New York Giants headlines for Wednesday

Good morning, New York Giants fans!

Giants’ OC Mike Kafka to get interview for Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans head-coaching jobs

Mike Kafka, New York Giants offensive coordinator, will receive an interview for the Carolina Panthers vacant head-coaching job, per NFL insider Tom Pelissero. Kafka will also receive an interview for the Houston Texans head-coaching vacancy.

Per NFL rules, interested teams cannot conduct an in-person interview with Kafka until next week after the conclusion of the wild-card round of playoff games.

From Big Blue View

• Azeez Ojulari, Leonard Williams, Adoree’ Jackson expected to practice on Wednesday
• After further review: Tales from the Giants-Vikings Week 16 timeline
• Giants roster moves: Giants re-sign DT Vernon Butler to their practice squad
• Who should be the NFL Coach of the Year?

Other Giant observations

Bill Parcells loves Brian Daboll’s Giants approach: ‘It’s working’ | New York Post

Parcells had no interest in offering up specific coaching advice in advance of the Giants’ first playoff game since 2016 — Sunday’s wild-card round matchup with the Vikings in Minneapolis — because, he said, Daboll “knows his team a lot better than I do. I’d tell him to keep doing whatever he’s been doing, because it’s working. You have to keep being yourself in the playoffs.

“This is what we’re supposed to do. We’re supposed to get in the playoffs, and I’m happy, elated, for my guys. I’ve been rooting for this team since 1949.”

Grading all 11 first-year NFL head coaches: Giants’ Brian Daboll headline big winners with A- grade | CBSSports.com

From A to F: Grading Every NFL Head Coach’s 2022 Performance | The 33rd Team

Baldy showing how Wink Martindale manufactured pressure against the Eagles last week

Eli Manning on why it has come together Giants, Daniel Jones, playoffs | USA Today

“I’ve just seen his commitment to his craft, his commitment to the team,” said Manning, who retired after the 2019 season. ”He works really hard. He wants to please the coaches. He wants to be a great teammate. He wants to do it for the fans. He wants to have success all for the right reasons. It’s for other people.

PFF’s 2022 NFL All-Pro Team: Two Giants honored | PFF

LT ANDREW THOMAS, NEW York Giants. Thomas was the NFL’s most consistently excellent left tackle this season, racking up an 89.1 PFF grade over 1,049 snaps. He had just one below-average PFF pass-blocking grade all year, and that came against Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys. Thomas registered just two penalties all season and surrendered 21 total pressures on over 600 pass-blocking snaps.

DI DEXTER LAWRENCE, NEW YORK GIANTS. Lawrence was one of the most quietly dominant defenders in the league this season. While several interior linemen had career years, Lawrence was one of only a few that did not tail off or allow an injury to derail his production. He finished with 63 total pressures and 38 defensive stops — both new career highs.

Dexter Lawrence key to NY Giants defense against Vikings | The Record

“I don’t think I’ll ever grow numb to making plays. But I don’t want people to expect that from me. Let ‘em keep sleeping,” Lawrence said with a smirk last week during an interview. “I do see myself making plays like that, and when they happen, it’s just what I imagined. I don’t mind being the underdog, though. I’ve never been the top dog, but this year I’ve accepted that role. I’m gonna keep doing my best to embrace the grind and not grow weary of the process because of the success that I’m having.”

PFF’s 2022 NFL All-Rookie Team | PFF

EDGE KAYVON THIBODEAUX, NEW YORK GIANTS. Thibodeaux’s flashes were arguably the most impressive of any rookie defensive lineman. His blend of explosiveness, strength and length was too much for a lot of opposing blockers. He finished with a 71.9 overall grade and 40 pressures on the season.

Julian Love names two moments that defined Giants season | WFAN.com

“The first moment is Week 1, Tennessee. Last minute of the game and Saquon and the offense converted a two-point conversion to put us up,” Love said Tuesday on Tiki & Tierney. “That moment I think just was a catalyst for our confidence and our momentum going into the year and realizing what we can accomplish as a team.”

“And then the second moment I think is the London game against Green Bay (Week 5),” Love continued. “I think at that point Green Bay was, whatever, people were talking about them highly. And we were kind of the first team to knock them off – but that win in that setting. They felt like they had control the whole game, and we came back and won the game.

Giants - Vikings 2023 NFL Wild Card preview and prediction | SNY.tv

2023 NFL Mock Draft: Giants Draft a WR | ProFootballNetwork.com

This week’s opponent

What Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell is saying about Giants | Giants.com

On what the Vikings need to do better this time around against the Giants: "There were some missed tackles in there. Every time we had a chance to get momentum and keep it they were able to put a drive together and get points. Defense turned the ball over a couple of times with some timely interceptions, but you'd like to limit some of those explosive plays. First and second down explosive plays that tend to sometimes stack together a little bit and give offenses momentum. We want to get people to third down and see if we can activate a rush and tie the coverage into it. Whether we're sending pressure or not, it's a matter of wanting to get to those downs and I thought we could've done a better job of last time we played them of doing that."

Vikings Begin Preparing for Quick Rematch Against Giants | Vikings.com

Minnesota Head Coach Kevin O’Connell said he expects another tightly contested battle.

“[We] needed everything we had to win that one, and [there’s] no reason in the world that the expectation won’t be the same. We’re going to have to play really good against this team,” O’Connell said . “All three phases will need to show up and play well. We’ll be working really hard this week to make sure we do that, but being back at U.S. Bank [Stadium] will be huge for our team, knowing what our home crowd has meant to us this year. The environment there, [I’m] expecting it to be super energized on Sunday.”

Around the league

Ex-Giants GM interviews with new team | NJ.com

Jerry Reese might be getting back into it. NFL Media’s Jim Trotter reports that Reese interviewed with the Arizona Cardinals on Tuesday.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones - Mike McCarthy's job not at stake | ESPN.com

Asked on Tuesday whether a wild-card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football could impact McCarthy's status as head coach, Jones was emphatic.

"No. I don't even want to ... No. That's it," he said. "I don't need to go into all the pluses or minuses. I've got a lot more to evaluate Mike McCarthy on than this playoff game."

Ravens, Linebacker Roquan Smith Agree to Record-Setting Deal | The 33rd Team

Commanders fire offensive coordinator Scott Turner | NFL.com

Bears GM Ryan Poles evaluating ‘premium positions,’ would have to be ‘blown away’ to draft QB at No. 1 | NFL.com

BBV mailbag

Have a Giants-related question? E-mail it to [email protected] and it might be featured in our weekly mailbag.

BBV podcast

You can find and subscribe to Big Blue View radio from the show’s home page

BBV social platforms

BBV on Twitter | BBV on Facebook | BBV on Instagram | BBV Radio (available on all of your favorite podcast platforms) | BBV on YouTube

Follow us on social media

BBV on Twitter: Follow @BigBlueView
Ed Valentine: Follow @Valentine_Ed
BBV on Facebook: Click here to like the Big Blue View Facebook page
BBV on YouTube: Subscribe to the Big Blue View YouTube channel
BBV on Instagram: Click here to follow our Instagram page
BBV podcasts: Click here to subscribe to BBV Radio