Jalin Hyatt was disappointed in himself after the Giants’ Week 5 loss in New Orleans.
The third-year receiver was playing back his three deep targets from Jaxson Dart in his head, regretting that he didn’t make a play to help his young quarterback and the team.
Dart saw Hyatt’s doubt, and he said something.
“Dart came up to me, man, and said, ‘Look, I’m coming right back to you on Thursday,’” Hyatt said after the Giants’ upset win over the Eagles. “Just having that as a quarterback, hearing that [from] a quarterback, it brought me so much confidence.”
Hyatt knew only one way to respond to Dart.
“I’m gonna fight for him,” he said.
What followed were three Hyatt catches for 17 yards against the Eagles, plus a 20-yard pass interference penalty draw on Philly corner Kelee Ringo to set up Cam Skattebo’s third touchdown in last Thursday’s 34-17 win.
That stat line might not jump off the page, but those who have followed Hyatt’s career arc know how much it meant for him to contribute meaningfully to a win. Not just because Malik Nabers (torn ACL, meniscus) is out for the season, but because Hyatt was running out of time to prove he belonged on this team.
The fan response at MetLife Stadium after Hyatt’s first catch of the season said it all:
Hyatt, 24, who has been labeled a one-trick pony who can only run go routes, secured a 5-yard hitch on 3rd and 4 in tight coverage to extend a second quarter scoring drive. And the crowd responded.
“I owe the fans a lot, man,” Hyatt said in a quiet moment. “I haven’t been playing my best ball these past three years, even when I had my opportunities. Even though if they’re a little [limited], I didn’t take advantage of them. I owe the fans everything.
“I owe Joe Schoen,” he added. “I owe Coach Dab[oll], [receivers coach] Mike Groh. I owe all these guys, just for them to allow me to be back out there and [to say] ‘let’s get some passes to Hyatt.’ It brings a lot of confidence in myself. Now I gotta build off it.”
The Giants first showed confidence in him during the 2023 NFL Draft, trading up to pick No. 73 of the third round to take him.
Schoen dealt a third-round pick (No. 89) and a fourth-round pick (No. 128) to the L.A. Rams to move up 16 spots and take Hyatt, the Biletnikoff Award winner as the top receiver in college football at Tennessee. The Rams got starting defensive lineman Kobie Turner at pick No. 89.
Hyatt made some big plays in spurts as a rookie, finishing with 23 catches for 373 yards. But he never had any real chemistry with Daniel Jones, and Daboll and the coaches eventually showed little to no trust in him.
His playing time and confidence dropped so low last season that he asked for a trade. He bulked up early this offseason in the weight room, only to find out that his lower body couldn’t handle the extra muscle mass, when a couple of hip/leg injuries popped up in training camp to hold him back.
Then Hyatt spent the Giants’ first two games of the season idle on the sideline as Russell Wilson toiled as the opening day starter.
Hyatt, in fact, was the only Giants position player who dressed in both losses to the Commanders and Cowboys and did not play. He and Dart were the only two players on the whole roster who dressed for the season opener at Washington and didn’t get in.
“You never know when your opportunity is coming,” Hyatt said. “It could be on 3rd and 4. It could be when we need it on fourth down. It could be when we gotta have it at the end of the game.
“I felt like in New Orleans, personally I felt I should have played better,” he said. “I had two [targets] in the fourth quarter where we kind of needed it and I didn’t come down with it.”
One go route against Saints corner Quincy Riley was a ball Hyatt should have caught. He made a great adjustment inside and under the corner and just didn’t come up with the ball.
“I was kind of beat up about it on the plane, kinda beat up about it the next day,” he said. “And Dart came up to me … I was with him on the plane, he sat right in front of me. Just him having my back when I didn’t have his back. It gave me so much confidence in myself, and I have nothing but respect for him.”
Hyatt expects a lot more out of himself than Thursday’s performance, of course. The Giants need more even if Darius Slayton (hamstring) is able to return this week to a receiving corps that also includes Wan’Dale Robinson and Lil’ Jordan Humphrey.
Hyatt said he still should have caught that Dart deep ball in the end zone when Ringo was flagged for interference.
“I gotta catch that, man,” Hyatt said. “Elite players catch that. I gotta catch that.”
There was also one hiccup that wasn’t entirely Hyatt’s fault, but the Giants need to get ironed out:
Hyatt said he didn’t hear the alert at the end of Russell Wilson’s third down play call when the veteran QB briefly replaced Dart. So that explained why Wilson threw the ball short when Hyatt was running a deep post.
Hyatt’s confidence-boosting game only matters, too, if he makes more plays to back it up Sunday in Denver.
“You have a decent game, build off it,” he said. “That’s the standard for myself. I gotta make these plays that come my way. What I’m trying to do is be 100% with targets, and I didn’t do that [against the Eagles]. So that’s something I gotta work on.”
The good news is that with Dart at quarterback, Hyatt has full confidence he’ll match his standard and reach those goals — and more.
“When you see No. 6 back there, that brings even more confidence,” he said. “We have a quarterback that has confidence in his receivers. That goes a long way. And I’m gonna try to do anything possible to make plays for him.”
JUICE IS BACK
The Giants re-signed wide receiver Juice Wells Jr. to the practice squad. Wells, 24, was Dart’s Ole Miss college teammate, and he spent all of training camp with the Giants before being released on cutdown day. The team also signed former Broncos linebacker Jonas Griffith, 28, to the practice squad. Griffith hasn’t played in a regular season game since 2022 due to two knee surgeries.
