0:04 It's time for a big blue kickoff live. 0:06 Nobody can ever tell you that you couldn't do it 0:09 because you didn't. 0:09 On Giants.com. You know what I saw? New York Giant pride. 0:14 And the Giants mobile app. 0:16 17-14 is the final. One touchdown, we are world champions. 0:20 Believe it, and it will happen. 0:21 Part of the Giants podcast network. 0:23 Let's go out there like a bunch of crazy dogs 0:25 and have some fun. Hello again, everybody, and welcome to 0:28 Friday's edition of Big Blue Kickoff Live, presented by Cadillac, 0:32 the official luxury vehicle of the New York football giants. 0:35 Paul Dottino and Matt Saitak joining you for the next 0:38 hour to talk New York Giants football. And we come 0:41 to you from the Giants podcast studio, presented by Hackensack 0:45 Meridian Health. Keep getting better. Our phone number, if you'd 0:48 like to join the program, is 201-939-4513, 201-939-4513. 939-4513. And 0:57 as always, you can hit us up on the simulcast, 1:00 which is on the New York Giants YouTube page. You 1:03 can get us there with questions and comments if you like, 1:06 and a tube bashful to call in. That's not a problem. 1:08 We still want you to participate into the program. And 1:11 as always, an archive of this program and our entire 1:14 podcast network is on the Giants mobile app, podcast platforms everywhere, 1:19 the Giants YouTube channel, and at Giants.com slash podcasts. All right, Matt, 1:25 this is the final real practice day. We know on 1:28 Saturdays there's always a walkthrough. But this is the final 1:31 true practice day for the Giants as they prepare for 1:34 the Sunday 1 o'clock home game against the New Orleans Saints. 1:38 Giants looking to go 4-0 at home, which would just 1:41 be a sensational start to what has been a real 1:46 eventful season, not just for the Giants, but around the NFL. 1:50 I mean, of course, we learned about Jalen Hurts yesterday 1:52 now having a blood clot in his leg, and he's 1:54 out indefinitely for Philly. So this division has really been 1:58 topsy-turvy as we have gotten through the first five weeks 2:02 of the season. But for the Giants, Matt, we saw 2:05 the injury report yesterday. And there are some important players 2:10 on that report who have missed some practice time because 2:13 of bumps and bruises. 2:15 And we're going to be looking very carefully. 2:17 Over the course of the next 24 to 48 hours 2:20 to find out if these guys are going to be 2:21 able to go. Yeah, for sure. 2:23 So. 2:23 Of course, the final injury report will be released at 2:26 4 p.m. today, as we have been over this the 2:30 past few Fridays. So that is when we will get 2:33 some sort of clarity on some of these big-name players. 2:35 But the guys that Paul was mainly referring to are 2:40 the two starting offensive tackles, Andrew Thomas, who has been 2:45 dealing with a nagging groin issue, and then Jermaine Illuminor, 2:49 who suffered a calf injury last week. Neither one of 2:54 them practiced on Wednesday or Thursday. The team is currently 2:58 out on the field right now. 3:00 So we are here. 3:01 We don't know 100%, but based on some of the 3:05 tweets from the beat reporters that are out there during 3:07 the viewing period, it does seem like both players are 3:11 in full uniform out there practicing. 3:14 Which obviously is a good sign. If they were nowhere 3:16 to be. 3:17 Seen on the practice field today, it would certainly put 3:20 some doubt into their status for Sunday, the fact that 3:23 they are both out there. I mean, Thomas has been 3:25 through this routine now for the last couple of weeks. 3:28 He's a warrior. 3:29 He doesn't practice Wednesday, doesn't practice Thursday, gets at least limited, 3:33 if not full, on Friday, and then good to go Sunday. 3:36 The fact that he's out there right now seems like 3:39 he's heading in that direction again. 3:42 We'll have to see at 4 o'clock. 3:44 But Jermaine Illuminor is the bigger one because he suffered 3:48 that injury and, you know, it didn't look good at first. 3:50 And you hear a calf injury, obviously that could, you know, 3:53 be a little alarming, but the fact that he is 3:56 out there right now, it's a good sign, you know, 3:59 whether or not he plays Sunday, the fact that he 4:01 is out there in some capacity today would be a 4:04 good sign that at least it's not a serious long-term concern, 4:08 at least as of right now. And then the third, 4:11 you know, big name player that did not practice Wednesday 4:14 or Thursday, Abdul Carter. who played the whole game this 4:18 past Sunday. There was no report about an injury. So 4:21 when he popped up on the injury report Wednesday, I 4:24 think it raised some eyebrows from people. But according to 4:28 the beat reporters, Abdul Carter is also out there and 4:32 he is participating. The beats are saying he's a full 4:36 go in the individual pass rushing drills. Of course, we'll 4:41 wait and see until we get the full injury report 4:44 to see How much participation all three of those guys did, 4:47 but the fact that the three of them are out 4:49 there certainly is a. 4:50 Good sign, or at least trending in the right. 4:53 Direction, as coach likes to say, for Sunday's game. We'll 4:56 have to wait until four o'clock to see if any 4:59 of them get listed as questionable or. 5:01 Doubtful or ruled out. But again, the fact that they 5:04 are out there right now. Certainly a good sign. 5:07 And player number four, Tyler Newbin, with a neck injury, 5:10 has not been at practice this week. Again, I don't 5:14 know if any of the writers during the media portion 5:17 of practice had anything to say about him. 5:19 Yeah, so there were two other guys that did not 5:21 participate in practice Wednesday or Thursday. 5:25 Newbin is one. 5:26 Who's dealing with a neck injury, neck issue, and then 5:29 Colton Hood would be the other, who is in the 5:32 concussion protocol. According to the Beats, neither one of those 5:36 two defensive backs are out there today. 5:38 So for all the. 5:40 Positive trending in the right direction for the first three 5:42 guys I talked about, you could say the opposite about 5:45 the other two. 5:46 The fact that they're not on the practice field all. 5:48 Week, it would certainly put a cloud over their status 5:53 for Sunday. But again, we will find out with some 5:56 level of certainty at 4 o'clock. 5:59 And quickly, the two most important saints on the injury 6:02 report that you want to take a look at, guys 6:04 who are out amongst the starters. Chris Olave, their spectacular 6:08 wide receiver, was ill the last couple of days. So, 6:13 you know, I was just going to say it could 6:15 be a stomach illness, could be a flu illness, who 6:17 knows what type of illness it is. But I would 6:20 assume that, you know, with a couple of extra days 6:22 to take some medicine, I would assume that he's going 6:24 to be OK. But we don't know for sure. And 6:28 then obviously, Caden Ellis, their weak side, starting weak side linebacker. 6:34 He's got one of those calf things that we keep 6:36 talking about. 6:37 I mean. Back in the old days, you never heard 6:39 about a. 6:39 Calf injury, and you certainly didn't worry about a guy 6:43 missing a whole lot of time from one of those. 6:45 But in today's NFL, those things seem to pop up 6:48 a lot, and they mysteriously linger a lot longer than 6:52 people would hope. So I don't necessarily know what his 6:55 deal is, but Ellis is one of their starting linebackers, 6:58 and to this point, he has not practiced this week 7:01 because of a calf injury. Now, a couple of things 7:05 to keep in mind about this game. And I think, 7:09 you know, when you look at the matchup, and again, 7:11 our number is 201-939-4513. I think any team that is 7:17 going into a game against the New Orleans Saints is 7:20 going to want to keep in mind a couple of 7:22 very important items. Number one is that they have been 7:26 very unbalanced on offense. 7:28 They are all. 7:29 About Chuck throwing the ball. Chuck chucking it, for lack 7:34 of a better term. Chuck is a chuck. because they 7:38 have not run the ball very well at all. Travis 7:41 Etienne came up with a hammy a couple weeks back, 7:45 and he hasn't played the last two games, and he's 7:47 still on IR. So he was supposed to be their 7:50 main go-to running back this year. Alvin Kamara, third-down specialist, 7:55 he's been around a long, long, long, long time, and 7:57 he's not the kind of guy they're going to want 7:59 to give the ball to 25 times a game. That's 8:01 just not where he is at this point in his career. 