Postgame Press Conference: Interim HC Mike Kafka: 'It's about the players'

Interim head coach Mike Kafka speaks to the media Sunday after the Giants' Week 17 win over the Raiders.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You talk about the meaning of the win for the for.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
The team, great, great win in really all three phases.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Stepped out.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
You know, you saw plays on offense, guys like Wandall
Uh stepping up and having a great day for us
when we needed the most, huge third down conversions, big
plays across the field. Our offensive line blocked their tail
off in the run game and in the pass game.
Really really proud of how Jackson rebounded from the last
couple of weeks in terms of stepping up. It's not
it's not easy to win this league, and for him

(00:27):
to step up like that for like he did you
not only throwing the ball, but running the football as well.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Really proud of our defense.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
I think held them, under held them at sixty three
rushing yards versus that back who's an explosive player. Did
a great job in the run game. They had two turnovers,
which are huge with Bobby Ocarak and Dane Belton having
having two picks. So really proud of our defense for
stepping I've had a couple of critical even down the line.
Then special teams wise, I thought they played with their
hair on fire and and Tate Banks had a great

(00:55):
play right there to kind of put it away and
really and really make a stamp on himself, and and
and for him to learn a new position in the
off season, We asked him to do something that he
really wasn't comfortable with to start, and just kept on
getting better and better and better. And uh, you know,
you could see it in practice. You can see his
practice habits and how he was working that something like
that would happen. And for him to have a ninety

(01:15):
five yard touchdown return just really cool for the kid
to see that success. Thinking from the reaction a lot
of rooms, pretty big deal.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Why is that such a big deal with now when
the week left to build?

Speaker 2 (01:28):
You know, like I said, I think wins are winds
are hard to get in this league in general. And
then for us to kind of come out here and
play like they did, you know, I'm just really proud
of how our coaches coached it. You know, those days,
stepped up and made sure that you know, our guys
were prepared, that our guys were ready to roll, and
they came out with that intent, you know, to really
to play hard, play physical, play fast. And I'm just

(01:50):
really excited about, you know, the guys because that's really
who I'm thinking about. You know that you guys have
played in practice, you know, put in so many hours,
you know, early mornings, late nights, put it out ours
on their body and on their mind to get prepared
for these things and for them to see the success.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
That's what it's about. And you know you can hear it.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
You can feel the enthusiasm, you can feel the excitement
for those guys because of all the hard work they put.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
In a lot of side of your building.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
We needed to scale about what did you see have
to play for.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Your draft picks and things like that come. I guess
you hear that you let it, give it to your
locker room. You're an absoluting.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I mean the things that we were playing for
or for each other, you know, to a man, and
in that room, you and having each other's back and
playing as hard as we can for each other. You know,
you know, you get into a football locker room, it's
a family, and you know sometimes you have to go
through the ups and downs, but you understand you keep
on plugging away, you keep on putting the hard work,
and then you'll get the result you want.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
What did you say from Jackson's And after a.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
Year Yeah, I'm really proud Jackson, how he stepped up
for our offense and really did a good job of
just controlling the game, managing the game, take easy completions
to start, and then when he had opportunities downfield, his
guys work for him and he got on the football.
He did a great job with his feet, you know,
whether it was design runs, whether it was a scrambles
either getting us back to a lot of shrimage, or making
plays with the legs and getting us first downs. So

(03:13):
I think for him to bounce back, it was it
was something that I think we all saw in practice
and how he approached it, and then for him to
come out here and do this in the game, I'm
not surprised. I'm not surprised and how he played, but
he you know, I'm just really proud of how he
responded like that.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Obviously maybe mentioned he saw other players.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
He really, this is your first win as head coach.
We enough time to reflect on that one, but later
which is thoughts now, yeah, thought, it's not I'm not
deflecting out. I'm serious that it's about the players and
those guys to get getting a win for them and
for each other and we're all in this thing together.
Everyone's working hard and putting a lot of hours in
because it means something to us. And just see that

(03:52):
locker room and feel that locker room in a post
game and even during the game, you know you feelt
you felt that energy and you felt the urgency to
finish this thing off. And again, I'm just really excited
and proud form. It's going to be a fun play
right back. And then we got to get back to work,
wander across the in our mark and relies of your game.
For him to get to this point in his career,

(04:12):
we did with ye Laval as he was he ever
arguing what does it said about his growth just to
get to this point one thousand draps? Yeah, Wandell you
know we came in together, right, it was our first
draft class, a guy that I that I know and
love really well, and to him to see him continue
to grow in that position, and we asked him to
do you know, he came in primarily as a slot.
We asked him to play a little bit more outside

(04:32):
this year based on injuries, and he just she jumped
at it. And then I think he took his craft
to another level in terms of being on the planet
outside perimeter receiver and still have the dynamic ability to
play inside and the slot and create mismatches and matchup
opportunities for himself. So again, to have that day eleven
catches one hundred and thirteen yards, then to eclipse a thousand,
what awesome milestone for him. I know, I know for

(04:54):
him it's it's it's a really cool because you know,
you saw that and you saw this a lot of
the production over the years, but that and Marker is
a big deal, and it's a big deal for him.
And to get it, not only the way he did
it with exposive plays, but to get it and also
get the win I think it's kind of just the
chair on top for him. I know he was really
excited about it. I'm I'm super proud of him. I'm
a long and touchdown.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Third quarter it looked like getting where what did he
make it? A bounce back?

