After flying back from Munich, the New York Giants (2-8) are officially on their bye week and will return to action with a home matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Nov. 24.

General manager Joe Schoen spoke to reporters on Tuesday at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center and fielded questions about the state of the roster at the midway point. Here is everything you need to know:

📰 GM Joe Schoen: "Not where we want to be. No one is happy about it." The rest of the week will be about self-evaluation and finding solutions.

📰 "Everybody's got a hand in this, myself included. It starts with me. ... We're going to look at solutions." The Giants have to find a way to "make plays at critical moments."

📰 Asked about the quarterback position, Schoen said "any decisions we make will be football decisions."

📰 Schoen: "We have seven games left in the season, and that's what we're focused on."

📰 There is a "young nucleus" of players with some veterans that will be together. "I like the young foundation that we've put in place."

📰 Schoen said they're not giving up on CB Deonte Banks. "He works hard. He wants it. I still believe he's got a bright future."

📰 Schoen noted they have the youngest defense in the league that went through a scheme change this year.

📰 Evan Neal played well at right tackle on Sunday and had good energy. He had been practicing at a high level and was able to transition that to the game. "What I liked about it is when his number was called, he was ready."

📰 It's "painful" to go through it but Schoen believes in the building process.

📰 Schoen reiterated they need to build an identity of closing out tight games. They are 1-5 in one-possession games.

Full Transcript

JOE SCHOEN: Thanks for coming out today. Obviously, we are sitting here at 2-and-8. Not where we want to be. Nobody is happy about it, ownership, (Head Coach) Dabs (Brian Daboll), me, coaches, people in the building, the fans, and I understand that. What we're going to do the rest of the week is do self-evaluation on the roster, personnel and try to find solutions as we move forward to these last seven games. So, that's what we'll focus on this week. The guys came in, had a good day of practice today, lifted and had meetings. We'll start circling up with the coaches tomorrow and the rest of the week and see how we can look to turn the ship as we go forward the rest of the season.

Q: In year three of this rebuild, shouldn't you guys be better? And why aren't you?

JOE SCHOEN: Nobody's happy that we're 2-and-8. That's what we're going to do the rest of the week. I understand the question. We don't want to be sitting here at 2-and-8. I agree with what you said, it's year three and we're 2-and-8. It's not where we want to be. We're going to start looking for solutions. We do it every week. You go to each game and you're looking at matchups and being competitive. We've been competitive in the games. We've got to find ways to finish games. That's what we'll do the rest of the week. How can we… Whether it's the way we practice, the way we're doing things, scheme, coaching, personnel, whatever it is. We're going to look under every rock and try to figure out solutions moving forward. We got seven games left. So, there's still a lot of time to play.

Q: How would you evaluate (quarterback) Daniel (Jones), this year?

JOE SCHOEN: In general, I understand the question, you want to pull him out, but it's everybody. Everybody's got a hand in this. Again, I know being the quarterback and offensive coordinator, head coach, a lot of people like to point to those guys, in general. Daniel (Jones) has played some good games. There's some games where maybe he'd like to have some throws back or do things differently. But, in general, it's not one individual or one situation that keeps occurring, unfortunately. So, whether it's the defense is on the field at the end of the game and we've got a chance to close it out. Or offense has the ball in a couple different games and we could go down and score and close the game out. So, we're going to look at solutions and we're going to evaluate everything, like (Head Coach) Dabs (Brian Daboll) said yesterday, and that's what we'll do moving forward here.

Q: How would you evaluate (Head Coach) Brian (Daboll) right now?

JOE SCHOEN: We're 2-and-8. So, again, we're going to look at solutions. He's coming in every day. He's working hard. The team is staying together. We had a really good practice today on a bye week, which is the first time we've done that in his three years here. He's done a really good job, the guys are competing, keeping the locker room together. Again, we're in these games. We're in these games. We just got to find a way to finish it. We are 1-and-5 in one score games. So, we got to find a way to get over the hump and make plays at critical times of the game, whether it's red zone or third down. Or getting off the field on defense. Or tackling on punt coverage and not allowing a punt return for a touchdown. Again, there's a lot of things that we can look at and we need to improve on and that's what we're going to do the rest of the week.