8:06 their running game leaves a lot to be desired. So 8:09 they have become basically, to this point, a one-dimensional team. 8:13 They are 1-4. 8:15 They have lost the last three games in a row 8:17 by allowing 35, 45, and 23 points. So basically what 8:23 you're looking at is an offensive line that's had an 8:26 awful lot of trouble protecting Shuck. You also have an 8:31 offensive line that has not particularly blocked well for the 8:34 run and a running back core that really hasn't been able. 8:37 To gain any footing. 8:39 So they're certainly challenged on offense, despite the fact that 8:44 Olave is one of the most potent receivers, as Dan 8:49 Solomon upstairs, Ohio State alum, will remind us every step 8:52 of the way. Olave is a very dangerous player. And 8:57 on defense, they also have had a tremendous amount of 9:02 trouble offensively. 9:03 Stopping the run. 9:04 Now we know the Giants have had their own troubles 9:06 stopping the run, but New Orleans has had even more 9:09 trouble stopping the run. So basically what I've kind of 9:15 spelled out for you is that the Saints have had 9:17 a lot of trouble on both sides of the trenches. 9:21 And if you are going to play them, as the 9:23 Giants will on Sunday, it would seem to me that's 9:27 the first place that you're going to start. And look, 9:30 it's football 101 anyway. You have to win the trenches. 9:33 That's always the top priority of any coach going into 9:36 any game. But especially when you're playing a team that 9:39 has been challenged on both sides of the line. 9:42 Yeah, for sure. 9:43 I mean, you look at the Saints offense and they've 9:46 been pretty one-dimensional defensively. You mentioned the struggles in the 9:52 run game. Travis, it's actually Travis Achan. I didn't know 9:57 if you knew that, but he had told the media 9:59 before the season started that the actual pronunciation is Travis Achan. 10:04 He told them to change the pronunciation yes but I 10:07 did not catch that. 10:08 It's weird because A he's been in the league. 10:11 For like five years yes never said a word yes 10:14 and he played at Clemson as they won a national 10:15 championship never said a word and his brother still goes 10:18 by Trevor Etienne So there's a little. 10:21 Bit of disconnect there. 10:22 So what is his rationale? Did he tell people why? 10:24 He said that's the real pronunciation, how it's supposed to be. 10:28 And now he decides to tell us. Yes. Okay. Apologies. 10:31 And now we got it right. 10:33 Make sure Bob. 10:34 Knows this on Sunday, okay? 10:35 Well, he is on injured reserve, so he won't be 10:37 calling his name on Sunday. And as you mentioned, they 10:42 have Alvin Kamara there who, while he did score two 10:45 touchdowns a couple weeks ago, he barely played this past 10:48 week and he's been dealing with a back issue, practicing 10:51 limited this week, but I don't know if that back issue, 10:54 you know, flared up or something last week against Minnesota, 10:56 but he barely played. 10:57 I think he had like five touches. 10:59 And then they have Kendra Miller, who's been around the 11:01 league for a couple of years. Not, Not the most 11:05 explosive or exciting running back. 11:07 He hasn't run for more than 30 yards in any 11:09 one game this year. 11:10 No. 11:10 So he's not a guy. 11:12 They're looking to feed the ball to. 11:13 Definitely not. 11:14 And so I think even when Travis Achan was playing, 11:17 he wasn't having too much success. I mean, he was 11:19 having more success than these guys, but they weren't really 11:21 feeding him the ball too much. 11:23 You look at their splits on offense. 11:25 They rank 27th in rushing attempts on the season and 11:29 then second in passing attempts. So this is a pretty 11:32 one-dimensional offense. They rely on Tyler Shook to pass the ball. 11:36 As you mentioned, Chris Olave among the league's leading receivers 11:40 outside of Jackson Smith and Jigba in Seattle. Chris Olave 11:43 is kind of number two right now in most receiving categories, 11:47 two or three. When Shook drops back, he almost always 11:51 looks for Chris Olave, who's been fantastic. That is, you know, 11:55 slowing down. Chris Olave has got to be one of 11:57 the biggest focal points for the Giants defense this week. 12:01 And I think, you know, The game against the Vikings 12:05 for New Orleans last week sort of gave, I think, 12:09 Denard Wilson a great blueprint on how to attack this offense. 12:13 You mean the 60% blitz situation that the Vikings dropped 12:17 on them? 12:17 So we know the Vikings, they are the most blitz-heavy 12:21 team in the NFL. They've been this way since Brian 12:23 Flores took over as defensive coordinator every year. This year, 12:27 there's no change in that. but Tyler Shook really, really struck, 12:32 like had the worst game of his career last week 12:35 against Brian Flores' blitzing team. Now, since Brian Burns went 12:40 down with his injury, which was towards the end of 12:43 week three, so it'll only be two games, but in 12:45 that two-game span, Denard Wilson and the Giants' defense ranks 12:49 second in the NFL in blitz rate. They have blitzed 12:52 a significant increase the last two weeks compared to the 12:55 first three games. 12:57 And it's led to success. 12:58 I mean, the Giants have seven sacks over the last 13:00 two games compared to one sack in. 13:01 The first three games. 13:02 And a whole lot of pressures, too. And a whole 13:04 lot of pressure. So, of course, I would assume that 13:07 New Orleans is going to game plan for this increase 13:11 in blitzing by the Giants. And based on what happened 13:13 last week, I'm assuming Tyler Shook, the game plan is 13:17 going to be for him to try to get the 13:18 ball out of his hands as quickly as possible, whether 13:21 that's to Chris Olave, Devon Vele, who is their number 13:25 two receiver and having a pretty good start to his season, 13:28 Juwan Johnson, the veteran tight end that's been around forever 13:31 and having. 13:32 A good start to his season. 13:33 I would assume that Kellen Moore will try to get 13:36 Tyler Shook to get the ball out of his hands 13:38 pretty quickly, but nonetheless, I expect the Giants to... To 13:42 continue what they've been doing the last two weeks because 13:44 it's kind of been working. I'm not saying every single play, 13:47 but they're going to be blitzing a good amount. 13:51 Obviously, it seems like. 13:53 Abdul Carter being on the practice field today is a 13:55 good sign for Sunday. But even if he's a little 13:59 bit less than 100%, that could be even more of 14:02 a reason to send all these extra blitzes. Guys from 14:05 the secondary, Drew Phillips had two sacks yesterday. this past 14:08 week yep Arvel Reese I don't know if you saw 14:11 this but this was a next-gen stat that uh over 14:15 the last was it just last week yeah uh in 14:20 week five he registered Arvel Reese registered 16 pass rushes 14:26 against the commanders and that led to five pressures and 14:29 his first career sack and this was a humongous increase 14:34 from the first four games of the season so I 14:36 think Obviously, once Brian Burns went down, Denard Wilson and 14:41 the coaching staff have been trying to figure out a 14:44 way is how do we, you know, not make up 14:47 for the loss, but sort of work around the loss 14:51 of Brian Burns in order to still be able to 14:52 get consistent pressure on the opposing quarterbacks. And that's going 14:56 to mean Arvo Reece. Going after the quarterback a little 14:59 bit more, which is a good thing. It's going to 15:01 mean sending blitzes, sending Drew Phillips, other guys in the secondary. 15:05 I expect Denard Wilson to try to make Tyler Shook 15:08 as uncomfortable as possible in the pocket on Sunday. 