Speaker 2 (05:19):
I means he came off right now. Yeah, I mean
it was a fourth to fourteen play drive. These guys
were defending every blade of grass they could. Gino made
a night's play on the scrambled to find him. Uh
you know he h Tay just kind of you know,
put that play behind him and then attacked the next
play and made a huge one for us, right and
then and had the ability there to kind of shut
it out and you know, mentally and really put put

(05:40):
a stamp on it on the game for himself.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
And and that was that was a huge play in
the game.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
I mean, I can't I can't underst I mean, I
can't understate it. That was a huge play for us.
I think Jackson had a little bit more a slag personality,
was up to games.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
On practice this week or.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, he had he had a good he had a
good approach to practice. It's and again it's not easy.
Like you're you're a young player, You're going through the
ups and downs of the season and you got to
battle through that. You got to keep your mind sharp,
you got to keep your mind clear and not let
other things, the outside noise kind of bog you down.
And he didn't let it affect him at all. And
he's been he's been great. He's been great for me.
And he saw him just execute early in the game

(06:19):
and just kept on taking what the defense was given him.
Then when he had opportunities downfield, he was had the
ability to be aggressive and stay aggressive with it, and
then he let his playmakers make plays for him. And
that's I think for him to continue to see that
and to continue to grow that way is going to
be important because there's gonna be time for him that
he needs to put, you know, the Superman cape on
and go make the plays. But majority of the time,

(06:40):
it's just about operating and operating fast. And you saw
that today and I think that was a good turning
point for him, for you just just being able to
talk to him because I you know, I've been in
that seat. They've been in that chair in terms of
being a you know, a young quarterback or rookie quarterback,
and you see that. You know, I've been into other
experiences having a coach a young rookie quarterback and have

(07:02):
him go through the ups and downs of a season,
and that those those conversations sometimes aren't easy. You know,
We've got to have honest, upfront conversations about things that
we need to clean up, things that we're doing really well,
but things that we need to solve and solve fast
because the season is so is so rapid that you know,
you don't have an off beauty of an off season
to really you know, mature in certain ways. So you know,

(07:23):
everything's sped up in season. So it's just when I
when I talk to him, we're having real conversations, upfront
conversations about things we got to clean up. He's always
attacked head on, and he's always attected with the right
approach and a growth mindset to to understand he's going
to get better, and any any kind of coaching points
we've given him, he's he's attacked in practice. He's attacked
in the drills and his individual periods. Apply it to

(07:44):
the practice. And then when you see a game like
this and watch him show those his footwork and the things,
is his processing speed up in the game, Like, that's
what it's. That's why we have those things for him.
And you know, I'm proud of how he responded, and
you know, again I'm excited for him and excepted for
the play coming on.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
You see he's very attack over the first first half
there make a display.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, another another week, another week for a duel where
he's he's taking the right approach in the right mindset,
and I think he's starting to get into a groove
in terms of a player and really understanding you know,
what are what are his strengths, what are his weaknesses,
and how he can continue to study and attack the
opponent's strengths and weaknesses. And and Charlie and the defense
is doing a good job putting him in different positions

(08:28):
to be successful. You know, he's not just lining up
on one side and you know he's he's able to
line up over the center, over the guards. And then
on top of that, he's got a couple other guys
that that offenses have to have to think about in
Brian Burns and Dexter, and so you know that is
also a part of that. And he's going to get
some some singles, He's going to get some opportunities one
on one and when they do want to go double him,

(08:49):
now that's opportunities for Burns and dex to to have success. Sorry, yeah,
we kept him out. You know, we'll get another look
at how I look on the knee. So I don't
have any anything full yet until we get their reports
the takeaways against just what what do you see with
Charlie when he's done to kind of get these guys

(09:10):
to you know, get those takeaways and seem like real a.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
While through hard Pond. Yeah, yeah, Charlie.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Charlie has done a nice job of just honing in
on things that he's comfortable with, things that the players
are comfortable with, and allowing those guys to play for
free and fast. You know, he's trimmed down the menu
a little bit in terms of, you know, what we
want to do on certain situations. I think he has
a really clear plan and he's able to, you know,
communicate that plan to the players and coaches very early

(09:34):
in the week, so guys can really hone in on
it and understand where my leverages are at, what gap
responsibilities I'm handling, and then they're able to just kind
of cut it loose and let their natural ability show. Mike,
did anyone in the building to talk to you about
either how people are going to approach the skame and
being like sort of like the integrity of the game
and you know, the speed tank and the speech tanking.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
They don't want to win their sitting players.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
You said, play because we're hurting obviously, right, And did
anyone have that discussion or if you have that discussion.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
You're handed. I think you know this shooting played a
certain way.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
No, really, the only discussions we had were just how
can we find a way to win and putting our
players in the best position to do that.