New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka knows his unit has to start faster. The Giants are averaging just two points in the first quarter through their first three games. Only the offensively-challenged New England Patriots and the sloppy Arizona Cardinals are worse.
“I think we just got to do a better job starting off the game a little bit faster,” Kafka told reporters on Thursday. “The execution, preparation and all those things kind of tie in. That’s what we’re focusing on this week in practice.”
Asked what needed to be changed, Kafka intimated that things simply needed to gel over time.
“I think it starts with putting the guys in the right spots and then the execution, the communication amongst the players out there. I think that’s all part of it. It’s an 11-man operation, everyone’s got to be on the same page, everyone has to be going in the right direction. Those are things that we work on in practice,” Kafka said.
He has exactly one playmaker in the fold, running back Saquon Barkley. Most teams have several. Kafka was asked about his receiver corps, which with the season-ending knee injury to Sterling Shepard, is now led by free agent pick up Richie James.
“I think the way it’s shaken out, Richie has done a great job stepping in. We’ve had some injuries and things like that, but he’s stepped up to the plate and you’re going to see that across the board when you have injuries like that,” he said. “Next man up has got to step up. He’s a guy that we trust in those situations, and he’s done a great job with it.”
James is going to be leaned on along with David Sills going forward since rookie Wan’Dale Robinson (knee) and Kadarius Toney (hamstring) are still unlikely to play. Darius Slayton seems to be only on the periphery of the game plan. Kafka also has veteran Kenny Golladay at his disposal but Golladay has not shown that he is up to the task.
“I think Kenny is doing a great job. He had a great week of practice last week. You saw him in the game there. Had some opportunities and I think when you really look at it, everyone on staff — players, coaches and everyone — is going to have plays that they want back,” Kafka said. “He has another opportunity today and go out and have a great practice. I fully expect him to do that. He’s a pro, he’s been a pro since he’s been here, and I think that’s what pros do — they bounce back and continue to work.”
That remains to be seen. All remains moot if quarterback Daniel Jones doesn’t get the proper protection he needs. Last week against Dallas, Jones was pressured a career-high 24 times, hit 12 times and sacked five times. The line has a lot of work to do.
“You come out today and practice,” Kafka said. “Work on those fundamentals, work on those techniques, take the coaching points and take the things that we talk about in the classroom, apply it to the field, continue to show them looks and you’ll see players get better at it each day. We’ve seen growth from Week 1 to Week 2, Week 2 to Week 3. There’s plenty of stuff that we can build on and then the things that we probably didn’t do so well, we’ll emphasize it and show them the tape. We’ll show them the drills, the fundamentals, techniques and we’ll work on those.”
The Giants plan to keep on working and forging ahead. A win versus Chicago would lift their record to 3-1. Giant fans would take that.
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