys >> exploring bringing someone in. >> Well, I mean, that’s the discussions that we got to have, but right now Ben’s we’re we’re confident what Ben has. >> Mike, you you’ve been around this game a long time. I mean, to go through you have that he he would be your eighth kicker or if anyone that hasn’t kicked since the start of two years ago, is it as a coach, how do you look at that? How do you describe? Is it bad luck? Is it bad planning? H how do you see that? >> No, I think it’s a great opportunity for for Ben for him to step up and and go kick for our team. Um it’s opportunity for him. We’ve we’ve dealt with injuries and injuries happen all across the league. So there’s, you know, there’s no excuses to that. Like it happens at every position, quarterbacks, O line, Dline. You see it across um the league. You see it across each team. So it’s just another opportunity for Ben to go step up for us. >> Where’s Jamie at? Dylan. >> Uh Jamie will get some work today. Yeah, he’ll get some work today. >> And Gunnar, did he clear? >> He cleared. Yes, he did. >> With Kavon, obviously, is there any change as far as like thinking about shutting him down? It’s been what, four or five games now? >> No change yet. He’s still he’s still um he’s still working hard. Um so, at some point, we’ll make a a decision, but right now he’s just working through it and you know, there’s some comfortability that he has to get through, but >> he’s working hard at it. I’m sorry. >> Sorry. Will that come before this upcoming game or next week? >> We’re just day by day right now. Like, there’s no hard deadline on it. We’re just kind of working through it. if he feels good um and the doctors clear him, then he’ll be out there. >> Is it a strength issue or is it a ability to be able to sustain hits? Like what what at what point are you guys at with what he needs to show you? >> I’m not going to get into too much of the details for for like that specific. But when Kavon is working his tail off to get ready, whenever he’s the strength and whenever all the inflammation and whenever he feels good and we all feel confident about it and the doctors clear him, then he’ll be up. Mike, a lot of times later in a season like this when when the team’s out, they might get some younger guys opportunity to play early evaluation, see them actually in games with with Evan, I know he’s not the youngest guy, but he hasn’t played as much new position at guard. I mean, is is your thought process at all getting him on the field to to evaluate him there, or is it just practice and see where he is? >> Yeah, I hope that’s not really in the thought process. We got five guys that are playing their butt off right now for us and we’re not looking to make any changes. Mike, I know uh facing a Brian Flores defense is a challenge for any quarterback. Is there any differences in those challenges when it’s a young quarterback like Jackson kind of seeing a Flores defense for the first time? >> Yeah. No, he’s he’s going to he’s going to present you with a bunch of different looks, coverages, max blitzes, max coverage. So, drop eight coverage zero. I think one of the most important things that we, you know, we got to look at and study is, you know, to get back on track calls. you know what I’ve done, what he’s done, how he wants to handle that, you know, whether it’s by personnel groups, whether it’s by concepts and scheme, where can I be aggressive, where is he going to be aggressive? So, I think that’ll be, you know, a touch point for us as we go through the week. >> With a defense that is so aggressive, does that give you opportunities? I mean, obviously, we know the drawbacks for an offense, but if they are going to be aggressive, can you take advantage of certain situations if you get the right look? >> Absolutely. Absolutely. I think that’s just everyone being on the same page and you know having to operate and again easing to show Blitz Zero looks easier looks then pop out and play coverage behind it. So having the answers either built into the play call having the answers built into our system and then just the communication across the board is going to have to be really good because they present a bunch of different personnel packages as well. So you have to find a way to kind of um isolate certain things. You have to find a way to to continue to play fast and operate at a high level. >> With how aggressive he is, is there anything you can do before the the headsets cut off before snap to to help Jackson with what he’s seeing? >> Absolutely. And that’s that’s part of that the just the coach the quarterback communicator and talking him through. Yeah. Here’s, you know, here’s the play, you know, don’t forget about this. Think about this if you get this look. So, just that’s just like kind of the normal talk that that we have. even if it’s just not a type look, you know, where I’m always just giving him some reminders, just open to that dialogue because I do have the opportunity to do that. So, I want to maximize as much time as as I can talk to him and and he I think he likes it. He likes that feedback, that constant talk as he’s seeing the same thing. And sometimes he sees something that I’m seeing, but he’s like, “All right, I I got it. I got this one under control or um or even, you know, have an adjustment of his own that he liked a little bit better.” So that’s that’s but that’s built up through the week and then it carries over into the game. >> When the commanders were um preparing for you guys and Jackson, you know, they were heard on hard knock saying we can take the ball off him. >> Um what do you think of that? What do you think of his ball security and you know that’s obviously a huge thing for any rookie quarterback. Yeah, it’s it’s something we emphasize every single week and Jackson does a really good job of holding on to the football um and and being a runner and protecting himself and you know, I think all those things as as we continue to work on them, not just with Jackson, but all the skill guys and this group that we’re playing this week is is one of the best. They’re top three in the league in terms of turnovers, fumbles, fumble recoveries. Um so they do a great job punching out the football. So, we got to have drills and we got to have an intent on each day in practice here to make sure we get that cleaned up and make sure we’re excellent on the game day >> with all that emphasis and everything and you know, there’s been so much talk around Jackson and with Jackson about running, protecting all this other stuff. I mean, you are were a quarterback, you’re around quarterbacks. I mean, is it all too much? I mean, is it is it like you’re going to emphasize what he needs to do, but is there a narrative with Jackson that you think is just getting completely overblown with this stuff? I don’t I don’t necessarily listen to the the narratives out there. I just me and Jackson talk each day. We talk about what’s important for his job, what’s important for the offense, how