Giants rookie WR Jalin Hyatt gaining confidence, continues to impress at training camp
Giants WR Jalin Hyatt catches a touchdown pass during the first half of an NFL preseason game against the Panthers on Friday at MetLife Stadium. Credit: AP/John Munson
It’s impossible to take your eyes off Jalin Hyatt on the Giants practice field.
He catches everything. He runs past everyone.
And he often seems to be adjusting a thigh pad or stretching out his leg or seeming to veer toward the sideline, then hop right back into a drill.
The thought occurs, is he hurt? Is he looking for a trainer?
Even former Giants receiver Amani Toomer, who was watching practice on Tuesday, thought Hyatt had pulled up after running a route.
That was not the case.
“No,” a smiling Hyatt told Newsday after Tuesday’s practice. “I always do some weird stuff out there.”
He laughed.
Hyatt, a third-round draft pick (73rd overall) from Tennessee, is a rookie who just might be living his dream. He caught his first preseason TD pass in Friday's win over Carolina.
He’s so smooth, and he makes it look so easy, that any hitch in his giddy-up would be concerning.
“If I was hurt, trust me, ya’ll would know I was hurt,” he said. “I’ll tell you that right now. I (wouldn’t) want to hurt the team. If I was hurt, they would know. I wouldn’t (hide) that.”
He does admit to getting antsy during practice.
“I don’t know what I was doing,” Hyatt said, laughing again. “I always do a lot of antics and move around a lot. I can’t stand still at practice. I like to move.”
No kidding.
“It’s just me being me,” Hyatt added.
Said coach Brian Daboll: “(I’m) glad we drafted him.”
On a picturesque summer afternoon, Hyatt continued to impress. And his confidence since arriving at the Giants facility after the draft seems to have risen.
The thought occurs: Does Hyatt realize that he and Darren Waller -- a veteran tight end in his eighth season -- have transformed what the Giants offense could be?
It may be a touch early for that. But only a touch.
As his conversation continued with Newsday, Hyatt said he is “really enjoying” his time with the Giants.
Hyatt traced back to his high school years, when he hoped scholarship offers from South Carolina, the team he rooted for, and Clemson would be forthcoming. Neither was.
He enrolled at Tennessee but even in his second year, he did not play much. At that time, Velus Jones, now with the Bears, was manning the slot.
“I always had adversity, coming up,” Hyatt said. “Even in the draft process, after a decent year, there were a lot of questions with the offense that (Tennessee) runs. Can he run routes? Is he a one-trick pony? Does he just want to go deep? Does he have good hands? Is he physical enough? Can he play in the league? There were a lot of things that I always heard since I was in high school.”
Hyatt does not come across at jaded.
“I think for me, it just makes me hungry,” he said. “It just makes me want to come here and get work in. If I lose a rep or win a rep, I’m always learning from it and getting better.”
In a short period of time, Hyatt has seemed to find a home with the Giants. It helped, he said, that the veterans in the receivers’ room were so welcoming.
“I’m very, very close with Shep,” Hyatt said, referring to veteran wide receiver Sterling Shepard. “He’s a guy who’s been here for a while and hopefully retires as a Giant. We all want that for him. When I came here, he was one of the guys who stayed on me, 24/7. And still stays on me now. Even when he has a vet day off, he’s still right there, watching my routes, watching my releases. And when you have that from a leader, from someone who’s done it and actually has experience in the league, that’s big.
"I want to gain all the trust from everybody, so we can go out there and make plays.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
