Mike Kafka's Faith Not Shaken in Giants' Injury-depleted Receiving Corps

Although there was a lack of usage for the Giants' wide receivers in Week 5, Kafka remains confident, noting the receivers lack of involvement wasn’t intentional.

“Yeah, I got a lot of confidence in our receiving group, in (wide receivers coach) Coach (Mike) Groh, and putting those guys out there and getting them prepared for the game,” he said. 

“And I think based on how the game kind of declared itself, those guys were in the mix. We had some opportunities, just didn't capitalize on them,” Kafka said.

The Giants opted not to bring up any of their practice squad receivers or sign any of the wide receivers they brought in on visits last week. In years past, the Giants have had some success with midseason additions at wide receiver, including Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins.

New additions being able to translate their offense is never a guarantee; however, Kafka believes preparation is a strength of his staff, regardless of whether it is a starter or a practice squad player.

“No, I think that's one of the things our coaching staff does, that's the strength of ours, getting guys prepared and getting guys ready to go for the game. Whether you're on the roster or whether you're on the practice squad, those guys are dialed into it,” Kafka said.

The Giants have wide receivers, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, and Dalen Cambre on the roster, and according to Kafka, all are doing the preparation work to be ready if called upon.

“They're in the installations, they're in the meetings, they're in the walkthroughs, and just trying to stay ahead of schedule,” Kafka said.

A practice squad addition may be possible; however, Kafka is focused on finding ways for his receivers already on the roster to capitalize on the opportunities they are receiving.

“We talked about this a little bit last week with Malik, and we're hoping and wishing for him a speedy recovery, but the guys that we have, we have a lot of confidence in.

"Whether it's Slay, Jalin, (wide receiver) Wan’Dale (Robinson), Beaux, I mean, it can just go up and down the list of the guys that are out there. They have opportunities, but we’ve just got to capitalize on them,” Kafka said.

The Giants attempted two deep pass attempts to Slayton, and he dropped both, failing to provide the spark that Nabers would normally bring to the offense.

“I know we had those two ones with Slay. I know he's beating himself up about it. That's the kind of competitor he is, and he holds himself to a high standard, just like we do here.

"So, I don't want to single out Slay; everyone had a piece of it. Every single group had one or two plays that we could have done better. Same for me as a play caller, I could have done better as well,” Kafka said.

“It's full accountability. We're arm in arm. We'll get it cleaned up. We'll get it fixed. Then, we'll get back on track and put together a good game plan.”