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Speaker 1: Welcome to The Giants Huddle podcast, brought to you by Citizens,

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Speaker 1: the official bank of the New York Giants. Please subscribe

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Speaker 1: to the Giants Official podcast network and The Giants Huddle

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Speaker 1: by searching for it on your favorite podcast platform. We

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Speaker 1: welcome the head coach of the New York Giants, Mike

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Speaker 1: Kafka is The Giants gets set to take on the

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Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium this afternoon. And Mike,

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Speaker 1: it's been a whirlwind week for you. How has it

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Speaker 1: gone as far as just trying to keep everything sort

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Speaker 1: of in order and get ready to play a football game.

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Speaker 2: It's been great. It's been great. You know. I've been very,

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Speaker 2: very lucky to have a great staff around me to

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Speaker 2: get me organized and keep me organized and and really

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Speaker 2: kind of follow the vision and the way I kind

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Speaker 2: of want to run things. And they've been able to

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Speaker 2: really knock out a lot of the main, like big

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Speaker 2: picture items that I've been thinking about. And it's been

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Speaker 2: really cool to kind of see the players adjust as well,

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Speaker 2: just and adapt, and they've done a heck of a job.

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Speaker 2: I'm really proud of that group and really proud of

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Speaker 2: the organization for stepping up what.

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Speaker 1: Was the first messaging to the team when you address

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Speaker 1: them for the first time, as far as what you

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Speaker 1: expect and what you want Mike Kafka's football team to

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Speaker 1: look like.

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Speaker 2: I think what's really important and things that I've learned

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Speaker 2: from the head coaches I've been around, is you know,

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Speaker 2: the football team, it really is a representation of the

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Speaker 2: personality of your head coach. And so I think if

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Speaker 2: you approach it with confidence, with poise, with detail, I

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Speaker 2: think the players will follow suit. And so I think,

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Speaker 2: you know, you just go on there, you be yourself,

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Speaker 2: let them understand, here are the things we got to

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Speaker 2: do to win this football game. Here are the things

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Speaker 2: that we got to do to continue to get better

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Speaker 2: and grow as a team. And then you lay out

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Speaker 2: a platform and then you let them go execute it.

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Speaker 2: And if there's things that we got to change and

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Speaker 2: adjust along the way and just continue to stay flexible,

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Speaker 2: then we go ahead and do that and make those adjustments.

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Speaker 2: All right.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure your phone was blowing up this week where

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Speaker 1: there's some significant people in your life outside of obviously

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Speaker 1: family and loved ones that reached out to you via

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Speaker 1: text or we gave you a call and wanted give

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Speaker 1: you a little advice.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there was such so many people that reached out

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Speaker 2: and still working through getting back to everybody. But it's

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Speaker 2: really cool to feel the support from from former Giants players,

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Speaker 2: from current Giants players, from family, from people and coaches

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Speaker 2: around the league. It was really cool to to you know,

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Speaker 2: to feel that, you know, that kind of love and support,

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Speaker 2: and you know it's it makes it easier when you're

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Speaker 2: going through a situation like this and you want to

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Speaker 2: do your best to really feel that support from from

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Speaker 2: a lot of people.

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Speaker 1: How valuable was it for you having an opportunity at

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Speaker 1: the East West Shrine Game and at the Senior Bowl

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Speaker 1: to kind of serve in this role and to be

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Speaker 1: able to manage a staff and manage a game that

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Speaker 1: experience that. I mean, I know this is different, this

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Speaker 1: is an NFL game, but still to be in that

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Speaker 1: seat and understand all of the different dynamics that go

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Speaker 1: into the job.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's all all the all the different pieces

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Speaker 2: that work together. And I'm lucky to have l Y

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Speaker 2: to be to be there for me and help keep

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Speaker 2: me organized, because yeah, there are a lot of moving

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Speaker 2: parts and the best you can you want to get

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Speaker 2: everyone in one room and give them a direction and

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Speaker 2: have have them understand your vision and then and then

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Speaker 2: make adjustments along the way. I don't think there's ever

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Speaker 2: an opportunity to be exactly perfect or try and be

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Speaker 2: too perfect. It's just all right. You have a direction.

