The Giants' longest-serving player and still active player says this about Brian Daboll:
Give him another shot.
“I think so,” wide receiver Darius Slayton told the Post after practice Wednesday. “It's been three years now, and I think another year is definitely warranted to give him a chance to really get things going.”
Slayton doesn't have a contract until 2025, so this isn't simply a matter of the player getting along with the manager.
Daboll may be hanging in there in his final days with the Giants, but this is a surprising reversal of fortune considering he was named NFL Coach of the Year in 2022.
The Giants will enter Sunday's final game of the season against the Eagles at 3-13, but the Eagles will not be using any of their starting pitchers, including Saquon Barkley, and Daboll will remain head coach shortly after the trip to Philadelphia. The decision will be made by the owner. Joe Schon will remain as general manager.
“If Joe and Daves are gone, it's definitely going to impact me because those are the guys that drafted me,” third-year receiver Wan'Dale Robinson told the Post. Please make this work. ”
Getting things going this season has been extremely difficult and almost impossible for Daboll.
It's a positive that he has kept the locker room together, but they also lost a franchise-record 10 straight games, which is a big negative.
Outside linebacker Brian Barnes is coming off his first season with the team, so the reference point with Daboll will be in 2022 when Daboll arrives to take on the first-ever head coaching duties at any level of football. It doesn't go back to 2015.
The Giants did something rare and unexpected last week — they actually won the game, defeating the Colts 45-33 — and Burns said his players were focusing on Daboll to claim this victory. asked if they were united.
“We were by his side all year,” Burns said.
That was it. A simple declaration without much emotion.
That seems to sum up the feeling about Daboll inside the Giants' locker room. Most players haven't been on the field long enough to develop a strong personal attachment.
Several notable players who spent their only winning seasons with Daboll in three years, including Andrew Thomas and Dexter Lawrence, have been placed on injured reserve and are no longer part of the team's fabric.
“Ultimately it's up to the owners and their decisions,” said Slayton, who has had three head coaches in six years. “This is a tough business, and just as tough decisions are made on players, there are tough decisions made on coaches. When Joe Judge was fired, he wasn't fired. I remember going to a meeting the next day and being fired. You never know.”
Daboll was excited when Robinson was selected in the second round early in the first NFL draft with the Giants.
This was a slot receiver that Daboll believed would work perfectly in his offensive system.
Things haven't gone exactly as planned, and nothing really has, but Robinson has a career-high 83 receptions this season and is a big supporter of Daboll.
“It's a higher grade than I paid, but I hope he comes back,” Robinson said. “He's the one who drafted me and stood up at the table for me. I believe in him, he believes in me.”
“I think if you play well as a quarterback, you have a chance every game,” Daboll said after Drew Lock had five touchdowns and no turnovers, but he has not publicly made the case that he deserves a return. I haven't done it. The win over the Colts was heard in some circles as a message to owners. “Get us a quarterback and you'll see how much better everything will be.”
When asked about evaluating his own performance as separate from Shane's body of work, Daboll said, “You have to ask John,'' referring to team co-owner John Mara. “I guess so.”
“Yeah, we won three games, so it's not enough,” Daboll said of the big changes he made this season after taking over offensive play-calling duties from Mike Kafka.
Their record hasn't been all that impressive, going 18-31-1 in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs, but their decline has been alarming, going 9-6-3.
There's also the not-so-distant memory of his debut season as evidence that he once had a touch in close games and was able to navigate a suspect roster and have a winning season.
“Since I've been here, I've had a lot of confidence in Daves and the offense,” Robinson said.
You'll soon find out if the owner thinks the same way.
