Giants WR Jalin Hyatt Makes Heartfelt Confession About His Rookie Season

Hyatt was unhappy with how his rookie season went and is motivated to improve.

East Rutherford, NJ -- June 11, 2024 -- Wide receiver, Jalin Hyatt at the NY Giants Mandatory Minicamp at their practice facility in East Rutherford, NJ. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA

New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt’s rookie season left something of a bitter taste in his mouth.  

Sure, there was the team’s poor won-loss record, in which injuries and a lack of cohesiveness led to the team's fall to 6-11, but for Hyatt personally, who had looked so promising as a deep threat in his first NFL training camp only to see his opportunities during the season be limited, well, that didn’t sit well with the former Tennessee receiver.

“It affected me a lot, actually,” Hyatt told New York Giants On SI. “You know, I didn't score a touchdown and didn't have the year that I wanted.”

Ever the competitor, the lack of targets and scoring made an already hungry Hyatt hungrier to make his mark within the scope of the Giants offense. 

“Yeah, it just made me hungrier for this year,” he said with a sense of urgency in his voice. It made me focus. All the outside noise and all of that was gone, you know? Now it's one goal, and, you know, and that's we wanna win and we will win. And it starts today.”

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Hyatt has been doing his part to ensure that the team gets on the right track. That has included sticking close to receivers coach Mike Groh ever since Hyatt arrived in East Rutherford as the team’s third-round draft pick last year. 

Groh, according to head coach Brian Daboll, has spent a lot of extra time with the young receiver to get him up to speed on the Giants’ offense, on different techniques to help him win his one-on-ones, and other intricacies to bring out the best in the receiver.

Daniel Jones finds Jalin Hyatt on the deep ball 💥 pic.twitter.com/qzB4WbhQs0

— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) July 28, 2024

So far, so good, according to Daboll.

“Hyatt has really improved since he's been here,” Daboll said. It's a different system than he came from, which is for most people. But he has put a lot of time, effort, and energy into improving his craft, and it shows up.”

The biggest area in which Hyatt has improved, according to Daboll, is in his play speed. 

“You can be fast, but sometimes not play fast when there are a lot of things going on, and he has really improved in that area,” Daboll said. “Had a really good OTAs.”

Hyatt is grateful to Groh for spending extra time with him to get him up to speed.

“Yeah, credit Coach Groh and what it's done for me,” Hyatt said. “He’s had so many side meetings, just me and him, that he didn't have to do, but he took time out of his day to do it. 

“And you know, he taught me a lot of things. He's been in the league for a while. He knows how I play and he helps me, releases–helps me just with a lot of things that I needed to work on from Tennessee.”

Barring anything unexpected, Hyatt should be part of the receiver group tasked with helping the Giants' offense transform into an explosive downfield threat.

“I like the receiver room we have,” Daboll said. “There's good competition and I look forward to seeing how it unfolds.”

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