Giants’ Kitchens: Play calling went smoothly

Joe Judge isn’t making the Miami Dolphins guess about who will be calling the offensive plays for the New York Giants this weekend.

Former Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens handled the role against the Eagles after Jason Garrett was fired last week, and he’s going to have the headset Sunday when the Giants (4-7) visit the Dolphins (5-7) to kick off a twogame road trip.

While the Giants had only 264 yards in a 13-7 win over Philadelphia, Kitchens felt the play calling went smoothly.

One distinct change was seeing quarterback Daniel Jones wearing a wristband for the first time in his three NFL seasons. It allows Kitchens to say a number over his headset and Jones just looks at a corresponding play on the wristband.

The quarterback calls the play, gets the team out of the huddle quickly, then he has more time to look at the defense and change the call, if necessary.

“I think he saw the benefits of it,” Kitchens said Thursday in handling the offensive coordinator’s responsibility with the media. “Everywhere I’ve always been, I think they do it around the league a lot, you see quarterbacks with wristbands. It helps the communication process, but it’s just like any other thing, you’ve got to practice that as well.”

Other than that, Kitchens said not much has changed. The staff got together and collaborated on the game plan. He talked to the players and got their opinions on what they liked.

“To me, why would you call something, and this is the way our staff believes, why would you call something if a player’s not comfortable running it?” Kitchens said.

One noticeable change involved receiver Kenny Golladay, who signed a $72 million deal as a free agent in the offseason, and got seven targets last weekend. He had two against the Buccaneers, the game that was Garrett’s last as coordinator.

“I still only had three catches,” said Golladay, who has not scored a touchdown this season. “I wish I would’ve brought a couple more of those down.”

Running back Saquon Barkley downplayed targets and carries and said the focus should be on winning.

“As the season goes on and all the offensive guys get together, probably a little more wrinkles are going to come in,” Barkley said. “We’ve just got to come out in practice, run the plays, execute the plays in practice, and then when they’re called in the game, make it work.”

NFL suspensions:

The NFL has suspended Bucs receiver Antonio Brown, safety Mike Edwards and former

Bucs receiver John Franklin III three games without pay for using fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.

All three players accepted their discipline and waived their right to an appeal, the league said in a statement.

The league began its investigation after the Tampa Bay Times reported that Brown obtained and utilized a fake COVID-19 vaccination card, according to his former live-in chef, Steven Ruiz.

The NFL Players Association represented all three players during a joint review that supported the allegations and found all three players violated league protocols.