EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – It does not exactly make him unique among NFL head coaches, but one of Brian Daboll's goals this year was to field a more physical Giants football team.

The early returns are encouraging.

A year ago, the Detroit Lions were the stronger and more aggressive team in two joint practices and a subsequent preseason opener vs. the Giants. This week, the Giants were the attackers against the Lions both in two practices and their 14-3 victory last night in the teams' first preseason game.

In a team meeting prior to the first practice, running back Devin Singletary said Daboll, "brought the juice," and exhorted his players to be physical against the Lions.

On a Zoom call with reporters today, Daboll was asked how he got his team to be "more physical and tougher" despite having "a lot of the same players from last year."

"I think we have a lot of changes," Daboll said. "Each year is different. Different players at different spots. We have players that have been here. We have different coaches. I would say we've put a high premium on that. I think the draft class is a bunch of tough young players.

"But you're constantly reinforcing things that you're looking for from your team. I would say from a foundational aspect. And this is a tough game. I think you have to be mentally and physically tough. I think we've added a lot of new pieces in our building that have helped contribute to that."

The Giants demonstrated their toughness across the board.

On offense, they rushed for 155 yards and averaged 5.7 yards a carry. Detroit gained only 228 yards, including 118 on the ground. Without the 48 yards gained when quarterbacks Nate Sudfeld and Hendon Hooker scrambled, the Lions rushed for 78 yards and averaged 3.4 yards an attempt. The Giants' special teams allowed no punt return yards and kept the Lions' kickoff return team from doing any damage under the NFL's new rules.

Daboll credited his two new coordinators – Shane Bowen on defense and Michael Ghobrial on special teams – with instilling a physical mindset to their units.

"I thought we brought guys in that have some toughness, young players, some veteran players and again, this is a physical sport," Daboll said after the game. "Mental and physical, so being mentally tough, being physically tough, I think you've got to train that. You do that in training camp. It's also the type of individuals you bring in. I think Ghobi does a great job with that. I think Shane does a great job with that, the new coaches we brought in. We're a work in progress, but we're going to try to be physical.

"We've got a long way to go, but the style in which I expect us to play is a physical brand of football. Is it always perfect? No, but the effort, the attention to detail, the concentration, the focus on the sideline, the communication from the coaches, the chemistry together, that's what you're trying to build. We're not there yet but we're certainly trying to build it."

Next week, the Giants will have four practices before traveling to Houston to face the Texans on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 17. They will practice with the Jets on Aug. 21 before facing them in the preseason finale three days later.

Daboll and his staff will do extensive player evaluations, but they will also continue to focus on developing a tough, aggressive team.

"Now, where we go from here, we need to continue to build on that," Daboll said. "We need to continue to lean on the physical aspect of our game. (It) starts in the trenches, but some good examples yesterday. Whether it was in a kicking game, whether it was safeties coming down on force or taking on guards or receivers. (Wide receiver) Isaiah Hodgins really made a good block down there on (Eric) Gray's run in the red zone, where he blew up a secondary player. So, you're constantly reinforcing that element to your players, which is something I think we all could have been better with. And we're trying to do that."

*Like most starters, Singletary did not play last night against Detroit. But the trio of young backs behind him on the depth chart all impressed. Second-year pro Gray and rookies Tyrone Tracy and Dante Miller combined for 141 yards and two touchdowns – both Gray's – on 21 carries.

"I thought they were decisive," Daboll said. "I thought there wasn't a lot of stutter stepping. I thought they were hitting the hole with good vision. They ran in space. Gray had a nice catch there from (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito). It wasn't perfect, but most of the time they were going forward. They ran hard. They got their pads down. They did a nice job for the first game."

Gray scored the game's only touchdowns, on runs of 48 and one yards in the second quarter. He completely faked out cornerback Morice Norris on his way to the end zone.

Gray's 52 rushing yards were four more than he had the 13 games he played in his rookie year.

"New season," Daboll said. "I think everybody has more confidence when you go through a season as a rookie. Expectations, all the things that go along with it. Knowing the offense. It was good to see him make a few plays out there tonight. But let's start with the offensive line. Creating holes. He had some good runs in open space. A couple good plays on screen plays"

Daboll has a simple plan for deciding who will be the No. 2 back behind Singletary.

"You just let them play," he said. "That's what they need to do. We've talked about this. I think I've had a lot of questions on that early on about the youth of that room. You let them play. I thought they did a good job in protections, knowing who to block. It wasn't overly complicated, but they did stick their face in there and fit the window and block some blitzers. They ran hard. They knew what to do. Again, it'll be good competition for all those young players, but I think (running backs coach) Joel Thomas has done a fantastic job with the development of that youth room.

"Running backs will get plenty of opportunity. You don't get a ton of that during training camp practices. It's, 'This guy was free in the hole. Would have been a two-yard loss.' Well, really nobody knows until you're out here tackling. 'It was going to be a sack,' but it wasn't a sack. That's why these games are so valuable."

*Daboll had not yet met with the team's medical staff, so he had no updates on injuries from the game last night. Most notable among them was the hip injury suffered by Drew Lock, who started at quarterback. He completed four 10 of 10 passes before leaving in the second quarter.

"It could be longer than a couple days, but I don't want to give you one answer and then it's not," Daboll said. "I'm going to talk to these people. Then I'll tell you guys tomorrow or whatever it is the next time we talk (which is Sunday)."