Giants Q&A: Speedy receiver Jalin Hyatt gets big opportunity
Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt prevents an interception by Commanders safety Percy Butler during the second quarter of an NFL game Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
Brian Daboll had said he wanted to start integrating speedy rookie receiver Jalin Hyatt into the offense a bit more. Did he?
Absolutely. Hyatt was targeted five times, and although he caught only two of them, both were on go routes down the right sideline. They accounted for 75 total yards in Sunday’s 14-7 win over Washington.
“He made some plays,” Daboll said. “He’s still got stuff to learn, but the way to learn it is to go out there and play. He made a couple good ones. I thought Tyrod [Taylor] gave him some good chances to make them, too.”
“He’s one of the fastest guys on the field, if not the fastest at any given point,” Taylor said. “When you get a chance to get him one-on-one down the field, our conversation with him is: ‘I’m going to give you a chance.’ ”
One of the catches, a critical 42-yarder in the fourth quarter, was challenged by Washington because it appeared Hyatt’s right foot landed out of bounds. Eventually the reception call on the field stood after replays showed his right toe was barely in contact with the field of play before the left one came down at the time he made the catch.
“At first I was [worried] because I was like, ‘Man, did I get it in?’ ” Hyatt said. “But I got the toe drag in. We do that in practice. I’m glad that worked out.”
Can Hyatt play defense, too?
Possibly. He did break up what might have been an interception by Percy Butler on another deep pass to him midway through the second quarter. Hyatt even preened like a cornerback waving his arms to signal the incompletion after that one.
How could Kayvon Thibodeaux have dropped that potential pick-6?
He was left wondering the same thing after Sam Howell’s fluttering pass came right to him and then appeared to go right through him.
“Aw, man,” he said, “I knew that was going to come. It went from an interception to a punt return and I just saw the open grass and I saw the blockers and I looked up and it just hit me in the stomach.”
What did his teammates say about the misplay?
Linebacker Bobby Okereke said “we all gave him a little crap for it,” but at least one of them couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
“I didn’t even want to talk to him after that one,” safety Xavier McKinney said, shaking his head. “We’re going to have to get him on the JUGS machine catching some balls in the air.”
When the defense came out for the next Commanders possession, McKinney picked the ball up and playfully tossed it to Thibodeaux as if he were a toddler. Thibodeaux caught it and pretended to celebrate.
How did the Giants’ punt return game do?
Not much better than Thibodeaux. Rookie Eric Gray began with the job but muffed an early try (it was recovered by teammate Nick McCloud). He left the game with a calf injury and was replaced by Sterling Shepard, but that was an adventure too. Shepard seemed unsure about fair catches, fielded one on a bounce and muffed another that set up Washington’s lone touchdown. Eventually the Giants moved on to Option 3, Darius Slayton. He had two opportunities, letting the first one roll into the end zone for a touchback and successfully fair catching one at the 21 late in the third quarter.
The crowd cheered loudly for that last one.
When was the last time the Giants blocked a field goal?
You’d have to go all the way back to Oct. 15, 2017, when Kerry Wynn blocked Brandon McManus’ 53-yard attempt in Denver. That six-year stretch constituted the NFL’s longest active streak until Leonard Williams came up the middle andknocked down Joey Slye’s 27-yard try early in the fourth quarter.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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