Read the full transcript from HC Jeff Hafley's media availability on June 3, 2026.
Yesterday, Zach Sieler was not working. Can you give us any insight on his ailment or why he wasn't working?
Jeff Hafley: Yeah, he tweaked something minor. He'll be fine. Just better to keep him out. We worked him out inside and made sure his conditioning is up, but nothing major there at all.
What was it like to have Dave Wannstedt around and what, if anything, has he shared with you that might be helpful going into this?
Jeff Hafley: Yeah, it was great having him around. I mean, you guys know he's one of my biggest mentors. He really gave me my first kind of break into Division I football and spent five years with him. I've pretty much talked to him all throughout. Last year I talked to him probably once a week. I'd call him, sometimes I'd be texting him right before kickoff. Just a guy if I ever need to clear my head, or ask him a question, or see big picture, or ask him for advice. When we played the Bears, I went over to his apartment and saw him and his wife, so we've always been really close. He's in Naples, and he's always welcome here. You guys know he's coached here. It was actually cool to see Zach (Thomas) come and Trace (Armstrong) come and some of those guys that were here yesterday, but that's a really big deal to me. I don't take that for granted that a guy that kind of gave me my start, now he's still supportive of me and I'm in a role that he was in. A big part of why I'm here is because of everything he did, and he helped change my life and my family's life. He's in Naples, he wants to come around and he'll be around. So he'll be here this week, but it's great to see him out there.
When you were in the interview process and you had other suitors, obviously I'm assuming you talked to Dave Wannstedt during the process. What did he tell you about this job, this community, this franchise?
Jeff Hafley: Oh, he loved it. Loved the organization, loved the franchise, loved the city, loved the people in the city. Obviously talked about his time here, and he's a guy that I leaned on throughout that whole interview process. I mean, he's one guy that, like I said, there's vivid memories of me two or three hours before kickoff, he's a guy that I'll text, or he'll text me something. It's kind of always just been that way. He loved his time here.
With Jalen Reagor, is that kicking the tires on a first-round pick? Is that serving a need for the team and adding to the receivers? What's behind the move?
Jeff Hafley: We had a workout yesterday with a bunch of guys and he kind of jumped out. Obviously talented player, there's a reason he was a first-round pick. It's just good to get more fresh legs in here, but I think kicking the tires on players who have had success, I think that's awesome that Sully (Jon-Eric Sullivan) is doing that. We'll give him a shot and see what he can do. So excited to see him out there today and see what he can do to help us out.
What did you see in Tutu Atwell that made you say, this guy needs to be here?
Jeff Hafley: He's had success in the league. I actually, we played him when I was at Boston College and he was at Louisville, so he was a problem in the slot. Very talented player, good with the ball in his hand, made a lot of plays. Obviously he is a guy who has experience in the league, and as we were looking to build that receiver room, he's a guy that we thought could help us.
On the topic of Dave Wannstedt, Zach Thomas and Trace Armstrong, when you have downtime, do you ever go back 10 or 20 years in the archives and look up stuff just to kind of maybe spark some fresh ideas? Do you use old football to inform you for how you coach schematics nowadays?
Jeff Hafley: Yes, I have done that, because I do think as the years go by, I think things kind of recirculate. Our game has always been about fundamentals and technique, and when you go back and watch, like we have some of the Giants defense when L.T. (Lawrence Taylor) and those guys were there, and Sean (Duggan) and I get a kick out of watching that sometimes. And when you do look at some of those defenses, a lot of the stuff is some of the stuff that's still going on here, but it's all about the fundamentals and technique. It's cool to see some of those great players use those fundamentals and techniques. So yeah, I love watching whatever football that I can. You get some good ideas sometimes too. I mean, those were great coaches and great teams all throughout, whether it was here or another team. But for sure, definitely like to study football and I am excited for when I get some downtime.
How nice was it to get ten of your draft picks signed and do you think the other three will be settled soon?
Jeff Hafley: Yeah, I'd imagine they will be. I mean, you know how that goes. Excited? Yeah, great. I mean, I assumed they were going to sign. It wasn't like 'yes! They signed.' I assumed they had signed, they signed. Hopefully the other guys sign, they've been out there practicing. I'm just excited to get them out there and practice again today.
Jackson Woodard is a guy who has flashed. Do you want a guy like that thinking I need special teams to make the team, or I can compete from scrimmage – what's the mindset there?
Jeff Hafley: I value special teams as much as we value offense or defense, so I hope he wants to make them equally. Competitive guy, he's smart. We'll see when the pads come on and it really goes how it looks, but I've been impressed with him. Special teams are really important to me. I mean, it's not just like, well, if you don't make it on offense or defense, you're going to play special teams. I view that as a huge phase of our game, so I hope his mentality is to play on both.
We got to speak with Tyrel Dodson yesterday. What have you noticed about his mentality this offseason despite you guys bringing in a couple linebackers in the draft?
Jeff Hafley: I mean that shouldn't change. I want our team to be built on competition, and year after year, we're going to bring in players that compete with the guys that are here. I would hope that every player has the mindset that every year I need to compete for my job and get better. I think if you don't, you're going to kind of just plateau. I think that's the mindset of coaches, I think that's the mindset of players. I think you've got to be pushed. But he's been great, and I hope he would remain that way. Our job is to play the best players who give us the best chance to win games, whether that's a guy that's been here as a starter, whether that's a guy that was drafted, whether that's a free agent that we brought in. I'm not here to just play guys because of where they were drafted or what they've done; I'm going to play the guy that has done the most right now that gives us the best chance to win. T. Dot (Tyrel Dodson) is a very, very smart football player. He's a really good communicator. He sees the game really fast. He's a highly intelligent guy and he loves ball. He's been a lot of fun to coach, and I haven't seen anything other than a guy who's striving to get better and be a great teammate.
