Golladay says his ire was directed at Jason Garrett, not Daniel Jones
Giants wide receiver Kenny Golladay (19) looses control of the ball while being covered by Washington Football Team cornerback Kendall Fuller (29) during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, in Landover, Md. Credit: AP/Patrick Semansky
Kenny Golladay said the snippet on television that seemed to show him barking in anger at Daniel Jones during Thursday night’s loss to Washington got it all wrong. He wasn’t yelling at his quarterback. That was an inaccurate take based on a narrow visual without context. It was nothing like that at all.
Good. That’s settled. We can all move on with our liv . . .
"That was me talking to J.G. a little bit," Golladay said Monday, noting that Jason Garrett was the target of his ire.
So the new Giants receiver who was less than two full games into his tenure with the team at the time of the incident wasn’t upset with the quarterback. He was upset with the offensive coordinator.
Oh.
"That’s two competitive guys right there," Golladay said of Garrett and himself, "and me wanting to do anything I can . . . I let emotions get the best of me."
Golladay said he and Garrett have worked out their differences since Thursday night and that the two key components to this team are good. And he seemed, if not contrite about the situation, at least slightly embarrassed that it was caught on camera.
"I’ve never done anything like that," he said.
Joe Judge seemed to pardon Golladay’s outburst.
"In the heat of the moment, you speak very passionately," Judge said Monday. "You kind of speak with some emotion. I speak with emotion on the sideline. There was no blowup or anything that has to be made of it. I understand sometimes the perceptions will be what they are, but like I said the other day, there’s no issue there."
But even if Golladay had been yelling at no one in particular, just shouting into the ether, one part of his sideline display was impossible not to recognize. He clearly was frustrated by something.
Perhaps it was his lack of chances to help the Giants in critical moments during the game. Maybe it was the team’s inability to score touchdowns in the red zone, one of the big reasons the Giants brought him here in the first place.
After the game, Jones did say that Golladay was "frustrated" and noted that he has to do a better job of getting him the ball.
"We’ll be better for it," Jones said. "You want the wide receivers who want the ball."
Golladay downplayed that idea.
"I’m happy with the role," he said of what he is being asked to do by Garrett and the Giants. "I’m getting put into some tough situations and I’ve got to make some tough catches, and that’s all I can ask for . . . It all just boils down to just wanting to do whatever’s best to help the team."
Golladay hasn’t been able to do that. In his two games, he has caught seven passes for 102 yards, with none of his receptions going for more than 17 yards.
"I did no training camp," he said of missing most of the summer because of a hamstring injury. "It’s going to be rough. First time in this offense. But everything will start clicking."
In time for Sunday’s game against the Falcons?
"Do I feel like I’m sitting on a big game? Of course," he said. "I come to every game thinking I’m going to have a big game. As long as I keep putting the work in, everything will start coming together."
Unless, of course, he has another reason to express his frustration with the team’s play-caller on the sideline.
In that case, it will just continue to fall apart.
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.