Q: When you look at it from what you thought you were going into the season to now, do you look down at this personnel and say, 'This team is not good enough. I didn't put a good enough… I didn't give the coaches enough.'

JOE SCHOEN: No, I don't think so. I don't think so.

Q: If the players are good enough, then it's got to be the coaching?

JOE SCHOEN: No, it's not players and it's not one individual. That'd be an easy fix if we could say, 'Hey, it's this.' Everybody's got their hand in this, myself included. It starts with me. We have a really good rookie class that's playing well. We have the youngest defense in the league. We're 17th in defense and we're 23rd in offense. We're middle of the pack. So, there's not a large margin for error when you go into some of these games. It's four to five plays a game that make the difference. That's what we got to figure out, how to make the plays in critical moments to get over the hump. I saw a stat last week, I think it was through Week 9 of the NFL season, I don't have the updated Week 10 (stats), but it's the most one score games in the history of the NFL. That's what it is. It's close games, there's parity. We're 1-and-5 in those close games. We're going to look for solutions and find ways to make plays in critical parts of the game where we can get over the hump when it matters the most. We're not far off.

Q: Wouldn't you think that stat doesn't say that much about the team then? Because if everybody's competitive, every game is competitive. If you look at it from a bigger picture, you guys are like fifth in point differential, biggest point differential. So just being competitive, the threshold has to be higher, right?

JOE SCHOEN: I would say the red zone is important and we're last in the league in the red zone. So, we're moving the ball, we're getting down there, we get in critical situations and we're 32nd in the red zone. We got to find a way to put the ball in the end zone and that's a big part of it.

Q: Why do think you guys are last in the league in scoring? Why do you think you haven't been able to score?

JOE SCHOEN: That's what we're going to look at this week. We do it every week. We look at it every week. Whether it's execution, it's scheme, it's personnel, whatever it is, we have to figure it out. We believe we have the players in the building to do it and it's execution. It's not one individual each week. Some games we have penalties, or there's a drop, or we fumble. Everybody's got a hand in it and we just got to figure out how to come out and play a clean game with complementary football. When we've done that, we've won.

Q: How much of a role will Daniel's (Jones) contract, and the injury guarantee, play into how much he plays for the rest of the season?

JOE SCHOEN: We're going to evaluate everything the rest of the week and the decisions we make will be football decisions.

Q: That won't be involved in the analysis?

JOE SCHOEN: It will be a football decision. Any decisions we make moving forward as we evaluate the roster and what we're doing for the final seven games will be football decisions.

Q: How do you see Daniel (Jones), specifically his long-term future with the franchise?

JOE SCHOEN: We have seven games left in this season and that's what we're focused on. I'm focused on 2024 and how we can get better these final seven games. We have 19 of 22 starters under contract for next year. I believe it's 41 players on the 53 (man roster). So, there is a young nucleus of players here, and some veterans, that are going be together. We're in a position where we have some continuity. As this team grows together, it's important over these final seven weeks that… A lot of these guys are going to be together again next year. We're finally in a position where there will be some continuity year over year. It's important that we find ways to win games, specifically those ones I spoke about earlier when it's close. That's part of changing the culture and expecting to win. You don't want it to be, 'Here we go again.' So, that's a mindset that we're still trying to develop. We do have a young team. We have the youngest defense in the league. We have (tight end) Theo (Johnson), (running back Tyrone) Tracy (Jr.), (wide receiver Malik) Nabers, some young guys on offense that are playing major roles for us and contributing. It's important for them to grow and learn how to win games as well.

Q: Did (quarterback) Drew (Lock) or (quarterback) Tommy (DeVito) get any snaps with the first team today? Are you turning it into a competition with (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) at this point?

JOE SCHOEN: It wasn't the typical practice. So, there was no first team reps.