I want to ask you about Zeek Biggers. In this group of second-year defensive linemen, he came in as the biggest guy – biggest, heaviest, tallest – and he has seemingly redefined his body. I don't know if you've gotten those reports or not, but it started last year. What do you envision that he can do with that physique? I mean, I know there are some different schemes in balanced schemes where guys like him can be on the edge. Do you envision him as a potential edge player?
Jeff Hafley: I do, and if you've watched, he's been out there on the edge a little bit. I think he's a guy that based on down distance, personnel, who they have, how many tight ends are in the game, are they going to line up in two tight ends, two backs, it gives us a bigger guy. Whether we go five defensive linemen in the game or four and play with three bigger guys and just one kind of edge guy, he gives us that versatility. So yeah, I agree with you. If you do watch closely, there's been times when we've kind of kicked him out there and he's shown the ability to do that because he's a really good athlete for his size.
With Austin Jackson and De'Von Achane, are they going to be limited to individual drills for the duration of minicamp, or will they be in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11?
Jeff Hafley: They'll be in Indy.
JuJu Brents is a guy that has all the traits yet has been unable to stay on the field. Are you taking a different approach with him, or is there anything a coaching staff can kind of do to kind of keep a guy healthy through all 17 games?
Jeff Hafley: I think that goes from your strength and conditioning program to our strength coaches, to our athletic trainers, to our nutritionists, to all the resources that we're very lucky to have here and that are provided, and then our coaches. But it's my first time around him, so it's hard for me to say this is what he did in the past at practice and this is what we need to do to keep him healthy. We'll keep an eye on him, but knock on wood, he's done a really nice job. And you're right, he's got great length. He's got good feet for his size. He's athletic. He can play the ball. When you go back and you watch his tape when he was healthy, he was doing a really nice job. I'm very excited about where he's at. He's extremely competitive. He's another guy [that] he's done everything we asked him to do, so he needs to stay on that as we get ready to break when we're done and come into training camp in good shape.
Going back to Tutu Atwell, first time for him getting used to a new program. How do you feel like he's been adjusting to a new system, new quarterback?
Jeff Hafley: I think he's adjusted well. It's kind of new for all the guys, right? Everybody's adjusting to the new scheme, which Bobby (Slowik) is running, and multiple quarterbacks they're playing with for the first time. I think all of that will be, like I said yesterday, that will take a little bit of time just to get in rhythm and in sync. Over the last two practices, if you want to talk about the quarterbacks and receivers, I think they've taken another step. I thought yesterday took another step and they did a lot of good things.
With Zayne Anderson, why did you feel it was necessary to bring him from Green Bay?
Jeff Hafley: I was a big fan of Zayne. Zayne played and started for us in multiple games throughout my two years there. Zayne was a really good team player, good teammate, smart, physical. Zayne is the type of guy that I always felt if he needed to go in the game, I wasn't going to lose any sleep over. I had a lot of faith in him, and I think he's done a really good job out there. You guys are going to get a chance to talk to him today? I think you'll enjoy talking to him. He's very mature. I think the guys in the locker room would say that he's a great teammate. He's very unselfish. He knows what he's doing. He studies it really hard, and he's a guy that has worked really hard to put himself in a position to where he is now. I think for me, it always comes back to trust. I trust the guy, and he'll compete for a job just like the rest of these guys, but I'm glad he's here.
When training camp opens, what are the biggest questions that you want answered about this team?
Jeff Hafley: I've got a lot of questions. In training camp, I think the biggest difference will be when the pads come on what it looks like when we play real football. How tough we are, how physical we are, who our toughest guys are, our most physical guys are, who's going to embrace that? But that will be the biggest difference when we actually start playing real football.
A.J. Brown was traded into the division, so you'll probably get him twice. What are your thoughts on him based on having faced him in the past?
Jeff Hafley: A good player, good size. You got to know where he's at. He's had a lot of success in the league. There's a lot of good players and good receivers, so we'll pay attention to that when we get closer to playing the Patriots.
How would you describe your relationship with Bobby Slowik and maybe how that's grown in your time together and how your defensive mind and his offensive mind maybe work together?
Jeff Hafley: I have a great relationship with Bobby. I think it's built on respect for one another. I trust him, and I respect how hard he works. I respect his football knowledge; I respect him as a person. You've spent time with Bobby, he's a great human. He treats people the right way. He treats his players the right way. It's just been really cool for me to be able to sit in on all the install meetings, and then communicate with him, ask him questions. Now when I look down, I know what route they're running, I understand it. I understand how he installed it. We'll kind of go back and forth on, here's how I see it versus this coverage, this is how I would defend it in this coverage, and this is how he would attack me here. We can kind of bounce ideas off of each other. I think it's two guys without very big egos where I'm going to think that I always have the right answer, and I feel like he is exactly the same way where we can communicate without kind of fighting amongst who has the pen last, so I think that's been really helpful. I like the way he approaches the quarterbacks. I'm in the quarterback room a lot, watching and listening and how those guys teach them. I think he's a guy who can develop great relationships with the players, so I'm really glad that he's here. I'm excited for him. I think he did a really nice job in his last stop. Obviously, I was with him in San Francisco and I think we got the right guy leading the offense – I know we do.
