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Coach Daboll Weekly Q&A

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Dabs' Digest: Week 4 conversation with Coach Brian Daboll

BRIAN-DABOLL-VERIZON

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Dabs' Digest, Giants.com's weekly conversation with head coach Brian Daboll:

Q: You play Dallas on Thursday night. What challenges do the coaches face in a short week?

Daboll: "You're condensing a week's worth of work into a couple days."

Q: Do you have more meetings? Are they longer than usual?

Daboll: "A little longer, more of them, walk-throughs. You're trying to get as much as you can get in, while also being smart. It is a short week, so you don't want to overload the players. You want to be able to give them things that they can handle and be able to play fast."

Q: And you must be cognizant of not being overly physical…

Daboll: "It is what it is. That is Thursday night games for everybody. They just played a game a couple days ago and they're going to play one soon, but everybody has them. You do what you think is best to make sure your guys are recovered and as fresh as they can be."

Q: Is it helpful that you are familiar with (Dallas head coach) Mike McCarthy's offense, (coordinator) Mike Zimmer's defense, and (coordinator) John Fassel's special teams? You have faced them before.

Daboll: "No, I think every week is different. Every week you do the same thing. You watch as much tape as you can to get as prepared as you can. And whether you've played him, you haven't played him, there's always changes for each team that you play. This is the first time we'll play these guys this year. And you've got the preseason games. You've got the three regular-season games; they played against Cleveland, New Orleans, and Baltimore. And then you have some of the work you did in the offseason on Minnesota, stuff that (former Vikings head coach) coach Zimmer did there. And then, conversely, the stuff that coach McCarthy has done. They've got a new defense. So, put everything you've got into it, watch as much tape and then try to come up with the best plan."

Q: After Daniel (Jones) threw the two interceptions in the opener you sat down with him and reviewed the tape. Now he has two consecutive games with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of at least 100. No matter how long you've played, is it sometimes helpful for a little tutorial or re-education on the fundamentals?

Daboll: "No, we trust our preparation and our process. You never want to have a bad game. Sometimes that's going to happen. Be consistent with your approach and do everything you can do to get ready to play the next one. We ask that of all our players, and he certainly does that."

Q: You expanded Malik's (Nabers) repertoire in Cleveland to include two runs and a pass attempt. Did you know in training camp you were going to have him do a lot, or did you decide after seeing his first two games?

Daboll: "No, we've done a lot with him since the first day he got here. We liked him a lot coming out of LSU."

Q: Devin Singletary has run well, but he's lost two fumbles. He lost four when he played for you in Buffalo. How concerned are you and what can you do about it?

Daboll: "I think (running backs Coach) Joel (Thomas) talks about it constantly. We talk about it as an offense, as a team. It comes down to the individual player, making sure that they have the proper fundamentals and techniques that we drill. And Motor (Singletary) certainly works at it. We're going to have to do a better job of taking care of the football offensively, not just Motor. We fumbled one on a kickoff return, too, with (Eric) Gray. Every time you touch the ball, it's a priority that you end up with the ball. You're going to have those sometimes. That's the game. That's the game of football, but certainly an area that we'll continue to improve on."

Q: What does it say about your defense that you had nine different players - linemen, linebackers, and defensive backs – with a least a half-sack. It's only the fourth time that's happened in the NFL since 1982.

Daboll: "Just glad that we won the game and affected the quarterback. But again, affecting the quarterback, I thought (defensive coordinator) Shane (Bowen) did a great job, the defensive staff, of having a good rush plan. You have to play the game a certain way to help affect the other team's quarterback. You have to play a complementary game of football so that they're in more passing situations. You have to do a good job on first downs so they're in more passing situations. And then you have to go out there and execute the play. I thought our players did a good job of fundamentals, techniques, rush plan, and I thought Shane did a good job of leading them. Dre (defensive line coach Andre Patterson), (outside linebackers coach) Charlie Bullen, (assistant line coach Bryan) Cox, all those guys contributed in terms of the rush plan. Team effort is what it's going to take each week."

Q: Micah (McFadden) is tied for the team lead with 19 tackles, and he didn't play in the first game. Some guys seem to have a nose for where the ball's going. Is he one of those guys?

Daboll: "Yeah, instinctive player. Kind of see ball, get ball. I thought our tackling improved from Week 2 to Week 3. Still not where it needs to be but made some progress in that area."

Q: One of the game's overlooked plays was when Bryce Ford-Wheaton was double-teamed and pushed out of bounds as a gunner on (Jamie) Gillan's 57-yard punt and hustled down to make the tackle after a 3-yard return.

Daboll: "That's his primary role on this football team, special teams, and gunner is a huge part of that. That's his job, is to make sure that he excels in that role and continues to improve as a young player. I think he's got the size and explosiveness and strength to do that job at a high level. We're going to need him to continue to do that. That's the important part, particularly this week, with the returner and punt return that they have. Best in the league. I'm talking about (KaVontae) Turpin. He's a problem."

Q: Is there a minimum percentage of successful field goal attempts that you find acceptable? (Greg) Joseph's hit 82% of his career field goal attempts. Is there a minimum in your mind?

Daboll: "I'd like to hit all our field goals."

Q: Everyone would

Daboll: "That's it. That's what I'd like to do, capitalize on every scoring opportunity that we have."

Q: A non-Giants question. Damar Hamlin had his first career interception (Monday) night, 630 days after he was revived on the field in Cincinnati. You were with him in Buffalo.

Daboll: "I didn't see it, but I know Damar and it's a pretty incredible story. I'm happy for the young man."

Q: A couple of questions about the Cowboys. We know about Dak (Prescott) and (Ceedee) Lamb, but Jalen Tolbert has become a big part of their offense and Jake Ferguson is a Pro Bowl tight end. They still have plenty of weapons, don't they?

Daboll: "They do. It starts obviously with Dak and coach (Mike) McCarthy. They present a variety of issues with the formations, tempos, changes of personnel. I think Ferguson is a great security blanket for Dak You can tell he trusts him. Ferguson is a good tight end who's where he's supposed to be, good feel for the passing game and very quarterback friendly. CeeDee is CeeDee. You've got to know where he is on every play. They've had an effective offense for a long time."

Q: They've had trouble stopping the run, but they brought in (Eric) Kendricks and he's their leading tackler. They still have (DeMarcus) Lawrence, (Micah) Parsons, (Trevon) Diggs is back. A lot of talent on all levels of defense.

Daboll: "Again, we have to do a good job of playing complementary football. Parsons is top of the league. Lawrence gives us issues. Diggs, they've got a lot of good players."

Q: When we talk about weapons, it's usually a runner, a receiver, a pass rusher. Is Brandon Aubrey a field goal kicking weapon?

Daboll: "Yeah, he's best in the league. He's really good. We talked about field goals. That's what you like out of your field goal kicker, right there. When you've got opportunities to get points, you've got to nail them."

View rare photos from the historic rivalry between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

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