Q: There have been several players who were on this team that left in free agency and have had a substantial success elsewhere. Do you want to reevaluate, at all, how you decide where the money is allocated in terms of in-house free agents, letting guys go, letting guys walk, at all?

JOE SCHOEN: Are you talking about anybody specifically?

Q: Yeah, meaning Giants players who went on elsewhere. (Seattle Seahawks cornerback) Julian (Love), (Green Bay Packers safety) X (Xavier McKinney), (Philadelphia Eagles running back) Saquon (Barkley), anything like that…

JOE SCHOEN: I like (safety) Tyler Nubin. He's played well for us. He's one of the only rookies playing 99% of the defensive play time. He's leading rookies in tackles. So, I'm excited about him. (Running back) Tyrone Tracy (Jr.), also leading rookies in terms of rushing. So, I'm excited about the young players that we have. The build's tough. It hurts sometimes as you're going through it. But, you got to go through it to get to the other side. I like the young foundation that we've put in place. Whether it's (outside linebacker Brian) Burns and (defensive lineman) Dex (Dexter Lawrence II) and (outside linebacker) Kayvon (Thibodeaux). There's some pieces that are going to be in… (wide receiver Malik) Nabers, the rookies I talked about, (tight end) Theo (Johnson). There's some young pieces here in place in terms of the foundation that we're going to continue to build on. Another year of free agency and another draft, we're not far off. We're not far off.

Q: Do you have enough players for that young foundation from your first two drafts?

JOE SCHOEN: I would say I like the guys in our first two drafts. Where we were then and what we were trying to do by moving back… We needed players. There were five healthy offensive linemen on the roster at the time. So, there were players or situations you were in, trying to fill out the roster, whether it was depth players with some of those guys or certain roles that they've developed. (Cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott is a third-round pick that's played solid this year for us. He plays nickel. (Wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson) has turned into a good slot receiver. I think he's in the top ten in receptions in the league. Some guys are role players. You need those guys as well. So, I wish I could bat a thousand, you always want to do that. But, I believe in the people in the building. I believe in our process. I believe in the research that we do, the work we're doing. I think you saw the results this last offseason with the draft that we had. I look forward to continuing to, hopefully, have some drafts that compare to this one.

Q: You believe in the process. As an outsider who's not in the building, why should they believe in the process? Because the results obviously aren't what anyone wants.

JOE SCHOEN: Nobody's happy that we're 2-and-8. I don't disagree with you. But, I believe in the process. I believe where we're going. Again, building it, sometimes it hurts and it's painful and it's hard to go through it. But, we're going in the right direction.

Q: You mentioned how painful it is for a rebuild. Because you won nine games in your first year, you guys won a playoff game. I don't know if you changed the approach for year two or do you think that the rebuild now is viewed differently because of moves you made coming off of year one versus having the last two years as your first two years?

JOE SCHOEN: I've thought a lot about that and there's probably truth to that. You come off a winning season, some of the issues were maybe masked or you're blinded a little bit by it because of the success. Then once we extended (quarterback) Daniel (Jones), you try to accelerate it because the way that contract was structured. You got to make mistakes, too. I wish I came into this job and I didn't make any mistakes. I think anybody in their job, you as a writer, I'm sure you're better your third year or fourth year than you were the first year. There were some parts of the process, when I evaluated it, that maybe were overlooked or I could have done a better job in the evaluation process or player procurement process. That's part of growth. I did make some mistakes or some decisions I wish I could have back. I like the direction we're going. I like my team. I like my strategy and the groups that help me in research and strategy, my scouting department. We've got a good coaching staff. I truly believe we're heading in the right direction.

Q: Are you worried about alienating players in the locker room with moves like cutting (cornerback Nick) McCloud, a starter, this season or going back to the way Saquon was handled.

JOE SCHOEN: No. I mean, we've had active roster players like (outside linebacker) Boogie Basham, (outside linebacker Benton) Whitley, we've got guys that were on the active roster that are now on the practice squad. So, I don't know how that would alienate anybody.