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Speaker 2: Let you let the people that are in those positions

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Speaker 2: do a great job and do their job to the

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Speaker 2: best of their ability, because that's why they're here to

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Speaker 2: do their job. And you know, I can support them

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Speaker 2: in as many ways as I can help them in

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Speaker 2: certain aspects. And so, you know, continue to bring open

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Speaker 2: lines of communication and collaborate with the great people we

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Speaker 2: have in the organization. Huddle up, get in here. If

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Speaker 2: you're lined up here, you got to go over the

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Speaker 2: middle with at the score great.

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Speaker 1: How do we make that happen?

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Speaker 2: I don't know, but Citizens does? It makes sense of

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Speaker 2: your money with Citizens Official Bank of Eli Manning.

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Speaker 1: Obviously, as you're finding out, just because you're sitting here

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Speaker 1: doing this interview with me getting ready to play the Packers,

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Speaker 1: that there's more to being a head coach than just coaching.

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Speaker 1: You made Tim Kelly the offensive coordinator. Why was that

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Speaker 1: move important to you?

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Speaker 2: I thought it was. I thought it was a great move.

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Speaker 2: I really, I really loved him in terms of being

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Speaker 2: a coach, in terms of being a person. To me,

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Speaker 2: it was a no brainer. Our staff and how he's

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Speaker 2: able to combine both the run game in the past

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Speaker 2: game and really understand it. And plus he has a

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Speaker 2: bunch of experience too, so it was really a no

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Speaker 2: brainer for me. I really I loved him in terms of,

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Speaker 2: you know, how how he operates in the building and

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Speaker 2: how he prepares, and he's been one of those type

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Speaker 2: of guys that you know, I lean on in game day,

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Speaker 2: you know, making adjustments and talking about how the flow

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Speaker 2: of the game is going. So he's a guy that

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Speaker 2: I have a lot of trust in.

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Speaker 1: Obviously, from a defensive standpoint, you're playing a Packers team

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Speaker 1: that has a lot of explosive weapons. We all know

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Speaker 1: what's gone on this season as far as being good

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Speaker 1: enough to be in contention to win some of these

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Speaker 1: games and they're just not going your way. What are

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Speaker 1: some of the things that you want to see out

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Speaker 1: of your defense in order to be able to close

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Speaker 1: some of these things out. And I know it's complementary.

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Speaker 1: I know special teams is tied into it. Obviously, scoring

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Speaker 1: in the red zone maybe to put a game away.

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Speaker 1: But from a defensive standpoint, what do you want to see?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they. I think the defense has had

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Speaker 2: an aggressive approach to start these games now, as whether

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Speaker 2: it's a defense, offense or special teams. As a unit,

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Speaker 2: as a complete team, we just got to finish. And

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Speaker 2: when we get these opportunities to make plays at the

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Speaker 2: end of the game, and any of those any of

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Speaker 2: those groupings or in those units, we got to do it.

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Speaker 2: And it's about to you know, us coaches, we can

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Speaker 2: put together a great plan, show them and you know,

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Speaker 2: certain examples of where we can finish and how we

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Speaker 2: can get better, and then the players putting these guys

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Speaker 2: in a good position to go be successful. All right?

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Speaker 1: With Jackson Dart in the concussion protocol, you announced earlier

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Speaker 1: this week that James Winston would.

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Speaker 2: Get the start.

