COACH BRIAN DABOLL

BRIAN DABOLL: How is everybody doing?

Just rolling right along here. Practice nine. We have another one tomorrow, then we'll have our mini camp next week. Roll into the summer break. Get ready for training camp in terms of logistics and all those things. So there's been a lot of meetings relative to that. We'll have more and try to be set here once next week hits.

So go out there and try to have another good practice today.

Q. Will minicamp be much different than the OTAs?

BRIAN DABOLL: It will be a little bit longer. We'll do an extra walk-through with the practice, but it's not going to be over the top. Again, no pads on. Player safety is important to us. Will be in a little bit longer meetings, but not too much. Fairly similar.

Q. What have you seen so far from Austin Allen?

BRIAN DABOLL: He's got a lot to learn. Big-body guy. Fit right in with the rest of the guys. But long way to go.

Q. How have you been balancing teaching versus evaluating?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, really this is a teaching camp because, again, it's important. People are learning our language, our playbooks, how we want to do things here in terms of the building. So there's been a lot of teaching going on, which it needs to be.

The evaluation process is really more can they take the stuff from the classroom to the field. Other than that, without any pads on and stuff like that, that will be more in training camp.

Q. With Kadarius Toney and Kenny Golladay limited, what kind of opportunity is it for some of these other receivers? Has anyone like a Richie James or Robert Foster flashed to you so far?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, they've all done a good job. Coach Groh has done a good job working with those guys. Kenny and KT are involved in meetings, picking up the things. They're not out here for certain periods doing things.

All those young guys, some of the older guys, Slay (Darius Slayton) has done a good job for us. All those guys are picking it up and doing what they can.

Q. How valuable has it been for a guy like Wan'Dale getting all the reps with Daniel?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, the more you can do, the better off it is because you're out there actually doing it. Again, it's one thing looking at it on a book. Even the walk-throughs are helpful for those guys.

Wan'Dale is obviously a rookie, got a long way to go. But smart. Picked up stuff fairly well, really does a nice job out here for us.

Q. Do you sense you're building a pretty good camaraderie? How important is that?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think it's really important because you're going to have to weather the storms. That's what you try to do right now this time of year.

I think the guys, really it's the guys, it's their football team, the players. You try to do the best job you can in leading, putting a good culture together, bringing in the right kind of people, then let those guys take it over.

Q. To get back to Wan'Dale a little bit, he's a guy that can do a lot of different things. How do you balance not throwing too much at him right now and letting him kind of settle in?

BRIAN DABOLL: You don't. Throw a lot at him.

Q. You throw a lot at him?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. He can handle it. He's smart. It was part of the evaluation process in terms of getting ready for the draft with the position coaches and the coordinators of really trying to teach these guys as much as we can in that process to see what they can grasp, how smart they are, along with all the other evaluation tools you use: going to the school, talking to people.

We place a high premium on intelligent players. He's certainly one of them.

Q. Shane Lemieux basically didn't play at all last year, so when you guys evaluated him for 2020, what did you see? The previous coaching staff liked his toughness in the run game. What did you see as a pass blocker?

BRIAN DABOLL: We liked him where I came from, too, coming out in the draft. Had good conversations with Mario (Cristobal). He's a tough, smart, dependable guy. Plays with a nasty edge, which you need up front. Did a really good job in the meetings that we had with him leading up to the draft when I was in Buffalo.

He's done a really nice job here. He's smart. He's what I thought he was when we evaluated him. Now when the pads get on, he'll have an opportunity to show that.

Q. You seem to like those interior guys to maybe not be the flashy guys, high draft picks, but be tough, smart, nasty. Is that basically a true statement?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I really want them to protect the interior part of the pocket and get movement in the running game more than anything. I think you have to have an edge when you play. But more importantly you have to be able to execute the techniques, understand the assignments, play with the guys next to you, and do your job the best you can, which for us is protecting the interior depth of the pocket so the quarterback has room to step up and get movement in the running game.

Q. You guys have obviously done a ton of evaluation on all the guys. Is this the time where you also want to put guys in positions that maybe you're not sure if they can play?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.