15:11 Yeah. 15:12 You know, Coach Wilson said during his media briefing the 15:15 other day that he enjoys sending a lot of heat, 15:20 much like Wink Martindale did when he was here with 15:23 the Giants. And he said the thing about it is 15:26 that the Giants defensive unit as a whole, they're athletic 15:31 and they're fast. And he said that he truly believes 15:35 he can send anybody, safety blitzes, corner blitzes. It doesn't 15:39 just have to be linebackers. He can send anybody because 15:44 all of these guys have the ability, when they are 15:46 called upon, they can make the blitz effective. They can 15:50 get home quick enough to to allow him to make 15:54 those calls. And the other part to this, everybody knows this, 15:58 when you send extra guys, you're taking a risk because 16:02 that means the. 16:03 Guys on the back end have to hold up. 16:06 And he has a tremendous amount of trust in this 16:08 giant secondary. They have proven to him that they can 16:13 hold up and that he can feel free to call 16:17 any kind of blitz that he wants because they are 16:20 going to get the job done on the backside. So 16:23 it's not as much of a risk in his mind. 16:26 knowing that his guys will hold down the fort. So 16:29 I think that's a very impressive situation. 16:33 For the Giants. 16:34 It's a great dynamic for them to have, especially against 16:38 a team that has trouble handling a pass rush. I 16:42 will tell you that Shuck threw for less than 100 16:46 yards last week. In the previous games, he had thrown 16:50 for 250 or more. But last week, I believe it 16:53 was 96 yards passing. It was brutal. They did not have... 16:58 The Vikings, I believe, if I'm... You maybe can check 17:02 this for me, Matt. I believe they only had one 17:05 play of 15 yards or more during the course of 17:08 the game. That was it. One. And I think it 17:11 was like 16 yards was their longest play from scrimmage. 17:15 They had a tremendous amount of difficulty handling the blitz. 17:19 And now. 17:20 When I say blitz, I want to make sure you 17:22 guys understand. 17:23 I mean, there were some plays that when I watched 17:25 the replay of the Vikings game against the Saints, you 17:29 could see seven guys up on the line, but only 17:32 four guys are coming. So they'll do what's called a 17:36 zone blitz because all of a sudden, you know, they 17:39 got seven guys up on the line. Now the pass protectors, 17:42 you know, the center and the quarterback are trying to 17:44 call out a protection. 17:46 And boom, three guys drop out. 17:48 And you have no idea which three guys are dropping 17:51 out and which four guys are coming or which five 17:54 guys are coming. So there's a lot of mental gamesmanship 18:00 that goes into calling blitzes. And Denard Wilson's a master 18:04 of it. And I think that it would be naive 18:09 to think that he would shy away from that. against 18:13 a team that is challenged by that very factor. I 18:17 would also add that if you are the Saints, one 18:20 thing that you may try to do, they are number 18:23 one in terms of no huddle offense. Now, part of 18:26 that's because they've been behind a lot, so they've had 18:28 to do it. But over 16% of the time this year, 18:31 they've run a no huddle offense. They'll run a lot 18:34 of three wide receiver sets and no huddles and try 18:37 to go up-tempo. And basically the only thing they've been 18:41 able to do to try to combat that kind of 18:45 pressure that the Giants could potentially provide, they don't have 18:50 much of a running game. 18:51 So what do you do? You're talking about short passes. 18:54 And Tyler Shuck. 18:56 You know, we have that nickname in football. We call 18:58 it Checkdown Charlie. Well, Tyler Shuck is very much about 19:04 the check down. He throws probably more five-yard dumps than 19:10 anybody in this league. I don't have the stat for you, 19:14 but when you watch the tape, you see it habitually. 19:18 That's his way of trying to get around a sack 19:21 and trying to avoid it. Because he's been sacked, I think, 19:24 13 times this year. But he's constantly checking down with 19:28 the little dump pass. That's about all they can do 19:32 to prevent disaster. 19:34 You set me up perfectly, because I do have the 19:36 stats mentioning exactly what you're talking about. 19:38 Well, go ahead. 19:39 Ready to go. 19:39 So Tyler Shook has been blitzed so far this season 19:42 on 32.4% of his dropbacks, nearly one-third of the time 19:46 that he drops back. This has led to an average 19:49 of only... 5.4 yards per attempt, which is the sixth 19:53 lowest in the NFL, and a 6.8% explosive pass rate, 19:58 which is the second lowest of any quarterback in the NFL. 20:03 Now, when he faces. 20:04 Four or fewer pass rushers, so not a blitz, that 20:08 explosive pass rate is jumps to 17.1%, which is the 20:12 sixth highest. 20:13 So we know he can chuck it. Oh, he's got 20:16 an arm. 20:16 When he is able to, you know, get time in 20:19 the pocket and he's comfortable in the pocket, he is 20:23 going to slice up whatever defense he is facing. He 20:26 has shown that, but he doesn't seem to, at least 20:29 so far in his young NFL career, he doesn't seem 20:32 to be able to handle the pressure, the blitzing too well. 20:36 I mean, again, Last week, the Vikings, you know, they 20:39 sent the house at him more often than not, and 20:43 he had one of the worst games of his NFL career. So, 20:47 and I was going back before about Arvel and his 20:51 pass rushing. You know, we've spoken a lot over the 20:54 years about the Giants, the quote-unquote NASCAR package. And obviously, 20:59 going into the season, that included Brian Burns, the thought 21:02 of it, but that's no longer the case. 21:05 Over the last two weeks. 21:07 Orville Reese has lined up on the defensive front with 21:11 Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeau on 33 snaps. The Giants, 21:15 or this package with Orville Reese lined up there, they 21:18 have had a pressure rate of 55.6% and six sacks. 21:20 Let's just say. 21:29 This could be an eventful day for the Giants defense. 21:32 All right, folks, 201-939-4513. We've taken enough of your time. 21:37 It's time for you guys to take up some of 21:39 our time. Give us a phone call, and let's talk 21:42 about this game on Sunday. And let's see, Johnny Mac, 21:46 we will go to the first phone call of the show, 21:49 and this one is going to be John in Cape Cod. 21:52 You are first on Big Blue Kickoff Live. Hello. 21:55 Good afternoon, Paul, Matt. 21:58 What's up, John? 21:59 How you doing, John? 22:00 Hope you guys are well. 22:01 Yes, sir. 22:02 Thank you. 22:03 A couple of things. Kellen Winslow, I think, is a 22:09 good offensive coach dealing with a lot of problems. So 22:13 I know the Giants because they're so. 22:15 Well- You mean Kellen Moore, don't you? 22:16 Yeah. 22:18 Yeah, when he was with the Cowboys, he was very creative. 22:22 So you may see some unusual stuff in this game. 22:25 But anyway, if there were any other coaches besides Harbaugh, 22:30 I'd say this would be the kind of track game 22:34 the Giants should watch out for. But I know they're 22:38 going to be ready. It's just... On paper, they've got 22:42 it all over the Saints, and it looks like a win, 22:45 but it's football. 22:47 Not only the fact that, obviously, Coach Harbaugh is here, 22:50 and I agree with you that he doesn't allow this 22:53 team to go into any game with the mindset of, like, oh, 22:55 this is going to be an easy win, but the 22:57 Giants are underdogs in this game, which I don't really understand, 23:01 considering the Saints are 1-4 and have lost three straight games, 23:04 and the game is at MetLife Stadium. But, you know, 23:08 the players have spoken about this many times over the last, 23:11 you know, since the season started, that this team is 23:13 just not getting respect from people outside of this building. 23:17 And you better believe that they use that as fuel 23:19 and that motivates them. So it's hard to call a 23:23 game that you're technically the underdog, a trap game. But 23:27 I am with you. Coach Harbaugh is not letting this 23:29 team go into any game. with that mindset of, you know, oh, 23:33 this one's not going to be that difficult. They're going 23:36 in looking to fire on all cylinders each and every week. 23:40 Well, you know, I hope that they learned a lot 23:44 from last week's tie because I think whatever scheme offensively 23:49 they were using in the second half, Winston just came alive. 