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Speaker 1: What is it being around James for the first time

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Speaker 1: that really has caught your eye and why you think

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Speaker 1: he gives the team the best chance to win this week?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Jamis has a veteran presence, he has a lot

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Speaker 2: of production in this league, and he's been a great

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Speaker 2: He's been a great, great addition to the quarterback room

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Speaker 2: since we've been here, so I'm excited for Jamis. I

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Speaker 2: think I know he'll roll with this opportunity and do

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Speaker 2: the best he can and lead our offense, which is

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Speaker 2: which is what we need from him, you know, be

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Speaker 2: able to go in there, lead the offense, go and

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Speaker 2: execute at high level.

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Speaker 1: Heck and his two career starts against Green Bay seven touchdowns,

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Speaker 1: no interceptions, So that's not something to sneeze at either.

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Speaker 1: So let's talk about this Packers team from a defensive standpoint.

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Speaker 1: You know, when you talk about three levels, you know

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Speaker 1: you've got Parsons in Gary, they're combined fourteen sacks, Walker

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Speaker 1: the inside backer, and then former Giant Xavier McKinney leading

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Speaker 1: the back end. And Nixon's having a fantastic year. What

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Speaker 1: makes this defense so good?

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, I think I think you hit on it.

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Speaker 2: They have a great personnel that plays very aggressive, They

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Speaker 2: tackle very well. They they attack the football and are

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Speaker 2: able to create turnovers. I'd say they're coach very well.

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Speaker 2: They're very disciplined in their scheme. They're in the right

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Speaker 2: spots and so you know they make you they make

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Speaker 2: you play disciplined as well. So I think that'll be

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Speaker 2: a great challenge for our players, not only just on

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Speaker 2: individual battles, but overall being able to build out and

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Speaker 2: work through the game plan and make adjustments along the way.

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Speaker 1: And sometimes right, a punt isn't a bad thing as

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Speaker 1: far as the game is concerned and the way the

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Speaker 1: flow of the game goes right. I mean, they've played

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Speaker 1: a lot of low scoring games. It's been it's been

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Speaker 1: talked about, you know, is that a situation where you

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Speaker 1: have to kind of preach to James and everybody else,

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Speaker 1: we don't have to hit the home run here. If

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Speaker 1: we have to punt, it's better than doing something silly.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I think. I think we have a plan on

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Speaker 2: how we want to play the game, and then as

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Speaker 2: the game declares, and then I think you make adjustments

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Speaker 2: based off of that. I think that's I and I

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Speaker 2: know our guys are dialed into how, you know, how

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Speaker 2: we want to operate on offense and defense and special teams.

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Speaker 2: Being in those meetings and and seeing the energy and

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Speaker 2: seeing the game plans kind of come to life, that's

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Speaker 2: been really cool to see. You know, sometimes you don't

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Speaker 2: really get kind of behind the door and you're not

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Speaker 2: in those meetings, you know, so being in them and

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Speaker 2: seeing the players respond has been has been great and

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Speaker 2: I'm excited to see them go roll roll it out

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Speaker 2: on Sunday.

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Speaker 1: So let's go to the other side of the ball

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Speaker 1: with loved quarterback. Obviously, the numbers are the numbers as

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Speaker 1: far as this team. They've been down some receivers, they

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Speaker 1: lost one of their big weapons and craft, the tight end,

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Speaker 1: but they still have that running back that can pound

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Speaker 1: you and then break you down. Is that the key

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Speaker 1: to this whole thing is making sure Jacobs does not

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Speaker 1: stay on schedule.

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Speaker 2: And that's that's the unique thing about the unique thing

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Speaker 2: about the Packers offense is they have a bunch of

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Speaker 2: different skill sets. They have a running back, they got

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Speaker 2: o Y, and they got they got they still have

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Speaker 2: tight ends and the receivers and the quarterback. You know,

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Speaker 2: and I got a lot of respect for Jordan into

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Speaker 2: the production he's had, But yeah, they got to They

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Speaker 2: got a really talented offense and they do a really

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Speaker 2: good job. And coach Laford does a great job of

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Speaker 2: mixing and matching different concepts and really testing the rules

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Speaker 2: on defense in terms of your run fits, and he's

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Speaker 2: able to, you know, create create some some multiple gaps

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Speaker 2: and get the run game going. But they have a

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Speaker 2: skill set that's pretty unique across the league, I'd say,

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Speaker 2: and they do a really nice job of building that

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Speaker 2: out and executing it. If you want to know how

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Speaker 2: to manage two minutes of crunch time football, I'm your man.