Q. Get them out there and see what they look like.

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, position flexibility. We've talked about this. It's important. We expect our guys to know a lot and learn a lot, put them in different spots, see where some of their strengths are and maybe some of their weaknesses are.

Maybe somebody is better in a spot that you didn't think he was. Particularly this time of year when you're not getting ready to play games or anything like that, you're going out there, teaching your system, letting these guys go out there and execute it.

Q. What did you do about the fight last week?

BRIAN DABOLL: Really wasn't much. Just move on to the next play.

Q. What was it like last night again at the Garden to be received the way you were? Do you feel you're a part of the fabric of New York sports now?

BRIAN DABOLL: Like I said before, this team is a fun team to watch. It's an unbelievable atmosphere, great people. Eastern Conference Finals, doesn't get better than this.

They start out quick. Great pass by Zibanejad. Kreider knocks it home. It's been a fun team to watch and follow. The great thing about sports is they just keep coming back, so... Kind of get attached to them.

Q. How did Joe Schoen get the invite last night?

BRIAN DABOLL: Joe has been there, too. Give Joe a lot of credit.

Q. Your name is up there.

BRIAN DABOLL: They must like bald guys, but no, Joe has been there for a bunch of games, as well. In fact, we brought some of the coaches. Coaches want to go, too. We go each game, the ones we can.

A few weeks ago we went to one of the games, and I said, who wants to go to the game, with the coaches. Almost all of them raised their hand. You do the third grade thing, put your name on a piece of paper, throw it in a hat, pick it out, whoever gets it gets to go.

Q. Did they not get to go the second time?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, there hasn't been any repeat guys. Joe and I have went, but it's been good.

Q. Have you always been a hockey fan?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, yeah. I played hockey when I was a kid.

Again, it's really just, you talked about being part of the culture here. It's just an awesome thing. And after every game when they're down and people saying, well, they didn't do this, they didn't do this. Been pretty impressive. They've been a resilient group.

Q. Did you go to a lot of hockey games when you were in Buffalo?

BRIAN DABOLL: When I could, yep.

Q. Are they undefeated with you there?

BRIAN DABOLL: They play well at home, I'd say that. Obviously the home games that I've been part of, they've been playing well. Certainly not because of me, I know that.

Q. When a new staff comes in, new guys, everybody gets a clean slate. How much from your experience can that be like a lifeline for a guy who might have been buried with the last staff?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, that's a good question.

I don't know. I think the places that I've been part of that have started out anew, I think most everybody does that. You want to try to do it your way, or our way, should I say, be true to you, give the guys opportunities to be themselves, let them either get with the program or not get with the program.

Sometimes it's hard as a coach not to have any preconceived notions about players, staff, whoever it may be, because it's such a small group.

I think everybody should be afforded that opportunity.

Q. How difficult is it to go from the 90-man roster to that 53? In a perfect world, would you rather bring the 90 with you through the season?

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, it's just the nature of the league, of having to release players and get down, the rules. That's part of the job that obviously I'm new to.

It's not fun. I've had relationships with players when I was a position coach or coordinator that you have to have conversations with. There's only so many guys you can keep.

You certainly have empathy towards those players that give everything they got, and at the end of the day you just have to move on from them for whatever reason it is, numbers, maybe not as good as the other person in front of them.

Those are tough conversations to have if you're a people guy because you appreciate the work and the effort, the intensity that they put into their craft.

Q. Do you expect Andrew Thomas to be ready to go for minicamp? Thibodeaux?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, hope so. Hope so. Look, the guys are still in red jerseys. They're rehabbing. When they're ready to go, they'll be ready to go.

Q. Is Andrew on track? He looked like he was laboring last week.

BRIAN DABOLL: No, he's doing a good job. Everything we've asked him to do rehab-wise, really all the guys, they're doing what they can do. When they're ready to go, they'll be ready to go.

Q. How has it been having Davis Webb around to incorporate that culture you were talking about?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I have a great appreciation for Davis as a person first, but how he goes about his business. He is excellent in the meetings rooms. He's good with the other positions. It's good to have people that know your system, no question about it.

But I want him to go out there and play quarterback, too. He has bounced around a little bit in the league. Give him an opportunity to go out there and play.

