EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Dabs' Digest, a weekly conversation with Giants head coach Brian Daboll:

Q: Your work week starts immediately after the game at home or on the road, correct?

Daboll: "Yup, right after the game, go watch the game in consecutive order. So, from kickoff return to one side of the ball to the next side. That takes some time. Then on Monday morning, I meet with the offensive staff and go through the game and then I meet with the defensive staff, go through the game, and then I meet with the special teams and then we meet collectively as a staff. Then I meet with the trainers and the doctors and (general manager) Joe (Schoen) together. Then it's really on to the next game. So, you spend most of Monday watching the next opponent in consecutive order from special teams all the way down. Each side of the ball is doing the same thing. Then at some point on Tuesday afternoon, I meet with the offense and get their thoughts on what they've seen and how they're game planning, and defensively and special teams and I give them my thoughts of how we need to play the game as a team."

Q: Just to go back to when you first watch the game that night. Are you looking more at player performances or scheme?

Daboll: "Everything. It takes a while to do. So, your situations, decision making, scheme, player performance, all those things."

Q: You mentioned last year that with an opponent you try to watch every game. This week, you're facing a Commanders team that you just played four weeks ago. Do you still go back and watch every game? Is it a good refresher to do that?

Daboll: "Yes. You make cutups the week of the first game you're playing them of all the previous games. So, you have things set up and organized the way you want. You add to that the games they've just played and you rewatch the cutups that you make from the previous game. It's always helpful, obviously, to have played them, to look at matchups and how that transpired. Just add on to what you've already done, the work you've done before."

Q: Last season was your first as a head coach and you developed a routine. Did you, at the end of the year, evaluate how you did things on a week-to-week or day-to-day basis and decided to change some things in your second year?

Daboll: "You always do that. You do it on a week-to-week basis. There's three phases to the team. I'd say the coaches in each respective area work as hard as they can work to put together game plans. We make sure we're on the same page. We meet on Fridays in a coordinators meeting and discuss different facets of the game, maybe situations throughout the league, kind of hot topics, things to discuss if it comes up in our game. We've got to be ready to do this, maybe show some plays from the previous week that happened in the league that maybe you'd handle differently, maybe you'd handle it the same. But it's good talking points to make sure we're on the same page."

Q: When I asked you last year about the numerous obligations you have as a head coach, you said, "I enjoy everything about this job except losing," which is understandable. Has your perspective changed at all in your second season?

Daboll: "I enjoy everything that goes with this position except losing. You put a lot into it and when you lose, it's not a lot of fun. The challenge each week is to move on from the prior week, make the necessary corrections, no different than when you win a game, but it's always easier to move on when you win than it is when you lose. So, being consistent in that thought process, I think, is important."

Q: When you have a 10-game streak like you've had, losing is a 1000-pound weight that you carry everywhere you go. You said earlier in the week you have no problem with the effort. You're also the chief morale officer around here. Are you conscious of making sure that the morale is good among the coaches and players, everybody?"

Daboll: "That's part of the leadership position. We understand we live in a results world, but how we do things, the way we do them, the work ethic people display on a day-to-day basis, that's important. You're not going to get the results you want every game; certainly, we haven't and that's always something that you're striving for. But I believe there's leadership that has to take place when things are good and leadership that has to take place when things are in a rough spot. Consistency, I think, is very important."

Q: People look to you. Who do you look to? Obviously, this is a tough time for you.

Daboll: "I've been in the NFL a long time. This season, the record the way it is has not been what we've strived to do. Again, it's no different than when you win in terms of what you're trying to get accomplished on a week-to-week basis, the ability to move on, the ability to process things, the ability to stay locked in on the things you need to do and do everything you can do that particular week to try to get a victory. I think the consistency is important, particularly when you're going through a rough patch and that's certainly important to me."

Q: A lot of the players when they talk about Tommy DeVito use the word "swagger". What was the best thing he did in the game last week?

Daboll: "This was his first game starting, I'd say in a tough environment against a really good team (Dallas), started on the half-inch line (on the Giants' first possession), had a couple of series there to start out backed up. As we go through the preparation week and even playing in a game, the whole goal is to improve, and he's got the right mindset to do that."

Q: Did he show you some toughness last week?

Daboll: "Yeah, he's a tough young man, and he cares about his job. He put everything he had into it. He practiced the right way; he prepared the right way and he's doing the same thing this week."

Q: You were asked thos week about the rookie wall, and Deonte Banks is really the only rookie that's played more than 80% of the snaps. Are meetings, practices and other obligations also part of the wall?

Daboll: "It's not just who plays more or who plays less. It's the NFL season. It's a different season than the college season and this is their first year doing it. It's whoever hasn't been involved in the NFL that comes to the NFL for a season, it's always a little bit of a change. I think our rookie programs stress that. (Director of player engagement) Ashley (Lynn) does a good job with them and Dr. Lani (Lawrence, the team's director of wellness and clinical services). They communicate on a weekly basis on things we can do to help them as the season progresses the longer it gets, which is a little bit different from college."

Q: (Washington quarterback) Sam Howell has been pretty hot lately. He's had three straight 300-yard games. He hasn't been sacked as frequently as he was earlier in the season. Has he improved in the month since you last faced him?

Daboll: "Well, it's a pass-first team. They throw the ball quite a bit and he's done a good job. They run a spread-style system and I'd say the last three weeks he's done a really good job of getting the ball out of his hands. I think coach (Eric) Bieniemy (the offensive coordinator) has done a good job of - they run a fair amount of screens, bubble routes, screens to the back, quick screens, three steps. Then, they do a good job of stretching the field on different types of levels and they take their shots, whether that's in the fringe or they throw a couple go's. I think he does a really good job in the pocket. I think he has good footwork. I think he knows where he wants to go with the ball, and he gets the ball out. He's done a good job and, again, they throw it quite a bit."

Q: When you faced them last month, they threw 42 passes and had 19 rushing attempts. Last week in Seattle, it was 44 and 14. Defensive coaches like to say their first objective is to stop the run. Is there a different emphasis when you play a team that so obviously wants to pass?

Daboll: "Every team is different. I've been part of teams that have thrown it 30 times in the first part of the game and other teams that are more balanced, that run the ball. Every team has a way that they try to play and they're a pass-first team. But I'd say (running back) Brian Robinson, when he does touch the ball, has been pretty productive, whether that's on scramble plays in the passing game or in the running game. He's a tough runner. We talked about that the last time. Every game plan is a little bit different and how they choose to play us, we won't know until Sunday. But they have thrown the ball quite a bit."

Q: Speaking of Robinson, he had 119 receiving yards last week. Was he that type of receiver when you coached him at Alabama (in 2017)?

Daboll: "I think anytime you've been in the league for a couple of years, you get better. Those are a couple of scramble plays where Howell made a loose play and he did a good job of uncovering, and he threw the ball, and he had a couple big ones on them. They use all their guys and a lot of times get five guys out."

Q: How has their defense changed without the two ends they traded (Chase Young and Montez Sweat)? They're not getting the same pressure on the quarterback that they did previously.

Daboll: "Coach (Jack) Del Rio (the defensive coordinator) has a system. They play a variety of coverages, some man, some zone, some pressure looks, and those two guys inside (Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne) are problem players, and they have been for a while. Two good players inside and the guys that have taken the place of the two players that left have done a really good job."