Dan Salomone

It was a jam-packed Thursday at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

In addition to wrapping up the second week of spring practices, we also heard from all three Giants coordinators, quarterback Russell Wilson, outside linebacker Brian Burns, wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson and assistant general manager Brandon Brown.

Here is what we learned:

The tale of the turnover chest

Playoff teams averaged 25 takeaways last season, 10 more than the Giants mustered. Shane Bowen wants that to change, and he is using a prop inspired by his young son to drive home the point to his defense.

This is the tale of the turnover chest.

"Oh, the chest. So my son, it's his first year of tee ball and he's on the Pirates," the defensive coordinator explained. "Again, the main thing is emphasizing takeaways. We've got to get better at takeaways. Somehow got the idea of piracy, violent, attacking to steal possessions or goods, right?

"You'll hear our guys say it. I say it ad nauseam: Be a damn pirate. We've got to find ways to get the ball. And, again, you get what you emphasize. We're making it a priority this year to make sure we find ways to get the ball."

Early impressions of new-look quarterback room

With the Giants halfway through spring practices, players have gotten to know their new quarterbacks on and off the field and vice versa. That, of course, starts with 10-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson.

"Even the first time we threw, me and (Darius) Slay(ton) were both like, this is actually better than we expected," wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson said. "And so, no, we were ecstatic about it, and couldn't be more happy that he's our quarterback."

In other words, Wilson's reputation preceded himself.

"That deep ball just drops right in the bucket, for sure," Robinson said. "And then whenever he's throwing just the shorter routes and stuff like that, it kind of comes in like a pillow. It's really, really easy to catch, which I like."

Wilson was far from the only addition to the room as Jaxson Dart became the first quarterback drafted in Joe Schoen's tenure as general manager.

"Jaxson's been great, man," Wilson said. "He's a great worker, great teammate. We're having fun, all of us. We have a really good quarterback room. Guys are so focused and working diligently every day. He's going to be an extremely, extremely good talent and everything else throughout his career."

Wilson added: "It doesn't change anything at all. I think the biggest thing is for me is just being my best every day, leading. I always think about just leading everybody, just leading every room, every moment, every time I get to step between the white lines and the opportunity of that. We had a great dinner the other night, all the guys, all the O-line and quarterbacks and running backs together. We just had a good time, just tons of laughs and a good time together.

"So just I think the fellowship of it all is the best part right now. Obviously, our work ethic and what we're doing in the field. But when it comes to just the tight-knit culture that we're continuing to build and continue to grow, and we want to have a championship football team, and in terms of our mentality and our approach and how we go about it. And it's not just the games, but it's everything that leads up to that. And that's the fun part about the game of football."

Mike Kafka, Brian Daboll have 'open dialogue' about calling plays

Offensive coordinator/assistant head coach Mike Kafka has returned to calling plays this spring, something Brian Daboll did throughout last season. They continue to have an "open dialogue" about that topic and the offense as a whole.

"I would say right now, whatever Dabs needs me to do, that is what I'm going to do," Kafka said. "If he needs me to call plays, if he needs me to communicate with the quarterback, if he needs me to do certain things. I am going to do whatever he asks me to do. So that's kind of the first thing I would say.

"The next part is you're learning every year, learning and growing every year. Whether I'm learning from my experiences when I was calling it, when I wasn't calling it, other play callers across the league, you study them and their habits. It's been I think each year if you're not looking for that to grow as a professional, then you're not taking a step in the right direction. I've always used that, whether it's phase two, phase three, the offseason as kind of that jumping point for me."

How the Giants are utilizing Abdul Carter with Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux

Selecting a player like Abdul Carter is the closest thing a front office gets to a no-brainer in the draft, but that didn't mean there was no due diligence. Among the discussions was how he would fit in a defensive front that also included edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux.

"You got three guys for two spots when you look at it from the outside in," Bowen said. "It's a really good problem to have. Got three really good players, three really talented players. Two of them that have done it in this league at a high level. Again, I think that's something from a staff standpoint that we're working through trying to find a way. Ultimately we want to get our best 11 on the field, whatever way we got to maneuver to do that. We got to find ways to get the guys that can impact the game on the field."

Carter's versatility will prove valuable after he switched from off-ball linebacker to the edge in his final season at Penn State, which amounted to unanimous All-American honors.

"With Abdul, he did a little bit of that stuff off the ball in college early in his career, so there is some versatility there and some versatility with what we could potentially do with Burns as well," Bowen said. "Again, making sure in Abdul's case that we understand what it takes to be an edge player in this league and all the development that comes with that. But at the same time, making sure we find ways to get the guys that can potentially impact the game for us on the field."

Speaking after practice, Burns said all three are "similar but different in a way." That will help them be more exotic on third down, when they can attack offenses from different spots.

"It's kind of like pick your poison," Burns said. "And then we have a Dex."

Brandon Brown: Philosophy this offseason was to supplement youth with leadership

Assistant general manager Brandon Brown talked about the state of the roster as the Giants enter the final phase of the offseason workout program, which sets the stage for training camp.

"I think we only have six players left on the roster from when we got here in 2022," he said. "But look how young the nucleus is. There are strategic additions in terms of via free agency. You look at the secondary. We had one of the youngest secondaries in the league. You drop off Jevn Holland, where we loved his character, even coming back out of Oregon, knowing the job he did down in Miami. You look at Paulson Adebo, a guy who if it wasn't for injury, would have been amongst the league leaders in interceptions last year. Having strong character and work ethic coming out of Stanford.

"You look at two guys that can help shape the secondary, and then you look at the veteran pieces we added on the defensive line and also the front seven. Whether it's (Chauncey) Golston or (Jeremiah) Ledbetter or Roy Robertson-Harris, guys that have skins on the wall that can help complement our young group. Obviously, re-doing the quarterback room with having both Russ and Jameis, experience was paramount. When you look at our youth, that is our nucleus, but help supplementing it with leadership and versatility and guys that can help supplement not just in age and leadership standpoint but a versatility and skill set standpoint was really important for us."

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