Q. You mentioned training camp a little earlier. You going to have joint practices and sessions?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we're working on that. Maybe, maybe not. That's the best answer I can give you. I don't have anything concrete.

Q. Do you want to? What are the benefits of that?

BRIAN DABOLL: We're still talking about that. Again, being in the league as long as I've been, I've seen it a bunch of different ways. We're not at that point yet.

Q. With Kayvon, whatever injury he does have, is it something that's going to need rehab time or are you just playing it safe with him?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, well, I think they're all at different spots, the guys in red jerseys. Knock on wood, hopefully he'll be good to go.

Q. 'Good to go' you mean by training camp?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. Hopefully. Again, I'm not going to promise anything. He may or may not.

Q. You're not expecting him next weekend?

BRIAN DABOLL: I'm not expecting him to be out of a red jersey today. We'll just start with today. We'll see next week how it goes. There's a lot of things that can happen over the weekend.

Q. How did you get the Stanley Cup in the building yesterday?

BRIAN DABOLL: You hear that guy behind you? Pat, you want to answer that?

PAT: The NHL asked and we said yes. How's that?

Q. Did you touch the Cup?

BRIAN DABOLL: Pretty cool. No, I did not. Pretty cool thing to see, though.

Q. Anything you can take for this team, lessons there, or do you want them to just appreciate the moment?

BRIAN DABOLL: As a coach or as a person in this industry, you always try to learn and grow, learn from different teams or different competitors.

Again, what a resilient group. Two Game 7s back to back when they're down, right? Boy, they got off to a fast start, though, yesterday. Getting off to a fast start helps, no matter what sport you play.

Q. You didn't take first-year coaches are supposed to get their teams to Conference Finals?

BRIAN DABOLL: I appreciate that (laughter).

WR DARIUS SLAYTON

Q. How do you feel your offseason is going?

DARIUS SLAYTON: I would say it's going pretty well so far.

Q. Do you like the offense that's being installed?

DARIUS SLAYTON: I like it.

Q. What kind of opportunity is this for you and some of other the newer receivers with Kadarius out, Kenny out, Shep not really participating for everybody else to showcase?

DARIUS SLAYTON: Yeah, I think it's a good chance for everybody to get a chance to get a lot of reps. Obviously, show what you can do out here when we are competing against the defense, so I think it benefits our room as a whole.

Q. What do you expect from this offense in terms of aggressiveness or creativity? What is your early feel on this?

DARIUS SLAYTON: I don't really know what I would say I'd expect out of it, but I just know it's been a lot of fun to learn it. It's been a lot of fun to run it so far, and I think we're getting better each and every day executing it.

Q. How important is it to really embody that next-play mentality when something bad happens and just to move to the next play.

DARIUS SLAYTON: Tremendous, because bad stuff is going to happen sooner or later. Nobody has a perfect career. Nobody has a perfect game, perfect day.

So definitely in our line of work where you're catching all the time and everybody feels like they can catch a ball because they've thrown it in the backyard, so when you drop it, you look like an idiot. Obviously, reality is we're all human, so definitely always have to keep a next-play mentality.

Q. You and D.J. came into the league together and had that instant chemistry right away, and you have gone through a lot of changes together as well. How much has it helped that you and your quarterback have gone through the whole process so far together?

DARIUS SLAYTON: I think it helps a lot because as you said, the team has changed a lot over the last three years. Obviously, having that consistency of the guy that's throwing me the ball has been helpful for me, and hopefully I've been good for him and helpful for him as well.

Q. When a new coach comes in, does your approach change? Do you have to sit there and go, I have to prove myself again or what?

DARIUS SLAYTON: No, I think you're always having to prove yourself. Whether you have the same coach or new coach, I think you always have to put your best foot forward and show what you can do.

Q. Wan'Dale Robinson, what have you seen from him so far?

DARIUS SLAYTON: He's quick, he's fast, he's explosive. I would say he is as advertised.

Q. Is he faster than you?

DARIUS SLAYTON: Nobody is faster than me, but he is fast.

Q. Hey, Darius, just curious the numbers game on this roster with receivers. There's a lot of receivers for not an indefinite number of spots.