23:53 I'd like to see them play that the entire game. 23:57 It also might be a great time– to get Tracy 24:01 in the lineup because he's a home run hitter when 24:05 he gets away and keeps the ball safe. 24:09 He made a fourth down conversion in the Giants comeback 24:13 that was extremely critical. to them being able to return 24:18 from two touchdowns down in the final eight minutes of 24:21 the game. And I don't know if enough of people 24:24 remembered that play. Everybody remembers the touchdown catches by likely 24:28 a neighbors, but a critical, critical fourth down play by Tracy, uh, 24:33 where he found space and made a big play out 24:36 of it. Didn't just get the first down, but got 24:38 a lot of extra yardage as well. Uh, That was 24:42 a big spark. It was a big spark. Sometimes those 24:46 plays get lost a little bit in the shuffle because 24:49 it wasn't the end of the drive. It wasn't the 24:51 actual play that produced the points. But I'm telling you now, 24:55 I believe that that was one of the plays that 24:57 was necessary for the Giants to make the comeback. Otherwise, 25:00 it probably doesn't happen. 25:01 Oh, no doubt about it. And you look at this 25:04 matchup against the Saints. The Saints, as you mentioned earlier 25:07 in the show, the defense of the New Orleans has 25:10 not been very good this year, but they have really, 25:13 really struggled against the run game. Like they have been real, 25:17 like they have the fewest yards they've given up on 25:19 the ground to any team this year is 108. And 25:22 that was in week two, the last two weeks, they've 25:25 given up 153 yards and 205 yards. 25:28 Along with, I believe. 25:29 It's like six touchdowns to the running backs alone over 25:33 the last two weeks. So this is a great opportunity, 25:36 you know, for Cam Scadaboo, for Najee Harris, Tyrone Tracy, Singletary, 25:41 because we don't know who obviously will be active on Sunday, 25:44 but whoever, whichever running backs are active on game day, 25:48 this is a great opportunity for them to really get 25:51 the run game going. 25:54 Paul, Matt, I agree with you, Paul. I saw the 25:57 play you were talking about. I've always loved Tracy's heart. 26:01 And he's also a runner who, to me, punches well 26:05 above his weight. But he's also got the kind of 26:09 speed that most of the other giant backs seem to 26:13 be lacking. 26:14 Sure. 26:14 I could see him knocking off his first long touchdown 26:18 this weekend. When you were talking about Andrew Thomas being 26:24 a warrior, you couldn't be further from, I mean, you 26:32 couldn't have hit the nail on the head more. It 26:35 reminds me, and Paul, you would remember. 26:37 This, Jim Burt, whom. 26:39 I used to see all the time because he had 26:41 a store near where I lived in Ridgewood. He used 26:48 to play on Sunday, go to the hospital on Monday, 26:52 spend most of the week in traction, get out of 26:55 the hospital, practice, and play every Sunday. That's a warrior, 27:00 and Thomas is cut from the same cloth. 27:03 John, to be honest with you, most of the guys 27:05 who played during the Parcells era, they were as tough 27:09 as nails. 27:10 You had to be. 27:11 If you were going to play for Coach Parcells and 27:14 to be a two-time champion like many of those guys 27:18 were who played on both the 86 and the 90 teams. 27:22 You didn't worry about being hurt too much. It was 27:24 a different time. 27:26 Than today where guys are getting a lot of days 27:29 off during the course of the week and then sometimes 27:32 miss a game or two. Back in those days, you 27:36 spit on it, you rub dirt on it, you get 27:38 back out there the next play. 27:39 That's just the way it was. 27:42 Yeah, different everything. 27:44 I can't imagine. 27:46 a guy like Bovaro today, playing the game, not only 27:50 playing the game, but scoring touchdowns with his jaw wired shut. 27:54 I know. 27:54 Yeah. 27:57 He set the standard on that team. 28:00 John, real quick, because we got other calls. 28:04 Go ahead, John. 28:05 Okay, I'll just take this off the air. I'm sure 28:08 you guys watched the game last night. 28:11 Yes. 28:14 You know, the Seahawks quarterback is going to take plenty 28:18 of heat and deserves it. But I thought it was 28:20 a huge blunder by the offensive coordinator. If you remember, 28:25 they were third and one deep inside. Broncos territory. 28:32 Yes. 28:32 And through that out pass, I just, I couldn't get 28:35 my head around that call because they, they had control 28:38 of the game. And from that time on, they lost 28:41 control of the game. Thanks for a great show guys. 28:44 Thank you, John. 28:45 Thank you. Appreciate the phone call, Matt. I'm going to 28:48 build off of his last comment for just a second, 28:50 because as you folks know, if you've ever listened to 28:53 any of my stuff over the last four decades, I'm 28:56 one who always believes that the head coach of an 28:58 NFL team is You're better off with a CEO than 29:02 you are with a guy who calls plays. It's just 29:04 my preference. I'm not saying that there's a right or 29:08 a wrong way. It is just my preference. I've always 29:11 been that way. Some people like chocolate ice cream. Other 29:14 people like vanilla. Some people like strawberry. All ice cream 29:17 is good, but you're entitled to have a preference. My 29:21 preference has always been CEO head coach. Let the coordinators 29:25 call the plays. I'm happy to see that the Giants 29:29 have that situation with John Harbaugh here. 29:31 I think, again, that's just my style. But here's the 29:36 interesting part. 29:38 I was listening to, I won't say who it was, 29:42 but it was one of the gentlemen on Sirius XM 29:47 NFL radio. It was one of the former players, experts. 29:52 And he did a count And he said, it turns 29:55 out there were 13 head coaches in the league who 29:59 call their own offensive plays. There are 11 head coaches 30:03 in the league who call their own defensive plays. They 30:07 do not rely on their coordinators on a play-by-play basis. 30:12 I wonder if that's part of the problem with some 30:17 games that, well, Tom Coughlin always used to say, more 30:20 games are lost than are won. I wonder if some 30:24 of these guys, especially some of the younger generation head coaches, 30:28 are doing too much, who have a little bit too 30:31 much on their plate during the course of the game, 30:34 that maybe they're not making the most sound decisions that 30:38 they could make. Maybe the play calls aren't as crisp 30:41 or as smart as they could be. Maybe they're getting 30:44 too bogged down with all the stuff that's swirling in 30:49 their heads on the sidelines. It was a thought that 30:53 this particular former player had, and he's a very astute player. 30:57 He was not... He was not, you know, someone who 30:59 just got into the business. He was very astute. He 31:02 did the research and he was wondering this out loud. 31:05 And I couldn't help but think the same thing because again, 31:10 I've always shied away from having the head coach call 31:14 any kind of plays. Not that it's impossible and not 31:18 that it can't be successful. 31:20 It just isn't my way of doing things. And I 31:23 think we've seen a lot of, I don't. 31:25 Want to say second-guessing going on, but there's an awful 31:29 lot of people on TV and on radio and in 31:31 newspapers and fans who are scratching their heads at some 31:35 of the things that we're seeing in these games during 31:38 the first month of this season. 31:40 Yeah, I mean, look, I think that is definitely the 31:42 case for some coaches out there. There are some head 31:46 coaches that do handle the play calling for their respective 31:50 side of the ball. that seem like with that, it's 31:55 tough for them to also, you know, manage the entire game. 31:58 But on the other side, there are plenty that are 32:01 more than capable of handling the play calling while also, 32:05 you know, being this sort of CEO type coach as well. 32:08 I mean, you just, you look back at the last 32:10 few Super Bowl champions, more often than not, the head 32:14 coach was also calling plays for one side of the ball. 32:17 So I agree that some guys clearly are not able 32:20 to to handle both. 32:22 And that's, I mean, you can go back however many. 32:25 Years, that's the case every year where there's a, you know, 32:27 the up and coming offensive or defensive coordinator that gets 32:30 a head coaching job. And it is clear right away 32:32 that they can't handle being a head coach and also 32:35 handling the play calling. 32:37 But it depends on the individual per person and the circumstances. 32:41 And certainly the experience factor, I believe is also a 32:45 big deal too. Yeah. 32:46 You have to weigh all of it. A hundred percent. 