The New York Giants have seen a lot of change over the past year. A new front office, a new coaching staff, dealing with the salary cap and on-field personnel changes… There’s been a lot of moving parts.
Through all of it, especially once training camp hit, Giants players and coaches have presented a unified front. They seem to all be on the same page and everyone on board with their role.
However, after Sunday’s win over the Carolina Panthers, wide receiver Kenny Golladay ducked the media. He cleaned out his gameday locker and left before reporters were allowed in following the 15-minute cool down period.
Kenny Golladay wanted nothing to do with questions, he was long gone when media was allowed in locker room.
— The Giant Insider Newspaper & Podcast (@GiantInsider) September 18, 2022
Kenny Golladay was not in locker room and his locker was empty after the 15 minute cooling off period for postgame media #Giants
— Ryan Dunleavy (@rydunleavy) September 18, 2022
Was Golladay upset with his reduced role in Week 2? He saw just two offensive snaps, but head coach Brian Daboll had communicated that plan with him throughout the week.
“It’s a continual competition at receiver. I’ve said it since when? I’m not being a jerk. I’ve said it since the middle of camp, right? It hasn’t changed. It’s going to be a continual competition,” Daboll said after the game.
“Kadarius (Toney) had opportunities today, and we’ll see what it is next week: maybe it’s (Darius) Slayton, maybe it’s more KG. We’ll see where we go with that. But I think that position, we’re just going to keep on rolling guys and play the guys that week that we think would give us the best chance. And the other guys got to be ready as backups.”
So, how did Golladay handle it when he was told he was the odd-man out?
“Great. Like a pro. I told him during the week that we were going to go with (David) Sills. He acted like a pro,” Daboll said.
He may have acted like a pro during the discussion, but something is definitely not right with Golladay. Whether it’s the lack of targets, the lack of being on the field or a misunderstanding, the Giants need to figure out what the problem is.
Golladay is the highest-paid player on the Giants but he’s not going to get opportunities based solely on that. Daboll has made it clear he needs to see more out of these guys, both on the practice field and on Sundays.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out with Golladay but in the meantime, Daniel Jones can always count on Sterling Shepard, Saquon Barkley and the rest of the offense to do their part.
