Everything went wrong for the New York Giants during a 49-17 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10, including teammates Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard appearing to get into a bust-up on the sideline.
Slayton explained he and his fellow wide receiver “weren’t yelling at each other,” according to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan. Shepard had intervened when Slayton and wide receivers coach Mike Groh were engaged in heated conversation.
Darius Slayton says he was having a “spirited conversation” with WR coach Mike Groh. That’s when Sterling Shepard stepped in. Slayton and Shepard said they weren’t yelling at each other.
Tempers appeared frayed between Slayton and Shepard when Fox Sports showed their exchange on the sideline during the third quarter, per Ralph Vacchiano.
The wheels are coming off.
Giants WRs Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton having a heated discussion on the sideline now. 👀👇
It took intervention from head coach Brian Daboll to calm Slayton down, according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic: “Daboll walked the length of the sideline with Slayton and spoke to him the entire time during that break in the action.”
Whatever the tension levels were between Slayton, Groh and Shepard, this episode is just one more example of Giants players and coaches appearing at odds this season. Other instances, include Daboll showing his frustration with quarterback Daniel Jones earlier in the campaign.
Meanwhile, the buildup to facing the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium was dominated by worrying comments about leadership and communication from safety Xavier McKinney.
Darius Slayton, Giants Look Fractured
There’s too much noise between Giants players and coaches this season. More to the point, too much of the wrong kind of noise.
Some noise is understandable when the Giants are languishing at 2-8. Yet, a natural amount of frustration aside, there have been too many sideline-based incidents through 10 games.
Daboll got into it with Jones against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4.
Brian Daboll throwing the tablet away like Daniel Jones should’ve done with the football on any of his 9 sacks tonight
Jones isn’t the only player Daboll has vented at this season. Right tackle Evan Neal was the target following a costly false start against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9.
There’s a disconnect between what coaches want to see and what players are producing on the field. McKinney hinted at that kind of disconnect when he called out coaches following the defeat to the Raiders, per Raanan: “I think that from a leadership standpoint, I don’t think they’ve done a great job of letting the leaders lead, and listening to the leaders and the captains.”
Those comments didn’t find favor with defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale. He said that kind of talk “hurts the locker room and it hurts the defense,” per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News.
Giants DC Wink Martindale says Xavier McKinney’s comments surprised him because it’s never happened to Martindale in his career. He told McKinney “it hurts the locker room and it hurts the defense.”
He brought it up to all the captains, none of whom agreed with McKinney.…
Slayton’s testy talk with Groh is the latest example of Giants’ players and coaches not getting along. Perhaps the wideout was unhappy with his lack of involvement in a passing game stymied by injuries at quarterback.
Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard Not Being Used
Jones is out for the season, while backup Tyrod Taylor is on injured reserve. Their absences have left undrafted free agent Tommy DeVito throwing passes, but not many of those passes have been going Slayton and Shepard’s way.
They were both targeted four times against the Cowboys, but accounted for just four catches for 23 yards. Shepard did turn his lone grab into a two-yard touchdown in garbage time, but neither receiver has been a feature of the passing game this season.
Slayton had made a mere 23 catches from 41 targets before facing the Cowboys, per Pro Football Reference. Meanwhile, Shepard had been targeted just six times.
Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen tried to revamp their receiving corps, but their efforts have fallen flat. Most of the targets had been going to Darren Waller, but the Pro-Bowl tight end is also on IR with a hamstring problem.
At wide receiver, free-agent acquisition Parris Campbell has flopped, while rookie burner Jalin Hyatt left the game in Dallas with a concussion according to Giants.com’s Dan Salomone.
It’s tough for any receiver to stay motivated when catching fewer passes from a carousel of quarterbacks in a one-dimensional offense. Slayton’s frustrations got the better of him before Shepard played peacemaker, even though the latter can feel just as aggrieved.
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Giants WR Darius Slayton Explains ‘Spirited’ Sideline Exchange vs. Cowboys