DARIUS SLAYTON: Correct.

Q. Are you aware of that? Do you think about where your place is on this team, and do you think about if it's not here, that it's going to be somewhere?

DARIUS SLAYTON: Not really. I mean, at the end of the, day it's a performance-based business so no matter how many numbers you have or don't you, if you perform the best, you'll be in whatever number it is.

I believe in coming out here and putting my best foot forward. When it's all said and done, if I'm doing what I'm supposed to do, I'll be in there.

G MARK GLOWINSKI

Q. What do you like about this group that you're working with?

MARK GLOWINSKI: The offensive line, I love that we were able to bring in guys from previous schemes and to show us the way of how the offense is supposed to be ran, but we brought in guys that are feisty, hungry guys that want to win and want to play hard.

We're doing our best to learn one another, compete with one another, gel as much as we can, spend as much time as we can, in the lunch, breakfast room and everything. We just want to understand one another, but we have young talent, and we also have older guys that we've come across one another in the past, so we understand those guys.

Q. When you came in here, obviously, you were a guy they signed pretty quickly. What was your sense of what this offensive line was like before and kind of like your sense of how this group, this new coaching staff and front office, is so interested in getting it right after so many years of not having it right?

MARK GLOWINSKI: The media makes sure that everything is put out in the open, so just league-wide if something is not working right, there's always an excuse or whatever is going on, but they're doing a really good job of just bringing in guys that want to make the team better, do whatever we can.

At the end of the day, it's winning, so whatever we have to do to win. If that's bringing in -- if you have to pay a little bit more money or if you have to bring in guys that are hungry and want to win, you have to do whatever you have to do for the organization.

Q. Seems like there's a certain personality type that they were after, especially on the interior with you and Jon and even Shane has that a little bit, that sort of nastiness, right?

MARK GLOWINSKI: Yeah. I'm saying that's part of the game. That's the way you want it. You want an O-line, you want smart guys, and you also want guys that want to dominate and be aggressive and finish and do all the things that it takes to score points, win games.

You want to get even motivation for other -- what we do might trickle to the other positions on the other side of the ball as well. We're just here to compete at the moment.

Q. When you came here, how much of an influence was it that Bobby Johnson was hired to be the O-line coach?

MARK GLOWINSKI: It was really a big part of it. Familiarity. Especially this will be my eighth year, so knowing somebody that -- I'm going somewhere that I have never been before, and having somebody that I can ask a question, understand things, feel as comfortable as possible.

At the end of the day, I think it was a great opportunity for me to be able to keep playing football, give me another chance to just prove what I can do. I think that's what it comes down to.

Q. What's your nickname from Bobby?

MARK GLOWINSKI: I'm saying it's been a revolution. Wherever I've been, it's changed over time. Consistently, it's been Glow.

Q. What's been your impression of Evan Neal since you are playing next to him?

MARK GLOWINSKI: Just dominant. As long as he gets his hands on guys, that's the end of the story. So just making sure that we put him in the right place; make sure that he is doing the right things. He has come along drastically every day, learning more and more.

Like the first day, just making sure that he was making sure on all the plays and stuff he is going in the right direction and stuff like that and keep picking up as we go. There's so much that is going on.

We just have to make sure that we keep everybody going. Fortunately, we had a few more weeks with the whole group to understand everything so we can just relay the message to him, and every day he is just learning more, so it's less for me to tell him.

I'm just going to continuously do that even through camp to make sure that we're all on the same page, offensive line plays, making sure we're communicating with one another. Be one; whatever it takes to do that.

Q. Brian Daboll has become a big Rangers fan during this run. Just curious, has he shared anything about that team with you guys?

MARK GLOWINSKI: I know yesterday there were some guys that were here, and I know that the trophy was here yesterday. Just for media and stuff that he is at the games, you can see that he is fired up at the games.

I know we've done little things where you know the competition of how they play and stuff like that, but we're so focused on playing football right now that things like that are not as important.

Q. I know you have blocked for a pretty good running back in Indy in Jonathan Taylor. What do you see when you watch Saquon and you know that that's going to be your job of blocking for him?

