HE’LL BE THE JUDGE OF THAT
With Garrett gone, Joe reevaulates how Giants do things on offense
Daniel Jones didn’t wear a wristband with a list of playcalls when Pat Shurmur or Jason Garrett were the Giants’ offensive coordinator, but Jones is wearing one now.
“All of our quarterbacks will be wearing wristbands this week,” head coach Joe Judge said Friday.
Judge is making several changes to the offense in the wake of Garrett’s Tuesday firing, and they all seem to center on player-centered initiatives to help operations in the wake of an abrupt transition.
Presumably new play-caller Freddie Kitchens has installed new plays and wrinkles this week that Jones has not memorized yet. So the natural move would be to add Kitchens’ plays to Jones’ new wristband and incorporate those calls into the familiar base offense.
Judge said the Giants are keeping the same terminology and that “through communication with players and coaches in meetings,” the wristbands are “something we came up with that we thought may help in some avenues” and “may be helpful with our players.”
The second-year coach also may see some value in putting more at Jones’ fingertips, literally, and giving him more freedom at the line of scrimmage.
Saquon Barkley said the coaching staff has actually solicited a ton of player feedback for Sunday’s game plan against the Eagles, and it sounds like that will be a major part of their process the rest of the way.
“They kinda told us that as we’re going through the week, we gotta start figuring out and knowing what we like, too, because we’re gonna be the ones on the field,” Barkley said Friday. “We’re gonna be the ones running the plays. So [coaches say] if you’ve got your five top runs, come let me know your five top runs.
“DJ [Daniel Jones], you like these five plays that you believe are gonna work? Let me know the plays that you believe are gonna work,” Barkley added. “Be open, be honest with the plays we like, we don’t like.”
One player who undoubtedly serves to benefit from this player-focused approach is wide receiver Kenny Golladay.
The big-money free agent signing clearly wasn’t thrilled by his two targets in Monday’s loss at Tampa. Asked four days later on Friday if he was frustrated,
Golladay said with a smile: “I’m just gonna keep that comment to myself.”
Golladay said he is looking for “just more opportunities, period. Any way I can help the team, that’s all I really want, so of course I’d like more opportunities.”
He said he didn’t think the offense needed “big changes,” just that they have to start “getting the right guys in the right spot.”
Golladay still hasn’t caught a touchdown pass as a Giant, while Eagles corner Darius Slay, his former Lions teammate, already has a pick-six TD for Philly.
“That’s messed up, huh?” Golladay said with a smirk Friday.
Jones said Wednesday that Golladay needs to win on his routes to get the ball more, as well. Golladay admitted he has won and lost some, but he is confident in his ability to make contested catches.
So he still thinks he deserves the trust of a throw in key spots, and he doesn’t agree with the common conception of his game: that he doesn’t create separation often.
“At the end of the day the ball gets caught,” he said. “So I don’t really care about what other people think that much. A catch is a catch. When the ball’s coming to 19 I just gotta make the play. Hope for more opportunities of course, but when the ball comes to me, I gotta make it.”
Golladay took responsibility for his own shortcomings in the Buccaneers beatdown, too. He missed a block badly that would have sprung Kadarius Toney for a big gain.
“That was all on me,” Golladay said. “The nickel blitzed and it was