32:48 But I mean, I just, I look back at, you know, 32:51 Last year's Super Bowl champion, the Seahawks, who have a 32:54 young head coach, pretty early on in his head coaching career. 32:57 Understood. 32:57 Handling the defensive play calling, and they won a Super Bowl. 33:01 You know what my problem is? Bill Parcells didn't call plays. 33:03 Tom Coughlin didn't call plays. And each of them got 33:06 two Super Bowl championships. 33:07 You can find examples of very successful head coaches. And 33:11 poor head coaches on both sides. All right. 33:14 Well, we go back. 33:16 To the phones in just a moment here. 33:18 And Roberto is calling us from Florida. Good morning, Roberto. 33:22 How are you? 33:24 Good afternoon, my good dear friends, Paulie and Matt. 33:29 Yes, sir. 33:29 Hey, this is my moment where you guys, I'm so 33:35 grateful because for this hour, these guys just take my 33:39 mind away from the heartaches of everyday life. 33:43 We understand, and we appreciate you taking the time out 33:46 of your day to join us. 33:48 Well. 33:49 Trust me, I'm obsessed with this show. I wouldn't miss 33:52 it for the world. I don't know if we put 33:57 too much emphasis on the show about the backfield, you know, 34:06 the defense. My goodness, the professionalism, the way this backfield 34:15 is playing in unison. 34:17 Like, it is. 34:19 Ridiculous. You know, like, from last week to this past weekend, to, 34:27 you know, the past two weekends, like, it has been, 34:30 in the red zone, it's been like out. There's really 34:33 no one to throw to in the red zone because 34:35 they are so duct tape to the receivers. Also, Paulie, 34:42 I don't know about, what, Manhurst, Smith? You said something 34:47 about a blood clot? Was that ours? 34:49 No, no. 34:50 That's Jalen Hurts, Eagles quarterback. 34:52 Oh, Hurts. 34:53 Yeah, the Eagles announced that yesterday. 34:55 Apparently he got cleated in the game the other day, 34:58 and then they said there was some type of blood 35:01 clot in his leg, and he's out indefinitely. 35:03 It was actually two games ago. Was it two games? 35:05 It was against the Rams he got cleated, and then 35:08 he practiced and played last week, and it was when 35:11 they had like a follow-up ultrasound yesterday, and They revealed 35:15 that something about the blood clot was not recovering in 35:19 the way that they anticipated, which is why he's now out. 35:23 We don't want nobody to get hurt. 35:25 No, for sure. 35:26 Listen, remember when I told you I was looking forward 35:29 to Winston getting that cockiness, that ego, and start slinging it? 35:36 He did that the second half, right? But I'm also 35:39 a strong believer that we need to continue to wear 35:43 down defense. How we do that? Of course, our little 35:47 running maniac, Scatterboo. 35:50 Yes. 35:51 It would be nice. 35:53 I like to see Ricard get more involved. I like 35:56 to see Manhurts. Man, that guy is ginormous. I like 36:03 to see him get a couple of passes in a slot. 36:06 I mean, just a couple. I like to see something 36:09 that big. Reminds me of Jacob running downfield with the ball. 36:14 Well, Roberto, I will tell you this. 36:16 Pancake Patrick Ricard, as he was nicknamed in Baltimore, he's 36:21 the kind of guy who actually enjoys flattening people with 36:24 a ferocious block even more than scoring a touchdown. So 36:28 you don't have to be upset for him or feel 36:31 bad that he's not getting the ball very much because 36:35 he's very happy pulverizing people. 36:37 Yeah, and Chris Manhurts, you know, he does occasionally get 36:41 a target or two, but, you know, He's on this 36:43 team because he is the best blocking tight end that 36:45 this team has. 36:46 Sure. 36:47 That's the role he's served the last couple of years. 36:50 He seems pretty happy in that role as well. 36:53 One more second, Paulie. One more second. Did you see 36:57 Winston roll out to the left, got into a little 36:59 bit of trouble, and he let go of the ball? 37:02 And as Theo Johnson turned around, like the ball slid 37:06 into his right. 37:08 Foot, Turned out to be a very fortuitous catch. 37:12 That was crazy. 37:13 It was. 37:13 I love you guys. 37:14 Roberto, Roberto, hold on, hold on, all right? Johnny Mac 37:17 has to ask you a question, so hold on. Don't 37:19 go anywhere, okay? 37:21 Okay. 37:21 Hold on a second. Johnny Mac is going to pick up. Thanks, Roberto. 37:24 All right, thanks, Roberto. 37:25 Interesting thing, and I was talking to Coach Callahan about this, 37:30 the Giants quarterback's coach, passing game coordinator. Jameis Winston doesn't 37:35 get enough credit for his athleticism. You know, we don't 37:40 think of him as a running quarterback. He's a pocket 37:42 passing quarterback, right? 37:44 Okay, that's fine. 37:45 And look, don't get me wrong. He's not like Dart 37:48 with his legs. But here's what he does have. For 37:51 a guy his size, he has very good flexibility and maneuverability. 37:59 Now, think back. 38:01 Because we're getting to see a little more of him 38:03 play as we did last year. We saw him play 38:05 a couple of games, and now we've seen him play 38:06 a few more games now. 38:09 He contorts his body. 38:10 He is so flexible. And the way he bends and 38:14 contorts his body– He's a little bit more slippery in 38:17 the pocket than I think people ever gave him credit for, 38:20 or at least I gave him credit for, because look, 38:23 we didn't see him on a snap-by-snap basis when he 38:25 was playing for other teams. But now that we're seeing 38:28 him here with the Giants, Jameis Winston is not a statue. 38:32 He is not a Kurt Warner type, right? Or do 38:36 I dare say Eli? Eli, forgive me, but yes, you 38:38 were a statue back there. although he wasn't against the 38:41 Patriots in the Super Bowl, right? Super Bowl XLII. He 38:44 showed the same kind of thing that I'm talking about, 38:47 the flexibility and the dexterity to contort himself in such 38:51 a way that he was able to get away from 38:52 the hit and make the throw. Jameis has been pretty 38:56 good at that the last few weeks. 38:58 No doubt about it. 38:59 I think part of the reason why I guess people 39:01 kind of think that way, at least this season, is 39:04 because they're comparing him to Jackson. 39:06 Yeah, you can't do that. That's, you know, you're comparing 39:09 to almost. 39:10 Two opposite ends of the spectrum because Jackson is a 39:12 very much a great dual threat quarterback. And Jameis is not. 39:17 Jameis is a pocket passer that is capable of moving 39:20 around and running if he needs to. I mean, this 39:23 past week, he was the second leading rusher on the team. 39:25 He had 27 yards on the ground on five carries and. 39:30 What was it? 39:31 The game against the Titans, only two carries, but two 39:33 carries for 14 yards, including one of them was for 39:36 a 15-yard run. 39:37 So I'm with you. 39:39 He is capable of moving around more than he gets 39:42 the credit for. 39:43 And it's not only just the rushing. 39:45 As you mentioned, we've seen him– running around the pocket, 39:48 scrambling outside of the pocket. 39:50 Making throws on the run. I mean, the throw against 39:53 the Cardinals to Malachi Fields. Sweet. 39:56 The big one. 39:57 That was some great mobility from him before he let 40:00 go of that throw. So I'm with you. 40:02 He. 40:03 No one's going to get him confused with Jackson back there. 40:05 I don't think they're going to be running too many 40:07 RPOs with Jameis, but he is more than capable of 40:10 moving around, running a couple of times a game if 40:13 they need him to, or at least scrambling to get 40:16 away from pressure to either find someone downfield or just 40:19 to get rid of the ball. 40:20 All right, quickly, the Giants Huddle podcast has all kinds 40:22 of interviews with Giants personnel, NFL personnel, and national media. 40:27 Do we have anything going up. 40:28 Today, Matt? 40:29 Yes, I posted it before coming down. The weekly Friday 40:33 huddle with Brian Hudson. 40:36 Giants starting center. 40:38 Coach Harbaugh said we'll be starting at center on Sunday. 40:41 It is up, so go. It's on Giants.com, the podcast 40:45 platform's YouTube, go check it out. 40:48 That'll be his third consecutive start for Big Blue. Giants 40:52 TV is the official connected TV streaming app. It is free. 40:55 You get all kinds of video content, some fun things 40:57 and highlights. Just go to download it off of your 41:01 favorite podcast merchandising platform. Also, you can secure some of 41:07 the season tickets that are still left for the 2026 season, 41:11 as well as single game tickets. Remember, the Giants are 41:13 playing the Saints coming up on Sunday. There are member 41:16 only exclusive ticket events and access to season ticket holders. 