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Speaker 2: But if you're wondering about a long term financial plan,

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Speaker 2: you should talk to Citizens. Hey, I can also talk

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Speaker 2: long care. I'd like to learn about an Molly routine. Yes,

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Speaker 2: I knew I could help make sense of your money

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Speaker 2: with Citizens. Does it help a little bit?

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Speaker 1: And the fact that you know you've gained plan for them,

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Speaker 1: And I don't mean you know a long time ago.

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Speaker 1: You played them two years ago at MetLife Stadium. So

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Speaker 1: just kind of a sense of the way he wants

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Speaker 1: to run his team, whether it's offensively or defensively.

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Speaker 2: You you can get a sense of it. But obviously,

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Speaker 2: you know over the years, every team is different, Every

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Speaker 2: team changes, coordinators change, and you know the how even

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Speaker 2: the NFL, I mean three years ago that it's completely

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Speaker 2: different NFL in terms of how teams are playing certain

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Speaker 2: coverages and how teams are playing offense. So each year

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Speaker 2: is a new year, and I'd say this is a

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Speaker 2: different team that we saw from a couple of years back.

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Speaker 2: It's just different, so we have to be and we're

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Speaker 2: a different team too, so we have to be able to,

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Speaker 2: you know, just to get into the game, get into

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Speaker 2: the flow of the game, adjust, adapt, and then be aggressive.

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Speaker 2: And we need to be aggressive.

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Speaker 1: Coach Andy Reid has obviously been a big influence within

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Speaker 1: your career. You were a fourth round pick of the

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Speaker 1: Eagles back in twenty ten. You were on his staff

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Speaker 1: in Kansas City before coming to the Giants. What are

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Speaker 1: some of the tenants that have held true and constant

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Speaker 1: that you learned from him, which is why he's been

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Speaker 1: so successful and that you want to sprinkle into your

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Speaker 1: reign as the head coach of the Giants.

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Speaker 2: I'd say the number one most important thing I learned

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Speaker 2: from coach in that time, and there's a lot, but

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Speaker 2: one of the most important ones just being yourself, you know,

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Speaker 2: and just you know, just be your authentic self. And

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Speaker 2: I think everything pretty much takes care of itself from there.

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Speaker 2: So and the beauty of being in this position is

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Speaker 2: that at one point I was in those seats that

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Speaker 2: the players were in, so I kind of understand a

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Speaker 2: little bit of of how they're feeling, and we're to

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Speaker 2: kind of where to kind of direct them, and so

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Speaker 2: I think I can relate and I can, you know,

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Speaker 2: continue to build on the relationships that I do have.

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Speaker 2: Majority of those you know are on the offensive side,

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Speaker 2: because I'm in front of those guys a lot. So

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Speaker 2: I think the more I'm around the defense, the more

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Speaker 2: I'm around the special teams and having them understand who

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Speaker 2: I am as a person, who I am as a leader,

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Speaker 2: who I am as a coach and a man and

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Speaker 2: a father and a husband, all those things, I think

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Speaker 2: the more opportunities they get to see that, I think

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Speaker 2: the clearer would be a picture of who I am.

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Speaker 1: All Right, So a lighter question here, as you've gone

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Speaker 1: through this week and all of a sudden, there's all

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Speaker 1: these things that are coming at you. And I know

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Speaker 1: you've interviewed for head coaching jobs. I know you've studied

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Speaker 1: all this, You've worked your whole life to have an

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Speaker 1: opportunity to be a head coach. But is there one

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Speaker 1: thing that's maybe come across your desk, Like I gotta

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Speaker 1: make that decision too.

