Mike Kakfa isn’t bothered by the conspiracy theories suggesting he is no longer calling the Giants’ offensive plays.
In his first interview since the Giants exploded for 31 second-half points against the Cardinals on Sept. 17 with head coach Brian Daboll holding a play sheet, Kafka said that “our process is still the same.” He reiterated Daboll’s message.
In other words, Daboll, a former offensive coordinator, is heavily involved in game-planning and shares input during game situations, but Kafka is the decision-maker who radios the play into quarterback Daniel Jones’ helmet.
“I don’t resent that at all,” Kafka said of the observations made off of television broadcasts. “It’s a fair question. We communicate throughout every series, every drive, throughout the game [about] what we like, what we don’t like. The process hasn’t changed from last year to this year.”
Kafka interviewed for four head coach vacancies last offseason after putting himself on the radar in his first year as an offensive play-caller. Under his tutelage, Jones went from turnover-plagued to throwing the fewest interceptions in the league, Saquon Barkley set a career high for rushing yards and the Giants averaged their most points per game since (21.5) since 2015 despite a talent deficiency.
But the 2023 Giants are second-worst in the league with 14.3 points per game. All but 12 of their 43 points came in two of 10 quarters, after rookie Jalin Hyatt’s 58-yard completion turned the tide on a 20-0 halftime deficit.
“Those are things that we are building on and working on all week and when you finally get an opportunity to make a play and let it happen down field, that kind of sparks something,” Kafka said. “That happens all throughout the entire season, all throughout a game, where you get a play, it sparks something and you kind of get on a roll. And then sometimes, something doesn’t happen and you have to find a way to get out of that rut.”
Seahawks safety Julian Love — who was a special teams captain and the Giants’ leading tackler last season — said he has “no ill feelings” toward the organization for letting him leave in the offseason.
The Giants offered Love a contract during November. He turned it down, went to free agency and signed a two-year, $12 million contract — believed to be smaller than the Giants’ best offer — in free agency.
“I had that moment of closure when I signed,” Love told Seattle media, “and I’m all-Seahawks now.”
LT Andrew Thomas (hamstring) did not practice. RB Saquon Barkley (ankle), TE Daniel Bellinger (neck), DT D.J. Davidson (elbow) and OLB Azeez Ojulari (hamstring) were limited. LG Ben Bredeson cleared the concussion protocol.
Thomas’ injury stems from hustling after a blocked field goal in Week 1.
Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said blocking on field goals is “part of the job” for offensive linemen, going back to the Giants’ 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl teams.
“I don’t have the power to take anybody off [field-goal team], but it’s definitely something you look at,” McGaughey said. “When you have a guy like A.T. who is important to our team and that’s kind of a freak thing that happens … you definitely think about it because you damn sure don’t want to lose a guy like him ever.”