41:22 You can join the Giants family today by visiting Giants 41:24 dot com slash tickets to learn more. Also, this is 41:28 coming up real soon, folks. You know, we're not out 41:30 of time on this one. The Giants Foundation will be 41:32 hosting a 5K racing kids run presented by Quest on Sunday, 41:37 November 8th at 9 a.m. at MetLife Stadium. Net proceeds 41:40 will benefit the Giants Foundation. You get a commemorative T-shirt. 41:44 You'll also get to see some Giants legends, and there'll 41:47 be a live DJ after the race. Register now at 41:49 Giants.com slash 5K. The Giants Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation. 41:58 Back to the phones. Matt in Florida, you're next on 42:00 the program. Hello. 42:01 Hey, what's up, fellas? 42:04 How's it going? 42:04 We're well, sir. 42:05 How are you? Good. 42:07 So I shot an email to the Big Blue Kickoff 42:09 Live that I hadn't heard back yet. I just wanted 42:11 to ask a quick question on the assistant coaches' media availability. 42:16 I know in the past that you guys have posted them, 42:19 and I know they still have them because I see 42:21 some of the beat reporters doing little reports on their scrums. 42:25 I was wondering if that is no longer being posted, 42:28 or if so, if there's some place that we could 42:30 find those. That's, like, really great info. 42:33 No, those are not posted. 42:37 Anymore you could follow you know paul or whoever the 42:39 beat reporters tweets. 42:41 About it but gotcha and get the info from those 42:44 guys okay all right cool and then my other question 42:47 i know it's been talked about a little bit with 42:49 the um the the defensive line um carl spoke about 42:54 it a little bit with these guys trying to get 42:56 off their blocks i've noticed that a lot he referred 42:59 to it as just dancing with the with the offensive linemen, 43:03 is there anything that they've, I don't know if it's 43:06 an effort thing or if it's a coaching thing or 43:08 what it is, but what do you guys see as 43:10 far as, because I've seen it on TV too, watching 43:12 the games, just, you know, the guys just, you know, 43:15 not getting off the blocks, running backs blowing by them. 43:18 Is the offensive line just doing a really good job 43:20 of like holding them tight or is that something they can, 43:23 you know, get better at and do? And that's all the. 43:25 Questions I had. 43:26 Well, thanks for the phone call. Thanks, Matt. 43:28 There are a number of different factors in terms of 43:31 a defensive lineman, or for that matter, a linebacker, being 43:35 able to get off a block and. 43:36 Make a play. 43:37 Certainly effort is number one. Number two, some of it's anticipation, 43:41 because if you put yourself in a better position, then 43:43 the block won't be as effective as it could be otherwise. 43:47 So that's part of it as well. The other part 43:50 is technique. Without question, you have to make sure that 43:53 you are detailed with your technique and consistent with your technique. 43:58 And the other part, you got to have counter moves 44:01 because when that offensive lineman or that fullback or that 44:05 tight end, whoever it is, if he's going to execute 44:10 a block on you and you don't have a counter 44:12 move to escape and break free, well, that's a problem 44:16 because now you're going to get hung up. and get 44:18 caught in the laundry, as a lot of football people 44:22 like to say. And then you're not going to be 44:24 free enough to roam and get after the football. So 44:26 those are like the four basic factors as to, you know, 44:31 it could be any one of those or a combination of. 44:34 And then there's the other factor, which we really don't 44:37 ever like to talk about because it sounds like an excuse. 44:40 And that is how good, right, how good was the block? 44:46 Because the other guys get paid too. And sometimes they 44:49 might even have a little bit of a handful of 44:51 jersey or a little bit of a handful of shoulder 44:53 pad that maybe the officials didn't see. That could also 44:57 be part of it, too. But those are all the 44:58 factors that are involved. And I don't think there's any doubt, 45:02 you know, every defensive coordinator would want his guys involved. 45:06 to be very, very efficient in getting off of blocks, 45:12 shedding blocks, and getting to the ball carrier. I don't 45:15 know that any defensive coordinator is totally happy every single 45:18 week with their defensive guys getting to the ball. So, anyway, 45:23 appreciate the call. Jersey Moe, you are next on Big 45:26 Blue Kickoff Live. 45:27 Hello. 45:27 Hey, what's going on, fellas? 45:30 Hi. 45:31 Jersey Moe from Florida, Jacksonville. Been a Giants fan since 86. 45:34 I'm 57. 45:37 How you doing, man? Man, listen, man. 45:39 I'm excited about this team. First and foremost, Jameis Winston. 45:44 People don't understand really too much Jameis Winston. When he talks, 45:47 he talks in biblical terms. 45:49 He does. 45:50 And he also... This is a David and Goliath type 45:56 of season because nobody's giving us a shot, man. I'm 45:59 telling you. And I love that John Harbaugh and James 46:03 Winston always start off on a spiritual level, giving God 46:07 the praise and glory because you got to have that 46:10 into also an NFL season with the talent, with the 46:14 effort and everything else that comes with it. So I 46:18 just I'm excited. is a week-to-week type of, like they say, 46:26 every week is different. 46:27 Keep stacking wins, my man. That's the whole secret, right? 46:30 That's the whole thing. 46:32 Every week is different, man. And I'm telling you, this 46:35 is a David Fingala. Nobody's giving us a shot. Vegas, 46:38 we underdogs, everything disrespectful. You don't think these guys are 46:42 listening to this? 46:44 Yes, they are. 46:45 And they also got to put the effort and the 46:47 work into it. Thank you, guys. Have a beautiful weekend. 46:49 Hopefully Monday we have some good news. God bless. 46:52 Appreciate the call, Jersey Moe. Thank you so much. Thank you, 46:55 Jersey Moe. 46:55 By the way, the Jaguars are coming up here to 46:57 MetLife Stadium this year. 46:58 Yeah, and what is it? Week 11. 47:01 I don't know if Jersey Mo plans on making the 47:02 trip and wants to attend that game, but I do 47:05 believe there are still some single-game tickets available for that one, 47:08 so perhaps you'll be able to make it. 47:10 And by the way, if you're going to, bring some 47:12 good weather with you, please. Just a little bit. You know, 47:15 we've had rain. 47:16 The Giants have had rain for three consecutive weekends, and 47:20 I hear it's going to be dry Sunday, Matt. 47:22 Yes, that is what the forecast says as of now. 47:26 Thank God. Yeah. A little chillier than the last five games. 47:31 I think mid-50s I saw, right? 47:33 Mid to high 50s, I believe. 47:34 Okay. 47:35 Okay. Not too bad. I mean, obviously, we are in 47:38 October now. It is fall weather. 47:40 Indeed. 47:40 Indeed. But we will take a sunny day for sure. 47:44 All right. 47:44 Let's get to some of our YouTube comments. 47:46 Those of you who did not make a phone call 47:49 today but also wanted to participate somehow in the show... 47:52 Abu Haidaya 9403. That's a tough one. I'm not sure 47:58 if I got it right, but I do apologize if 48:00 I didn't. He says, being 3-1-1 is like having two 48:05 last names. Okay. I guess that's an appropriate comment for 48:09 a name that's difficult to pronounce. We have rec _ _ 48:14 sam says, Giants playing good. And GTA 6 is coming 48:22 out in a month. 48:23 Are you a big GTA fan? 48:25 I have no idea what that is. 48:27 If you had known what that stood for, I would 48:30 have been thoroughly shocked. Okay, so help me. It is 48:33 a video game. It's been around for a long time. 48:35 Grand Theft Auto. 48:37 I've heard of that. 48:38 The fans of Grand Theft Auto have been waiting for 48:40 GTA 6 for a very long time. And it is 48:43 apparently coming out. 48:44 That's a violent video game, right? Doesn't it have parental 48:46 guidance suggested on the box? 48:48 Yeah. 48:49 It does. Okay. Okay. Anyway. 48:52 So, Paul, not a GTA fan. I don't play video games. 