Giants' Kevin Abrams has team operating as best it can during these difficult times

Giants assistant general manager Kevin Abrams, also the vice president of football operations, has been charged with the monumental task of making sure that those operations continue as smoothly as possible during the coronavirus pandemic. Credit: Brad Penner
Kevin Abrams spends most of his days locked into meetings discussing the Giants’ roster and their draft plans, searching through an endless library of film on prospects and thinking about ways to improve the team. Just as he does each April.
The fact that he is doing so at his home in Manhattan and not in his office in New Jersey is almost imperceptible while such activities are taking place.
But near the end of each of those long days, the Giants’ assistant general manager takes part in a recognition of just how unique this past month has been . . . and how challenging the coming weeks and months might be.
“Probably the most profound moment of every day is at 7 o’clock when everyone opens their windows and pays tribute to everyone in the healthcare industry who is fighting this battle for us,” Abrams said on a conference call on Monday.
It’s another reminder that we are all living in strange times, and that Abrams, whose other title in the organization is vice president of football operations, has been charged with the monumental task of making sure that those operations continue as smoothly as possible.
“We’ve done our best to mimic business as usual,” Abrams said. “Obviously, it’s not.”
Yet the Giants insist that they are functioning well in the new environment, which has everyone from scouts to coaches to decision-makers working from their homes and using technology to try to make this critical period of roster-building pay off.
“I don’t think we’ve missed a beat,” Abrams said. “A lot of that goes to Justin Warren in our IT department, Ty Siam in Football Tech, Eddie Triggs is running our operations. It hasn’t been perfectly smooth, but it’s been smoother than anyone could have expected.
“Whatever hiccups we’ve encountered, I think everyone has shown patience and the ability to adjust so we can get to operating the way that we need to. It’s been pretty exceptional so far and a lot of people deserve a lot of credit. People that wouldn’t normally get recognized.”
General manager Dave Gettleman, also on the conference call, said even he, at age 69, is embracing the new and necessary ways of doing things.
“One of the exciting things for me as an old man working with these young guys and the technology, they’re really thoughtful and intentional about it,” Gettleman said. “We’re really making it work.”
The Giants are deep in their draft meetings this week, and while the venues of such gatherings have changed, the agendas and itineraries have not. The Giants are following the same process they utilized leading up to previous drafts under Gettleman, gathering input from scouts and coaches and working through possible outcomes to line up their board for when the first round begins April 23.
Other parts of the business have been altered more radically. The free agents whom the Giants signed in the past month? None of them has taken a physical yet, and their deals are contingent upon passing one. At some point, the Giants will administer those tests. “If they do not pass, they will be free agents again,” Abrams said.
What if they get injured now while training on their own? Abrams said that “would not be considered a football injury” and “that risk is just extended this year because of the inability to have players come in and work at our facility under our supervision.”
The Giants also have had to scrap all of their in-house meetings with prospects and many of their plans to attend pro days around the country in lieu of video conference calls with players.
“It is FaceTiming, so thank God, you can see the guys,” Gettleman said. “I’m a city kid and a big believer in body language and all that. It’s OK. It’s not great, it’s not perfect, it’s OK. For me, what we miss is watching them interact, watching them in your facility. That’s what you miss out on. By not having pro days, you also miss that personal contact. Watching guys among their peers and how they operate, how they’re received.
“That tells a lot when you just watch a kid in those circumstances . . . We’re losing the personal touchpoints. We have the visual touchpoint, but we’re really missing out on the personal touchpoint, when you can smell or feel a guy.”
Beyond that, Gettleman seemed pleased with the way the team has been functioning.
And if the Giants ever start to feel any frustrations come over them, they can always just open a window at 7 p.m. — as Abrams does — and put their troubles in perspective.
“Listen, there are people in a lot worse situations than us,” Gettleman said. “We’re thankful, we’re moving along and we’re going to get this right.”
More Giants




