Giants OC Mike Kafka Breaks Silence on Play Calling Situation

Despite visual evidence that surfaced, Kafka denied that head coach Brian Daboll has gotten more involved with the play calling.

Yes, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll is very much involved in the direction the team, particularly the offense, takes weekly and in-game since that's his job.

But no, Daboll, an offensive coordinator before his hiring as the Giants head coach, did not take over the offensive play calling as has been speculated by internet detectives during the second half of the Giants' game against Arizona.

Mike Kafka, the current Giants offensive coordinator and play caller, set the record straight on Friday when asked about it.

"Our process has been the same," Kafka said when asked twice about the visual evidence, including Daboll looking at a play sheet and using it to cover his mouth while communicating to Kafka and/or quarterback Daniel Jones through his headset.

The speculation arose because, in the game against Dallas, Daboll was barely spotted looking at his play sheet, which he kept in his back pocket. Of late, however, he's held it in his hand, which set tongues wagging about whether Kafka had fallen out of favor as the team's playcaller.

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Kafka didn't want to speak too much for Daboll, but when asked about the visual evidence presented by the internet detectives suggesting that Daboll was calling plays, he said there was a logical explanation.

"I think he was just trying to talk into the microphone without anyone reading his lips," Kafka surmised. "I mean, we communicate throughout every series, every drive, throughout the game, what we like, what we don’t like. Again, the process hasn’t changed from last year to this year."

NFL head coaches have master headsets that allow them to switch channels as necessary throughout the game. So, while it seems feasible that Daboll was chiming in his two cents on offense (as is his right as head coach and his job), Daboll, Jones, and now Kafka have all denied that there was a change in the play-caller, despite appearances.

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