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Speaker 2: That's a good that's really good. Like I think a

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Speaker 2: lot of the things that that are we've been talking about,

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Speaker 2: because again, like we were, I was very conscious of

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Speaker 2: not just making changes for the sake of change, just

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Speaker 2: because I really wanted to be intentional with the minor

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Speaker 2: tweaks that we made that that that could help the players,

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Speaker 2: because that's really all I was thinking about. So we

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Speaker 2: have a great we have a great staff, a great

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Speaker 2: support staff, and there's a lot of great pieces here,

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Speaker 2: and so I think I was leaning more or less

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Speaker 2: on their expertise on Okay, here's how we do Here's

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Speaker 2: how we've done it, here's how we do it. Okay,

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Speaker 2: maybe it's a little minor tweak here there, but you know,

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Speaker 2: I think for the most part, the group and and

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Speaker 2: the staff that that came together really had a really

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Speaker 2: good thing in place in terms of just the communication.

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Speaker 2: So it was just more or less for me just

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Speaker 2: saying out loud what I'm looking for and then allowing

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Speaker 2: them to kind of go put their flavor on it

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Speaker 2: and go execute it, which which I think is cool. Like,

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Speaker 2: you want to collaborate with everybody, but these people are

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Speaker 2: here because they're really good at their job, so you

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Speaker 2: also want to give them the flexibility to go ahead

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Speaker 2: and do their job. And not put them in a box.

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Speaker 2: So I've been just just kind of going with the

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Speaker 2: flow right now and when I can, when I can

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Speaker 2: add something or subtract something that I think makes sense

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Speaker 2: for the team, I've been able to do that, but

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Speaker 2: not trying to get overextended, not trying to you know,

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Speaker 2: continue to do too much in one day, but you know,

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Speaker 2: kind of live like one day at a time, build

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Speaker 2: it out. And again, I got a lot of great

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Speaker 2: people around me, so lean on them, lean on their

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Speaker 2: their opinions and their expertise, and just you know, continue

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Speaker 2: to be myself and understand that the main task is

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Speaker 2: here on Sunday. I got to you know, we have

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Speaker 2: to be able to go out there and execute and

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Speaker 2: let the other stuff kind of surrounding it, lean on

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Speaker 2: the people that have been put in place here and

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Speaker 2: allow them to to make it right.

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Speaker 1: And plus you'll you'll you'll input the data in your

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Speaker 1: head of what happens on Sunday of okay, maybe moving forward,

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Speaker 1: here's some other changes that have to be made right,

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Speaker 1: but you want to see it in real time before

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Speaker 1: you is that what you're trying to say, like they

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Speaker 1: wanted it in real time.

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Speaker 2: That's going to just be set in stone. I want

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Speaker 2: to continue to evaluate it every single day. Each week

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Speaker 2: we'll go back and kind of debrief what happened the

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Speaker 2: last you know this, this this current week, right, so

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Speaker 2: we'll debrief it. We'll talk through it with with the

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Speaker 2: heads of each department and go through it again each

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Speaker 2: week and say, all right, how can I how can

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Speaker 2: we get better? How can I get better? How can

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Speaker 2: I serve you? How can we continue to get the

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Speaker 2: players in a better position? And then we go and

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Speaker 2: put a plan together to go do that.

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Speaker 1: Coach, we wish you the best of luck against the Packers.

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Speaker 1: Congratulations on the opportunity. We know you'll do great, and

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Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us getting ready for

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Speaker 1: the Giants and Packers great.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.

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Speaker 1: That's New York Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka as

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Speaker 1: we get you set for the Giants and Packers Sunday

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Speaker 1: at MetLife Stadium. The Huddle Podcast is brought to you

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