MARK GLOWINSKI: Similar physicality. They're both big, strong guys. Very explosive. You can tell they kind of have similar build, but you know Saquon still has the bigger quads and stuff like that.

They're both very smart. They want to be the best that they can be. They would have the similar tendencies to want to know exactly what we're doing so that they can pick up stuff in the pass. Especially the way that this offense is going to be ran, that would be very important.

G SHANE LEMIEUX

Q. I think last year Joe Judge said something like you would chew off your own foot to get back out on the field. How hard was it being sidelined for basically the entire season?

SHANE LEMEIUX: That was my first injury ever in my career, so it was kind of a different mental standpoint, but I just love to practice, I love to get better, and obviously, not being able to be out there with the guys, I was trying to do everything I could to get out there.

Q. What does it mean not to be in a red jersey? Almost every guy who was hurt last year is still in the cautious red jersey phase. You're not.

SHANE LEMEIUX: I was itching to get it off. I was itching to get it off because I didn't even want the persona, I guess. I didn't want to be in that jersey, and I did everything I could to get out of it.

Q. Did they hand one to you and you said, no?

SHANE LEMEIUX: The training staff did everything they could to get me back out here and everything, so I'm really grateful for everyone in this building and everyone who helped get me back, yeah.

Q. Last year you obviously got hurt during training camp, and you were trying to play through it. Were you in a lot of pain in that week one game that you were playing?

SHANE LEMEIUX: Yeah. Yeah, but -- yeah. I was in a lot of pain.

Q. Was it after that point where you realized you couldn't go after that?

SHANE LEMEIUX: Yeah, at halftime I went in and called it quits. I didn't call it quits, but I said that's enough.

Q. For a guy who prides himself on toughness, you probably pushed it beyond where a tough guy would have taken it, right?

SHANE LEMEIUX: It was more the fact that I wanted to be out there for my team. I wanted to be out there and playing. I did everything I could to get out there. I didn't really think about I've got to tough through this. It was just like my teammates need me, and I love this game so much, I was going to do everything I could to get on that field.

Q. It's easy to ask now, but would you have done anything differently knowing --

SHANE LEMEIUX: No. No regrets, man. It's a new year and look at me. I'm here now, and I'm healthy, and I'm ready to roll.

Q. You come back now, and it's a new look. Completely new offensive line room. New offensive line coach. What's it like coming back to this room with so many new faces?

SHANE LEMEIUX: It's awesome. We have a great group of guys. You guys just talked to Glow. He is a great dude. We have Jon Feliciano, great guy.

The rookies all coming in are great dudes, man. They're learning. They're like sponges right now, and it's really cool to see. Obviously learning a new scheme is fun, and it's stressful at the same time because you have to learn all new stuff, and you have to learn new verbiage and all that kind of stuff, but it's kind of a cool standpoint of getting my feet under me again and starting from scratch basically.

Q. With the whole year of rehab, did you reconfigure your body a little bit?

SHANE LEMEIUX: No, I have always been -- I probably leaned out a little more. I came in, I was a little heavier, and then I leaned out and leaned out.

Actually, I made a home gym this offseason when I was on IR, so that's been my gig this offseason. I have any own gym, so I don't have to leave my house. I'm a workout junkie. That's what I really like to do. I'm about 305 to 310 right now.

Q. What were you as a rookie?

SHANE LEMEIUX: I was 313, but bad weight. It was bad weight.

Q. Daboll and Bobby Johnson both said when they were in Buffalo, they liked you. I'm wondering if you remember anything about conversations with them when they were there, and did you think Buffalo was going to draft you that year?

SHANE LEMEIUX: I had an official meeting at the combine with the Buffalo staff with Dabs and Bobby Johnson. I got the normal talk and everything like that, but it was after that I had constant communication with Bobby through the draft process even leading up to the draft. I thought they were going to take me, but I got the best of both worlds. I'm here at the best organization ever, and I'm with this new coaching staff.

Q. Did you have to knock off any rust when you came out here?

SHANE LEMEIUX: The first few days it's just getting -- I haven't really done football movements because I've been rehabbing so hard, getting the knee right. When I first got out here, yeah, I guess I was shaking a little rust off.