Q: Well, some players don't understand the rationale behind a move like that. It's a guy who brings obvious value. You have players and coaches on the record saying 'I don't know; he was valuable to our team.' …. As a general manager, you're making a hard decision that you believe is right for certain reasons. Do you believe you risk losing players on the team because they don't see the rationale behind it?

JOE SCHOEN: No, and again, no matter what decision I make, it's going to be popular and it's going to be unpopular. I mean, that's just the nature of the beast. And not everybody is going to agree with everything I do. And there's going to be a lot of people that disagree and agree. So, it's the nature of the business, you've got to get comfortable with making the decision. And early on in this, that was hard to do. When you have to make those difficult decisions, you always think about the locker room. You think about the impact down there. And you also want to do what's best for the organization. So, you take all that into account and I'm close with these guys too. I'm close with the players and it stinks sometimes when you have to cut them. I don't want to do that, and they have lives and families and we're around these guys a lot and you get to know them. So, I've got a good relationship with our leadership group in the locker room and if they have questions, they can come and ask me, or I keep them abreast if something's coming up or coming down the pipe where we may have to make a move. And I consult with some of those guys sometimes.

Q: You mentioned another year of free agency and another draft. Do you expect to be back here especially if this team doesn't win some games down the stretch?

JOE SCHOEN: Yes.

Q: Has ownership told you that you'll definitely will be back?

JOE SCHOEN: I communicate with ownership all the time. I know Dabs talks about that continuously each time these questions come up. And we have a really good relationship with ownership, and we communicate constantly with them. And there's confidence in the plan and where we're heading.

Q: You rattled off a lot of guys when talking about your draft picks. I don't think Deonte Banks was mentioned. Obviously, you invested a lot in him and trusted him to be your number one cornerback. There has been a lot of effort concerns. How head scratching is it and how do you look at him as a piece moving forward?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, there was one effort question on the play against Philadelphia.

Q: And the play against Dallas with (Cowboys wide receiver) CeeDee (Lamb)?

JOE SCHOEN: And two. I mean, that's a hard play. Dak threw a good ball. It was inside. Safety took a bad angle. I hear you though. I understand the question. Tae's a young player that we did invest a high draft pick in and a first-round pick as a corner. Played well a year ago. Changed the scheme. And again, we're the youngest defense in the league. It's just, it's not just Tae that would like to have some plays back. There's other people as well, but we're not giving up on Tae. He's got the physical traits. He's shown the ability to match the top receivers on other teams. And corner's a tough position to play. You're moving backwards and you're going against some of the greatest athletes in the world that are moving forward. And there's balls that are going to be caught on you. And he's been in really good position on some of them. So, we're not going to give up on Tae. He works hard. He wants it. And I still believe he's got a bright future.

Q: I know you said it's not all on DJ, but when you look back at the offseason, do you wish you did anything differently when addressing the quarterback position? Specifically, (Steelers quarterback) Russell Wilson. Obviously, he was in here and not pursuing him aggressively or in general, anything you wish you would have done differently.

JOE SCHOEN: You're talking specifically on the quarterback position?

Q: Specifically on the quarterback.

JOE SCHOEN: I mean, no.

Q: With where you are at with the quarterback, you think this was the best it could have been this season?

JOE SCHOEN: With the options that were available?

Q: Yes, with Russell Wilson.

JOE SCHOEN: When people are free agents and you go through the process, you do what you do. If it's a good fit, then sometimes they come. If they're not, you can't make them. So, again, you go through the process of free agency, whether it's any position. And that's how free agency works. And players decide where they want to go and what they want to do. But some of that stuff is out of your control.

Q: You mentioned repeatedly you think you're close, that you're a young team, a lot of these guys will be back. This is a two-part question, you assume that next year with some seasoning and some different players, this team can make a pretty decent leap forward?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, I really do.

