Should Brian Daboll Play NY Giants Starters in Preseason Game vs. Jets?

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll continues to be tight-lipped in terms of how much, if any, he plans to play his starters in the preseason, and that was the case on Thursday when he spoke with the media via video call.

The best Daboll offered was that they had an idea but would “do what we think is best for the team.” But as the follow-up questions came, Daboll might have offered a hint or two into how he was thinking.

“We'll go out here, we'll have our walkthrough today (Thursday) and sit down with the medical staff, get their input, where the guys that have not been practicing are and who can play and who can't, and decide what we're going to do.”

In his first three years as head coach, Daboll has historically held most of the starters out of a preseason game if there was a joint practice with the upcoming weekend’s opponent. 

And in cases where the joint practices proved physical, Daboll, with feedback from the medical staff, was and probably will be especially conservative with holding starters out in preseason games.

Daboll, though, denied that joint practices have any bearing on whatever decision is reached. 

“I wouldn't say it affects it. Again, we'll end up making the decision we think is best,’ he said. “There's no substitute for tackling. There's no substitute for cleaning the pocket. 

“There's no substitute for run-after-catch when you're going to get hit. There's no substitute for being live as a quarterback in the pocket. But we'll end up deciding at the end of the day what we think is right for our team.”

So what is best for the team?

Considering how well the Giants looked against the Bills in the preseason opener and the intensity and showing against the Jets, if Daboll was ever going to rest the starters, this would be the weekend to do so, especially considering the intensity of the same against the Bills and the follow-up intensity of the joint practices against the Jets. 

And given how the Giants have a quick turnaround after their preseason game against the Jets on Saturday–the Giants will host New England on Thursday–it makes sense to sit the starters this week, but bring them back for the game against the Patriots so that they don’t have too long of a hiatus from the physicality of the game between the preseason finale and the start of the regular season on September 7. 

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