he’s going to lead it, how he’s going to operate throughout the week, how I can help him be an asset for game day. Um and then really the most important thing is just today. What what’s our objectives today? It’s first, second down, it’s the two-minute, it’s blitz emphasis, right? So those are the things that we’re operating with and those are things that we talk about on daily. you know, don’t get too bogged down with all the other stuff is all right, let’s focus on what we can control today in the workday. >> Do you sense any confusion or or trepidation or hesitation in him? You know, you talk all the time with him about all this, about should I, shouldn’t I, can I just go out and play? People tell me I should do this, that kind of stuff. You I’m sure you talk about that a lot with him. >> Yeah, I I don’t sense that. I sense a really aggressive player that’s continuing to learn and grow and, you know, build an offense around him and he’s taking all that in and he’s making it his own and putting his fingerprint on it. >> He admitted after the game he didn’t really understand quite fully why he was taken out of the game. You guys obviously talked to the league every week. What What have they told you about that? >> Um, you know, I’m not going to get it I’m not going to get into like the injury stuff and the and the refs, but that was their decision. And again, like I said on Monday, you know, they got to make a decision in the betterment for the betterment of the players. If they feel like a guy has got dinged up, then they got to make that call. And, you know, I respect it. It’s it’s all for player safety. And so, I support it. I’m I’m for it. Obviously, you don’t want a guy to ever come out of the game. But, if it’s because it’s for a reason that they think is someone’s hurt, then we get him looked at and we get him back into the game. And that’s just another opportunity for another guy on our team to step up and go make the play while he’s out. I ask you because the reality is they’ve called now four times for him to be checked. All four of those times he actually, >> you know, passed. Is there anything you guys can do? Because like every time he has to come off the field, you guys have to, you know, you’re changing quarterbacks in the middle of drives, in the middle of plays. Is there anything you guys can do about that to sort of prevent this from happening? >> You know what? I don’t I I don’t know because every week is a is a new week in terms of the refs and how they see it. And again, football’s a violent game, so it’s all up to interpretation of the refs. Again, I respect it. I understand the wise behind it. Um, but, you know, I think just that communication and understand like they got to make a judgment call like split-second decisions just like the players do within the play. And again, those are things that just come up. We live with it and that’s why we have great quarterbacks and great depth at our position so those guys can step up and great trust in Jamus and and Russ to go do that. >> Mike, how would you assess? Obviously, you guys miss Malik, but how would you assess how the offense has looked as a whole without him? Obviously Jackson’s played well. Wandell’s closing on a thousand yards and your Titans have stepped up. How would you assess how this offense has looked without Val? Not saying he’s not important, but just stepping up without him as a whole. >> Yeah, I think I think everyone everyone not just the receiver room, but the running back room, you know, in terms of Scott, the old line room stepping up, the quarterback, I mean, the whole collective, and that’s just a comp that’s a, you know, a compliment to our our coaching staff and those guys getting them to rally around each other, the players getting to rally around each other. I’m just really proud of that group for stepping up regardless of the injuries, regardless of the situation, continuing to fight, continuing to battle, coming in and having rockstar walkthroughs, um, and having installations that open up great dialogue and communication between the coaches and the players to really make sure we’re all on the same page. And so I’m proud of the group. We have a bunch of great leaders. You know, you hit on Juanell and Sllayton, but you can go down the list of, you know, Andrew Thomas, GVR, you know, Renan, JMS, you know, I mean, Illuminor. These are all leaders on this on that front that front five that that stand out to me. You know what I mean? Um, and I’m proud of those guys. Like, these guys step up when when there’s an opportunity for them to step up and make a play, they they’ve made them. And um, again, I can’t express how much I I appreciate that. >> We’ll take three more. On that note, mentioning the leaders, you mentioned obviously just, you know, you guys have been in these games, it just haven’t gone the way you wanted it to. How pleased are you with how the guys have competed even though like for the first half >> wasn’t didn’t go as well as you wanted. Second half you guys played better. How impressed have you been with how the guys have competed during this losing streak even though the wins haven’t come? >> Yeah, I think the the main goal is to win. You know, we want to we want to win and there’s no um there’s no substitute for that. I think the guys are playing their tails off. I appreciate that, but we got to continue to find a way, continue to push just a little bit more. Where’s our edge that we can find to get ourselves over the hump to win a game? Um, and that’s things that we’ve stressing though, whether it’s fundamentals, right? Whether it’s scheme, whether it’s matchups, those are things that we’re going to evaluate and continue to try and grow from. But, um, yeah, I mean, I think, yes, all that stuff is right. We’re battling. We’re we’re playing hard. That’s good. We’re going to need that. We’re need more of that to win. Obviously, you guys did a lot of work on JJ McCarthy when he was coming out of the draft last year. What did you see from him then and what and when you’re watching the film, what what do you see from him now? >> I really enjoyed our my time with him and working working him out and getting to know him over the course really sharp kid, great kid with cool personality. Um, obviously he’s having some production right now. Um, is doing a nice job of, you know, kind of managing that game and own owning how they’re operating on offense and um, you know, getting the ball to his playmakers. He’s operating fast and and aggressive. >> What do you mean by his personality? >> I just He’s got a unique personality. Like not every I think he’s got just kind of a laid-back chill, but when the lights turn on and when the ball’s out there, rolls out there, like he kind of he flips a little bit of a switch. And it’s a cool cool to watch that.

Interim head coach Mike Kafka speaks to the media Wednesday from the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

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