Q: That's defined by what?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, we'll get into 2025 when we get there. I don't know what that looks like right now. Again, we're focused on these last seven games. But I do like where we are from a continuity standpoint. And I think that's important. Year over year, having a core nucleus of players that can lead and teach and help implement the coach's message, the scheme, whatever it may be. Constant turnover and new players every year, that's tough. And the goal all along was to build something that's sustainable. And to do that, it takes time. And based on resources that you have, again, it's painful going through it, but I think where we are right now and where we're heading, yes, there should be…

Q: And I know you're not talking about 2025, but if that is all true about the nucleus, things like that, if you add in a new quarterback who might be a young quarterback, does that kind of change the timeline because now you deal with a young quarterback, now you need time to get him up to speed.

JOE SCHOEN: Depends who the player is. I mean, you can look around the league where that's happened based on where different timelines. I mean, it's hard to say. I mean, maybe look at Houston, they dropped the rookie quarterback into that roster, and he had success that rookie year. But I mean, there's a rookie at that position, there's going to be learning, growing pains and with any position. These kids are young and we're talking about it today with some of the injury report and it's 10 games in. For these college kids, a lot of times, that's it. We still got seven games; we got a long way to go. So, talking to those guys about being pros and how long the season is and taking advantage of the offseason. So, to answer your question, yeah, we got four, five offensive linemen coming back. You got (wide receiver) Malik Nabers, (wide receiver) Wan'Dale Robinson, (wide receiver Jalin) Hyatt. There's two UFAs on offense, (guard) Greg Van Roten at right guard and (wide receiver Darius) Slayton and then (safety Jason) Pinnock on defense from a starter standpoint. So, when (tackle Andrew Thomas) AT was healthy and the starting five, I believe they played just over 400 snaps together. I mean, that made a difference. I thought they did a really good job when everybody's healthy. So, I mean with any quarterback, you want to be able to give him time and have weapons and, you know, add in (tight end) Theo (Johnson) to that and (running back Tyrone) Tracy and (running back Devin) Singletary. So, hypothetically, yeah.

Q: From the outside looking in, trade deadline-wise, you maybe could've gotten something for Slayton or Azeez (Oulari). That's kind of what it seemed from the outside. What was your trade deadline philosophy and were you close to dealing them?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, trade philosophy is the same as it's been in the past. Like, we listen if people call and if there's any players that we catch word of that may be available around the league and it makes sense for our roster, then we're going to look into it. So, yeah, no different than it was in the past.

Q: Closing the gap within the division has been a talking point over the last couple of years. How would assess where you guys stand currently?

JOE SCHOEN: We're 2-8. Not good enough. Not good enough, and we got to get better at that, for sure.

Q: One of the roster decisions that's talked about often is the offseason plan with (offensive lineman Joshua) Josh Ezeudu as your backup left tackle knowing Andrew Thomas has an injury history. Is that a decision you would like to have redone in hindsight? Why did you feel confident when the plug was pulled after one start?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, I think going into the season, we didn't know Evan wasn't going to be available, and we knew Eluemunor has versatility. He's played four spots on the offensive line, so that wasn't necessarily the plan. We knew that Eluemunor could play either/or and it would give you optionality if Evan was healthy, and unfortunately, he wasn't healthy till the start of the year and missed the majority of camp. So, we knew we had options. Josh Ezeudu's in there working hard. (Offensive Line Coach Carmen Bricillo) Carm's a really good coach, has confidence in Jermaine, and we're gonna continue to develop Josh. He's got position flex at guard and tackle, which is important for this league. So, again, Josh started off a little slow in the Philly game, and then I thought he settled in well. And again, we're going to keep working with him, and see how he continues to progress under Carm.

