Brian Daboll pretends Giants’ effort not an issue when he and players know otherwise

Admittedly, if Brian Daboll were to acknowledge numerous examples of poor effort from some of his biggest name players, the Giants’ head coach would be signing his own pink slip.

So he had plenty of motivation to pretend during Monday’s Zoom call that everything was fine for his 2-9 team after Sunday’s sixth straight loss, a 30-7 demolition by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Still, anyone who watched the game or listened to Daboll’s players call out their own “soft” team knows better as they prepare for Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day game at the Dallas Cowboys (4-7).

Linebacker Micah McFadden, despite stressing that “for the most part we were playing hard,” admitted Monday there were “a couple one-off plays where maybe one or two guys would like to have it back” against Tampa.

That was a generous understatement but still confirmation of left tackle Jermaine Eluemunor’s postgame observation: “I personally don’t think everybody is giving 100%,”

Right guard Jon Runyan Jr. walked the company line and said the issue was execution, not effort. But Runyan also said the leaders are trying to set the best example, and “for certain people, you can only do so much for them” to follow their lead.

Daboll is clearly aware of the effort issues because, according to McFadden, the Giants’ Monday brief film session centered on a handful of plays “highlighting good effort.”

The coach also relented a bit when pressed on his absurd insistence that the players’ effort was sufficient.

He admitted that when coaches tag plays that need improvement, it includes areas like technique and “chase the ball,” a euphemism for not hustling.

Daboll also said “there wasn’t a lot of guys that were not giving effort,” implying there were at least a handful of concerning plays that he simply didn’t want to address publicly.

So this is really just an optics game at these press conferences which fails to conceal the optics that show up on the field.

The reality, however, as McFadden explained, is that some players are able to get away with more than others in the NFL because of their standing on the roster. But that shouldn’t change the fact that everyone has to hold each other accountable to the same standard.

Or else Thursday’s game at Dallas will look the same way Sunday’s did at MetLife Stadium.

“It’s the NFL. Everybody’s treated fair but not equally, right?” McFadden said. “There’s guys with different salaries. Some guys can get away with more. So it’s not easy [whether it’s] player to player, coach to player. But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re all depending on each other to get the job done at the end of the day.

“And it starts throughout the week,” the linebacker added. “It starts with guys holding each other accountable on Wednesday during a padded practice so the guy doesn’t make the same mistake on Sunday that he made the week before. It starts top-down, but ultimately the players are the ones on the field.”

McFadden was one of the Giants who did play his butt off on Sunday.

Quarterback Drew Lock also had the right attitude about having to go in for one, three-yard completion in the fourth quarter when Tommy DeVito got banged up.

Lock was passed over by the Giants despite being the season-long backup. He didn’t like it, but he didn’t let it prevent him from being ready to play if they called on him the next time.

“The last thing I wanted to do was not be prepared if that were to ever happen,” Lock said. “You feel that way every single week. There was an opportunity to sulk a little bit and f—in’ be pissed, but that’s not who I am. That’s not what I was gonna do.

“I was gonna go in and prepare like I have been all year, be there for Tommy,” he said. “And if anything was gonna happen, be ready. Kind of like my job is normally.”

There is nothing normal about this situation, obviously. It might be more awkward for Lock if Daboll now asked him to start after skipping over him when the Giants shut down and released Daniel Jones.

Daboll can’t do that, though. He is stuck with DeVito headed to Arlington, Tex., trying to placate frustrated rookie receiver Malik Nabers, who essentially called Daboll out for his lack of early involvement in the offense.

“I got to do a better job of getting the ball in his hands early,” Daboll said.

Runyan said the players are all angry about getting embarrassed by Tampa, at least, and they’re determined to put a better product on the field on Thanksgiving.

“We’re disappointed for our fans that we’re making them watch these games,” he said.

But all of America will be watching on Thursday. There will be nowhere for Joe Schoen or Daboll to hide if their players repeat Sunday’s laydown performance at AT&T Stadium.

BOTH TACKLES DOWN MONDAY

Eluemunor (quad) and starting right tackle Evan Neal (hip) both were projected as non-participants during Monday’s walkthrough on the injury report.

Chris Hubbard, who replaced Eluemunor in Sunday’s first quarter, and Josh Ezeudu are the Giants’ backup tackles. Tyre Phillips also is ramping up on the practice squad after re-signing recently.

The Giants haven’t scored in the first half of either of their last two games, and they are about to face Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons on Thanksgiving. So having two injured tackles is bad news.

Edge rusher Azeez Ojulari (toe) and defensive tackle Armon Watts (shoulder) also were DNPs Monday.

Six players were limited: corner Deonte Banks (rib), defensive tackles Dexter Lawrence (knee) and D.J. Davidson (shoulder), linebacker Micah McFadden (thumb/heel), tight end Theo Johnson (back) and safety Tyler Nubin (back).