48:59 So please, the makers of the game, the founders of 49:02 the game, it's not like I'm disrespecting you, and it's 49:05 not like I don't like your game. I just don't 49:07 play video games. 49:09 That is fair. 49:10 Okay. 49:11 The same person who just posted that- You don't want 49:14 to give it another try? I'm not giving it a 49:16 second try. 49:17 No, no. 49:17 I don't need to flub it a second time. It says, 49:20 Cookie Tuesday. That's it. Believe it and it will happen. Please. 49:25 He's a little osmosis there with Michael Strahan, right? Believe 49:30 it and it will happen. 49:32 Joseph I-905Q says, I hope Jalen Hurtsfield's better. I've had 49:37 blood clots a few times. That is no joke. No, 49:40 it is not a joke. The thing about blood clots, people, 49:43 and look, I don't know if anyone has any experience 49:46 either with them or has known people who have them. 49:49 The danger is that they can move. They can move 49:52 through your bloodstream. 49:53 That's the issue with Jalen Hurts. 49:55 And then it becomes extremely serious, potentially even fatal if 50:00 it goes the wrong way. Now, I don't know specifically 50:04 what the Hurts situation is, but anytime you hear the 50:07 word blood clots, yeah, you want that to be taken 50:10 care of. You want to make sure the doctors are 50:12 all over it. 50:12 Yeah, so. 50:13 Despite my dad being a doctor, I don't know anything 50:16 about the medical field. Based off of what the Eagles announced, 50:20 it is a superficial blood clot, which apparently is of 50:24 the different types of blood clots. They're all serious, but 50:30 the slightly less serious than what the other potential blood 50:34 clot could be. 50:36 And I think the issue. 50:36 Was, which the Eagles announced in their statement, was that 50:39 when they did the ultrasound yesterday morning, I guess, the 50:44 blood clot had moved, which is why all of a 50:47 sudden it became more of an issue than they thought 50:49 it was just a week prior. So I know we 50:52 sit up here and like to, you know, make a 50:54 lot of jokes at the expense of the Eagles and 50:56 the Cowboys commanders. 50:57 The division rivals. This is not fun. But seriously, the, 51:00 you know, prayers go out to Jalen Hurts. 51:02 We don't want any sort of, any injury period, but 51:05 especially something serious like that, we don't wish that upon anyone. 51:08 Tanner McKee is their backup, right? 51:10 Tanner McKee appears to be in line to start because 51:13 they recently released Andy Dalton. 51:15 Right. 51:15 Obviously before this scenario happened. They released him when he 51:20 went in, I guess, was it the Bears game? 51:22 Right. 51:22 Where he went in for that one play through the interception. 51:25 I think they released him the week after, and I 51:27 think that was the week before they played the Rams. 51:31 So this, obviously, Dalton is still out there. I guess 51:35 there's a chance he could go back, but there was 51:37 some reporting that other teams were also interested in him. 51:41 So as of right now, it's Tanner McKee as the 51:44 starting quarterback, and I know they. 51:47 Had a fourth... When Dalton was on the team, they 51:49 had another quarterback who's still there. Cole Payton. Cole Payton 51:52 is a rookie. 51:53 And. 51:54 And they just this morning signed Joe Milton off of 51:57 the Cowboys practice squad. 51:58 Wow, they update this pretty quickly. Yeah, for those of 52:01 you who really love to look. 52:03 At depth charts, I use rlads.com. 52:06 Yeah. 52:07 Great, great draft scouting service, but they also do a 52:10 marvelous job of updating their depth charts in the NFL, 52:14 and they're really, really quick. As you just heard Matt say, 52:17 I didn't realize Milton was signed there this morning. He 52:19 apparently is fourth on the depth chart right now. 52:22 At 11 a.m., Jordan Schultz. 52:23 Tweeted that breaking news, the Eagles are signing Joe Milton 52:27 off the practice squad of the Cowboys. Obviously, Tanner McKee 52:31 looks like he's going to start this week and Cole 52:33 Payton will be the backup. But just interesting that that 52:36 is the quarterback they decided to add because the Eagles 52:39 and the Cowboys do face off next week on Monday 52:41 Night Football. 52:42 And, of course, they've got a running back issue, Saquon Barkley, 52:46 with a hamstring injury. Will Shipley's also hurt. 52:48 Tank Bigsby's on injured reserve. Bigsby's IR. 52:51 Yeah. 52:52 So, I mean, they're down to— They have Damian Pierce, 52:54 who two weeks ago was— Wow! Three weeks ago was 52:56 on the practice squad. 52:57 Exactly. 52:57 And now he's in line to be their starting running back. 53:01 So, by the way, Carolina will be in Philadelphia for 53:05 that game with the Eagles this weekend. Also, you've got 53:09 the Dallas Cowboys taking on Green Bay at Lambeau Field. 53:13 That's going to be on Sunday night football. And then 53:15 San Francisco is going to be taking on Washington out 53:20 in San Fran on Monday night. Yep. So you've got 53:24 two primetime games this weekend involving NFC East teams. Good 53:28 news is if you're a Giants fan, you get to 53:30 watch both of those other teams in the division Monday 53:34 night and Sunday night. They're both on the road in 53:38 difficult environments. 53:39 Yeah, and the Eagles game, I believe, is in Philadelphia. 53:43 It is. 53:43 But the Eagles just went to London last week. So 53:47 that's not the easiest return trip. And the Panthers are 53:51 coming off of a bye week. and seem to be 53:53 a lot healthier, obviously, now than they were prior to 53:56 the bye. So that, especially with the Eagles now with 53:59 no Jalen Hurts, what looks like maybe no Saquon Barkley, 54:02 potentially no Devonta Smith, you know, they're down most of their, 54:08 and also basically the whole offensive line other than Jordan Mailata. 54:13 So that's going to be a really tough matchup for Philadelphia. 54:16 So, again, we don't want to look ahead, and as 54:19 Coach always says, you focus on yourself, but If the 54:22 Giants take care of business on Sunday, they've got a 54:26 chance to potentially. 54:29 Give themselves a little bit more cushion in this division race. 54:32 Yeah, it's an interesting week in terms of the NFC 54:35 East schedule. 54:37 201-939-4513. 54:37 We've got a couple of minutes left because we did 54:40 start late when the studio was in use. So if 54:43 you want to squeeze in one other phone call, we'll 54:45 get to one of your calls. Go ahead, Matt. 54:47 One other just— upcoming schedule note for the giants. We're 54:50 talking about the NFC East opponents. Well, next week, the 54:54 giants will be traveling to Houston to take on the Texans. 54:57 The Houston Texans will be playing in London this week. 55:01 So they will be playing nine 30 Eastern time kickoff 55:04 on Sunday. So if you want to get a preview 55:07 of next week's opponent before the giants game starts at 55:10 one o'clock, I believe it's on NFL network football and 55:13 watch Houston Texans. 55:14 If you want to get a little preview, you can. 55:16 Nope. 55:17 Make yourself a little scouting report. 55:19 Pretty wild, right? The Rams were coming off the Australia game. 55:24 Washington was coming off a London game. Houston's coming off 55:27 of a London game. And these teams decided not to 55:33 take their optional bye coming off of those road trips. 55:36 Yep. 55:37 Interesting. 55:38 Now, of course, it didn't. 55:39 When the schedule first came out, I noticed that there 55:41 were three or four opponents that the Giants would be 55:43 playing the week after the opponent traveled for an international game. 55:47 And as you just mentioned, none of them decided to 55:49 take the bye week right after. 55:51 Interesting. 55:52 Yep. 55:52 So, oh, by the way, to the caller who asked 55:55 about the assistant coaches, the coordinators do have media briefings 55:59 and those are still taped. and do run on Giants.com. 56:02 Yes, those are up if you want to watch yesterday's. 56:05 By all means. 56:06 In fact, one of the interesting things I thought Coach Horton, 56:10 who is the special teams coordinator and associate head coach 56:13 for the Giants. He in particular, I thought, was very 56:17 effusive in explaining Dominic Zavada's issues in Washington. We know 56:23 he missed three field goals, 250 plus and one from 46. 56:27 That one was an overtime. 