The stuff like cadence. I've got to get used to hearing the quarterback's cadence again and get used to playing next to new guys. That kind of stuff.

Q. What was Kayvon Thibodeaux like as a freshman at Oregon?

SHANE LEMEIUX: He was obviously the number one prospect in high school coming out, and he was a great athlete. When he walked in, you could tell that's a football player right there.

He was a good dude, a good locker room guy. We had a lot of battles his rookie year. I think it was his sophomore year he really stood out most. I think it was the PAC-12 Championship Game against Utah my senior year. He had like a strip sack, a punt block. It was a bunch of stuff. Sophomore year I think is when he really shined.

Q. What did you think leading up to the draft? There were knocks on him about a guy who takes plays off, a guy who doesn't love football. What did you think of that knowing that you knew him?

SHANE LEMEIUX: I never even paid attention to that because I know the kind of player he was. He was phenomenal, and I know in practice he was going all-out every single play.

Obviously, they asked me because I'm from Oregon what I thought about him, and I told them straight up he is the guy, he is a real dude, a real good player. Effort is nothing I would ever question for him.

Q. I don't know if you are a believer in Pro Football Focus and some of those metrics. They did not take kindly to your pass blocking as a rookie.

SHANE LEMEIUX: Yeah.

Q. When you look at the film, what did you see, and was it not what they saw?

SHANE LEMEIUX: That's like two years ago now. I listen to what my coach at the time was telling me. I don't have a Twitter. I don't have any of that kind of stuff, so I don't listen to that kind of stuff. I'm kind of old-school. Much respect to PFF, but I listen to what my coaches tell me.

Q. Are you getting used to "Frenchie" as a nickname?

SHANE LEMEIUX: I've heard it all. I've had a lot of nicknames. This is a new one for me.

Q. Probably not the worst one.

SHANE LEMEIUX: Not the worst one.

Q. What about the nickname of your center? That's not --

SHANE LEMEIUX: Dirt Bag? It's a term of endearment. (Laughing).

Q. Two years ago when you were playing, they talked about you as a nasty -- they didn't call you Dirt Bag, but had a "dirt bag" connotation.

SHANE LEMEIUX: I think that's what Bobby was getting at with that. I don't want to speak for him, but he prides himself as a tough, physical player, Jon does, and that kind of fits him.

Q. Do you like that? Do you like when people talk about you and say, he has a nasty disposition, and all that kind of stuff?

SHANE LEMEIUX: I think that fits the profile, the mold of what offensive linemen should be who are tone setters. In this offense, the offensive line, we're tone setters, and that's the way we should play, and that's the way we're coached.

Q. While we're at it, what's the nicknames of the rest of the bookends?

SHANE LEMEIUX: I don't think anyone else really has a nickname. Ben Bredeson is Bob. That's his nickname. Like the Bob from -- there's a Midwest burger stand called Burley Bob. I don't know. I'm from the West Coast.

Big Ev. Man, he is just a massive dude. He doesn't have a nickname. Just Big Ev. A.T., Andrew. That's my guy.

Q. How much do you talk about in the line for years the offensive line has been a weakness, and how much do you talk about taking charge and turning that around and being the people responsible for not being that way?

SHANE LEMEIUX: In this organization we've had good offensive lines in the past. We've had (David) Diehl, Richie (Seubert), and (Shaun) O'Hara. All these guys that we as offensive linemen now and the past couple of years we've felt we need to live up to those standards and those guys to continue to play the way that they left it.

We have a great deal of respect for them. We have a great deal of pressure. I wouldn't say pressure, but we need to hold ourselves to a standard of that kind of offensive line play when they were winning Super Bowls. They're around the building, and we obviously talk to them. I know I talked to Richie, and I talked to Shaun O'Hara around the building and stuff, and we need to hold ourselves to a standard of the way that they played because that's the way you should.

Q. You probably spend a lot of time in the training room with Gates. What have you seen him going through? What has he showed you? What have you learned about him?

SHANE LEMEIUX: It's a lot of perseverance, man. The thing that he went through and you see him out here playing around, that's the energy, man. He had a really devastating injury, and I love to see him the way he has worked so far, but he is going at his pace, man, and it's been cool to see him develop from that. That's my guy.