9.9 C
London
Friday, March 29, 2024

Giants’ Saquon Barkley, Brian Daboll support Darius Slayton after key drop vs. Vikings: ‘A lot of confidence in him’

- Advertisement -

The Giants had a chance to convert a key third-and-long late in their 31-24 wild-card win over the Vikings that could have potentially iced the game.

Daniel Jones found Darius Slayton streaking over the middle of the field on a third-and-15 with 3:07 left in the game and the Vikings out of timeouts. The fourth-year quarterback hit his receiver in stride and it looked like Slayton was going to be able to easily run into the open field for a first down.

MORE: Giants ride Daniel Jones’ terrific playoff debut to win over Vikings

There was just one problem: He couldn’t make the catch. Slayton dropped the ball and it fell harmlessly to the turf.

As a result, the Giants were forced to punt and had to try to win the game on defense.

Slayton looked dejected on the sidelines after the play. He knew that his drop could prove costly if the Giants’ defense was unable to hold up.

MORE: Brian Daboll among those livid about roughing the passer call vs. Giants

However, the team tried not to let him get too down on himself. This fell on a couple of key team leaders — coach Brian Daboll and team captain Saquon Barkley.

Daboll detailed that he spoke to Slayton right away on the bench.

“I said, ‘Put your head up. You’ve made a lot of good plays for us,'” Daboll told reporters of his message to Slayton.

Daboll added that he knew that the play could have gone “a ways” had Slayton caught it. Still, he tried to instill confidence in his receiver, who caught four of his eight targets for 88 yards during the contest.

“He’s such a good teammate,” Daboll said of Slayton. “He’s done everything he could for us for the entire year. You make a physical mistake, that’s gonna in football. He made one in a critical time. There’s no one that felt worse than him.

[But] we need him. He’s one of our best players on offense. I have a lot of confidence in him, [so] I just told him to keep his chin up.

MORE: Vikings troll Giants center after he called Minnesotans ‘too nice’

If Daboll’s message to Slayton didn’t get through, Barkley’s might have. The star running back made sure to approach his offensive counterpart after the win to give him a little pep talk. It was captured on camera by the Fox broadcast.

So, Slayton is getting plenty of support as he looks to let go of that key drop. He should be able to do that as he and the Giants gear up for their third matchup against the Eagles this season.

Latest news
Related news