Joe Schoen’s latest victory — trading unproductive receiver Kadarius Toney for two draft picks — isn’t going to help Giants head coach Brian Daboll earn his next victory.
But it might help set him up for bigger victories down the road.
The trade made Thursday bolstered the Giants’ long-term outlook, but the return isn’t going to have an impact on the 2022 playoff race unless Schoen turns around and flips those draft picks in another deal for a player. It reinforced the value of Schoen and Daboll being in lockstep, because otherwise the conflicting interests of a general manager in the midst of rebuilding his team and a head coach being evaluated weekly by wins and losses can create a headache.
“Everything we do here, we try to win the day,” Daboll said. “There’s obviously long-term stuff, there’s short-term stuff. I’m focused on short-term getting ready for Seattle, and I understand there’s other things that go along with that long term-wise relative to Joe and the decisions that we make together. But it’s real easy: When you’re in the season, your focus [as a coach] is day-to-day, which that’s where mine is at. I know that’s where the team’s at.”
With the surprising Giants (6-1) in the thick of the playoff race, does Daboll want to see them bolster the roster and make a run?
“Whatever we can do to try to improve our team or [what] we think is best for our team,” Daboll said, “that’s the decisions that we make.”
Daboll declined to comment Thursday beyond wishing Toney well with the Chiefs, including a non-response to the receiver’s post-trade claim on Twitter (since deleted) that he is healthy despite missing five straight games for the Giants with hamstring injuries. The Post reported that, before the trade, Toney had expressed a desire to play Sunday, but the Giants favored holding him out until after the upcoming bye week.
Asked why things didn’t work out with Toney, wide receivers coach Mike Groh said: “I wish Kadarius well with the Chiefs. He’s not playing for us anymore, so I don’t have anything else to add. I understand the questions, but that’s all I have to say. Sorry.”
The Giants defended three passes from the 17-yard line in the final 16 seconds last week against the Jaguars, forcing two incompletions before stopping Christian Kirk at the 1 — Fabian Moreau made the initial contact and forced Kirk backwards, Julian Love pulled on Kirk’s arm and Xavier McKinney finished the tackle and tried to strip the ball — as time expired, to preserve a 23-17 win.
“The three guys involved all made big plays so that we are here 6-1 and not what could’ve happened,” defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson said.
The calls for that situation were put in place at defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s weekly Thursday meeting.
“It’s not, ‘Hey, I think I like this one,’ ” Henderson said. “We call it ‘win the game.’ If those situations come up, what’s the call based on years of study on what they are going to do at the end of the game? Those situations aren’t random for us.”
TE Daniel Bellinger underwent successful eye surgery Friday and came out feeling “very well,” The Post confirmed. The rookie hopes to return to the field at some point in November. ESPN first reported that Bellinger’s surgery was to repair fractures on the lower window of his eye socket and damage to his septum.
In addition to Bellinger, G Ben Bredeson (knee), CB Cor’Dale Flott (calf), WR Kenny Golladay (knee), RT Evan Neal (knee) and OLB Oshane Ximines (quad) will not play against the Seahawks. RT Tyre Phillips (toe), DB Jason Pinnock (foot) and DT Leonard Williams (elbow) were limited in practice Friday and were listed as questionable, but Phillips is expected to start.
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