Q: You mentioned Evan Neal. I know it's only one game, but what did you see from Evan? And is there confidence now that maybe you didn't have a couple of weeks ago that maybe he has an opportunity here to kind of get to a level where maybe he hasn't shown yet in the league?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, Evan played well the other day. A lot of energy. He's had that in practice the last few weeks. And he's been practicing well. He transferred that, transitioned that to the game. It's hard when you're the number seven pick in the draft and you're not playing. And he's practicing at a high level, but Jermaine was playing well too. So, it took some time for us to make the move. And what I like about it is when his number was called, he was ready. And again, he went out and he played well and played with energy. And was really good in the run game, was solid in the pass game. And I'm happy for him because I know it's been hard for him, being injured and not being able to play and wanting to play. So yeah, I thought he did a good job the other night.

Q: Just as a follow-up, Evan Neal has gotten a lot of attention. He's your second draft pick, one of the first first-rounders. Has it been hard for you to strike that balance? The idea of, if he gets in there and plays well, looks better for you and the front office and obviously for the team. But if he doesn't play, that's a strike against your first draft here. I mean, how important is that one specific spot to what you guys are trying to build here as a foundation?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, it's important. Again, a premium pick like that, you always want to bat 1.000. And again, he's been injured. We're looking forward with him and trying to build off the last game. So yeah, it's important that he could come in and contribute for us and again, just help us win. And that's what we're looking for. Whoever the best five are right now, we want them out there so we can go out and produce. And again, I'm rooting for Evan. He's done everything the right way since he's been back on the grass, and it paid off the other night and he played well.

Q: You mentioned mistakes that you made after that first season. What specifically are you referring to? What would you do differently?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, I'm not going to get into specifics on mistakes. Nobody's going to be harder on the decision-making process or on me than me. And that's what keeps you up at night. You're always evaluating your decision-making, what went right in the process, what went wrong, but you can't put it back. Maybe you have a bad game plan one week and you can go get it the next week. For us, these decisions aren't quick fixes, and they can be impactful either way. So again, a lot of confidence in my staff and our process and where we're heading.

Q: The biggest decision of that offseason was extending Daniel. Are you referring to that? That's what I'm getting at. That's what people are going to say on the outside. That's what seemed like the biggest decision.

JOE SCHOEN: This past offseason?

Q: No, when he got the extension.

JOE SCHOEN: We also extended A.T. (Andrew Thomas), we extended (defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II) Dex.

Q: Those weren't mistakes, though, right?

JOE SCHOEN: No, again, we'll see how it plays out. But yeah, again, you take the information you have and there's a lot of good people in the building, a lot of smart people that know football and you take the information you have and you add in analytics, the person, the structure that they're within and can they be successful in our program with what we have and what's our plan, how to utilize, not just Daniel, but whatever individual it is and what's the plan for success. And you let it play out.

Q: Just to clarify on the quarterback position with Daniel and the decision. Will the quarterback that you start coming out of the bye, will the decision be based on what gives you the best chance to win that day's game? Is that what the football decision?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, we're going to evaluate it the rest of the week and the decisions we make will be football decisions.

Q: I mean is it intended to give your team the best chance to win? Is that the decision? Whatever quarterback?

JOE SCHOEN: That's what we are here to do. We're going to do the best football decision for us to win games.

Q: How would you evaluate Daniel this season?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, again, we're going to go back through all that. We're 2-8. So again, everybody needs to, including myself, look in the mirror and how can we do things better. That's what we're going to continue to do. I understand you guys want to ask about Daniel and it's the quarterback position. I mean, that's what comes with the territory, specifically in this market. It's not all on one person.

Q: You keep saying you're not far off. People are going to look at this and say the team is 2-8. You were able to finish 4-3 last year without even your starting quarterback. And they're going to say this team looks like it's worse in year three than it was in year two. So how can you say you're not far off?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, the results have not been what we wanted them to be. I don't want to be sitting up here at 2-8. Like that's not what we want and nobody's happy about it. And I understand that, but I do see progress and we're better in different areas. And again, we're going to evaluate all that stuff this week, but we're better in a lot of areas. We just got to figure out how to finish games. And again, we're in the games. We're not getting blown out in those games. We're 1-5 in close games and that's the league. We have to develop the mentality that we're going to win and close out those games. And that's what we're going to look to do these last seven games of the season.