When head coach Brian Daboll interviewed Mike Kafka for the Giants’ offensive coordinator job, it was made clear that Daboll wanted to bring in someone to call the plays. Kafka had never done that in his brief coaching career.
Kafka auditioned for the role all spring and summer, Daboll liked what he saw, and Kafka will call the plays for the Giants on Sunday in Nashville.
“It’s a special opportunity, I definitely don’t take that for granted,’’ Kafka said “Any opportunity you get to call plays in the National Football League is an honor.’’
Kafka played quarterback at Northwestern and kicked around the NFL as a backup for five years. He has not been a coach for very long: one year at his alma mater and, since 2017, an offensive assistant for Andy Reid with the Chiefs. Now he gets to make the calls.
“You got to be able to adjust to the game,’’ Kafka said. “You got to be able to put our players in a good position to be successful and find some rhythm on offense and go and execute.’’
Kafka will call the plays from the press box, as he did in the preseason.
“It’s definitely a different perspective,’’ he said. “You can see the game a little bit differently. Get a bird’s-eye view up there.’’
Daboll knows he has to allow Kafka to do the job without interfering, which means he must be more of a listener than a talker when the Giants are on offense.
“Having done it for a while, you really need silence on the headset,’’ Daboll said, “because you have to do it so quick and there’s a lot of things to think about when you’re a play-caller. You might be thinking one thing’s coming up and all of a sudden there’s a sack and you got to think of something totally different or have three calls in mind.’’
Daboll said his input will come mostly in-between offensive series.
The Giants were not deep at inside linebacker with Blake Martinez on the roster. The release of Martinez last week cuts deeply into the experience and depth at the position. Martinez took a pay cut to stay around and his role was going to be reduced after playing virtually every snap when he was healthy in 2020.
“No one said he wasn’t a good fit for our defense,’’ defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said. “I’m just going to go with what [head coach] Brian [Daboll] said. There’s tough personnel decisions that have to be made when you’re building a roster, and I think he and [general manager] Joe [Schoen] have done a great job. I’m really excited about the guys we have in the room and wish Blake nothing but the best.’’
Martindale did not have final say on Martinez’s ouster.
“I mean, they’ll ask questions, but it’s not like I sit in those meetings,’’ Martindale said.
The first injury report of the season lists four players as limited in Wednesday’s practice: OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (knee), OLB Azeez Ojulari (calf), WR Sterling Shepard (Achilles), S Dane Belton (clavicle).
RB Sandro Platzgummer was re-signed to the practice squad. As a player from the International Player Pathway Program, he does not count as one of the 16 players allowed on the practice squad.
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