56:29 He said that Zavada, the first kick... The ball was slick. 56:33 Ben Mann was the snapper. Snapper was a little bit high, 56:37 probably threw off the timing a little bit of the snap. Now, again, 56:39 no excuses, because as every coach will say, you've got 56:42 to make the kick no matter what. But he did 56:45 think that the snap was a bit high in the 56:47 first one. The second kick, he mentioned that the plant 56:51 foot apparently was a little bit too close to the ball. 56:55 And that could have been due to some of the 56:56 poor footing and for whatever reason, the They already checked 57:01 it out. In fact, according to Coach Horton, Zavada even 57:04 knew what the problems were before they even talked to 57:08 him as a coaching staff. He had already figured out 57:10 what he had done wrong. 57:12 Yeah. And that's a good sign. 57:13 Coach Harbaugh mentioned that, I believe it was Wednesday during 57:15 his press conference, that he wouldn't go into too many detail, 57:18 but all he said was something about the plant foot. 57:22 Technique, he said. 57:23 Yeah. 57:23 For people starting to freak. 57:25 Out about Dominic Zavada, I just want to remind you 57:27 that the Giants played in Washington. Northwest Stadium, which is 57:31 a grass field, it was pouring rain the whole game. 57:34 It made footing for everyone a big issue. So, again, 57:38 no excuses, but I can imagine those field conditions and 57:42 the rain would make it tough for a kicker to 57:44 get his firm plant foot down when he's trying to kick. 57:49 I mean, we saw the commander's kicker miss an extra 57:51 point as well. 57:51 Indeed. 57:52 So it wasn't, again, no excuses, but. 57:55 I'm not worried about Dominic Zavala. 57:57 Nor am I. 57:59 Although I will tell you from a psychological perspective, I 58:02 would really like to see him get an opportunity at 58:05 a couple of either field goals or PATs early in 58:09 the game. Let him get that out of the way, 58:11 get back into live action, kick a couple right down 58:15 the middle, get his feelings kind of even keeled again. Look, 58:19 I don't know if he's nervous or not, but if 58:21 he is, I couldn't blame him. Remember, he's an undrafted 58:24 free agent rookie. So if he is a little bit nervous, 58:27 if he's got some butterflies, it's only human to be 58:30 that way. 58:31 Best way to settle that down is to drill a 58:33 couple early in the game. A hundred percent. I'm sure 58:35 he will get an opportunity. And good weather apparently too, 58:39 which is good. 58:40 Real quick, just because we kind of glossed over this before, 58:42 you know, we were talking about the injury report and 58:44 we only mentioned the guys that had been DNP earlier 58:47 in the week, but there were a couple of other 58:49 changes to the injury report or guys that had been limited. 58:53 First of all, in positive news, both Darnell Mooney and 58:56 Jason Pinnock upgraded from limited on Wednesday to full participants yesterday. 59:01 That's especially important for Pinnock because he suffered the concussion 59:05 against the Cardinals, missed this past week's game. seems to 59:08 be working his way through the concussion protocol, shed the 59:12 non-contact part through that part of the protocol. So it 59:18 seems like he is trending in the right direction. You 59:20 never know with concussions, but It seems like the two 59:22 of them are both trending in the right direction. There 59:24 were three players that were limited in practice yesterday. Malik Harrison, 59:30 who was not listed Wednesday and then was limited Thursday 59:32 with a groin. He obviously was just signed to the 59:35 active roster this week after being elevated the first three 59:37 weeks of the season. 59:39 Greg Newsome, limited with a groin. He's been on the 59:42 injury report, it seems like, every week. 59:44 You know, he's played 97% of the snaps so far 59:47 this year. He has been the most consistent of the 59:50 guys in the secondary. For sure. 59:51 So, you know, that's the sort of situation similar to 59:54 Andrew Thomas, where you're like, yes, he's on the injury report, 59:56 you never know. But we've been through this pattern before, 1:00:00 and he typically plays on Sunday. And then there's Theo Johnson, 1:00:03 who's been limited with a neck injury. We haven't, you know, 1:00:06 heard much about that. We'll have to see. Just wanted 1:00:10 to point these guys out because just because they're limited 1:00:13 doesn't necessarily mean that they're 100%. 1:00:16 Suiting up on Sunday. 1:00:17 Nobody's 100%. 1:00:18 Come on. 1:00:18 We're already in week six. Nobody's 100%. Folks, that'll do 1:00:22 it for today's edition. Now, remember, on Sunday, it's a 1:00:25 1 o'clock game at home against the Saints. So you 1:00:28 can tune in to the WFAN Giants pregame show on 1:00:31 radio starting at 11 a.m. in the morning on Sunday. 1:00:34 Then the kickoff is at 1 o'clock. Right after the 1:00:36 game is over, a one-hour live MSG Giants postgame live 1:00:42 interview We'll have locker room reaction in the press conferences 1:00:45 for one hour right after the game. We started up. 1:00:48 You just tune over to MSG and we'll be there. 1:00:51 At the same time, we also have the Giants radio 1:00:54 postgame show on WFAN. And that'll go for two hours 1:00:58 following the conclusion of the game as well. And you 1:01:00 can always dial in and participate in that show. Well, 1:01:05 that'll do it for today's episode of Big Blue Kickoff 1:01:07 Live presented by Cadillac, the official luxury vehicle of the 1:01:10 New York football Giants. We come to you from the 1:01:13 podcast studio presented by Hackensack Meridian Health. Keep getting better. 1:01:17 This show is part of the Giants platforms everywhere, the 1:01:19 Giants YouTube channel, and at Giants.com slash podcasts. For Matt 1:01:24 Sytek and for Johnny Mac on the phones, I'm Paul Dottino. 1:01:28 We'll see you next time. Takes mentioned in this episode Philadelphia Eagles team · negative
“So that, especially with the Eagles now with no Jalen Hurts, what looks like maybe no Saquon Barkley, potentially no Devonta Smith, you know, they're down most of their, and also basically the whole offensive line other than Jordan Mailata.” Carolina Panthers team · positive
“And the Panthers are coming off of a bye week. and seem to be a lot healthier, obviously, now than they were prior to the bye. So that, especially with the Eagles now with no Jalen Hurts, what looks like maybe no Saquon Barkley, potentially no Devonta Smith, you know, they're” New Orleans Saints team · negative
“And you look at this matchup against the Saints. The Saints, as you mentioned earlier in the show, the defense of the New Orleans has not been very good this year, but they have really, really struggled against the run game.” Alvin Kamara player · negative
“Alvin Kamara, third-down specialist, he's been around a long, long, long, long time, and he's not the kind of guy they're going to want to give the ball to 25 times a game.” Tyrone Tracy player · positive
“So this is a great opportunity, you know, for Cam Scadaboo, for Najee Harris, Tyrone Tracy, Singletary, because we don't know who obviously will be active on Sunday, but whoever, whichever running backs are active on game day, this is a great opportunity for them to really get” Najee Harris player · positive
“So this is a great opportunity, you know, for Cam Scadaboo, for Najee Harris, Tyrone Tracy, Singletary, because we don't know who obviously will be active on Sunday, but whoever, whichever running backs are active on game day, this is a great opportunity for them to really get” Jalen Hurts player · negative
“So that, especially with the Eagles now with no Jalen Hurts, what looks like maybe no Saquon Barkley, potentially no Devonta Smith, you know, they're down most of their, and also basically the whole offensive line other than Jordan Mailata.” DeVonta Smith player · negative
“So that, especially with the Eagles now with no Jalen Hurts, what looks like maybe no Saquon Barkley, potentially no Devonta Smith, you know, they're down most of their, and also basically the whole offensive line other than Jordan Mailata.” Saquon Barkley player · negative
“So that, especially with the Eagles now with no Jalen Hurts, what looks like maybe no Saquon Barkley, potentially no Devonta Smith, you know, they're down most of their, and also basically the whole offensive line other than Jordan Mailata.” 