New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt enters his second season ready to play in meaningful games at the end of the campaign.
Even though Hyatt hasn't experienced the playoffs in the NFL yet, he knows what a playoff team looks like when he sees one.
In fact, he believes he's on one of those teams right now.
“Always, man, always. New year, new opportunities, new goals. You know, for me, I always set high expectations. Just looking at our team, looking at what we got, we have a good chance to do whatever we want to do,” Hyatt told reporters at OTAs last week via Giants Wire.
“For goals, I just want as a team goal. We have a playoff team and that’s what we want to do and that’s our focus. We’re going to get there.”
From the outside, it seems like a bold statement to consider a team coming off a 6-11 season as a playoff contender.
Of course, Hyatt feels that way. He should feel that way. If a player doesn't have confidence in his teammates, there's a bigger issue at hand.
The Giants are one season removed from the 2022 campaign when they reached the divisional round of the playoffs after defeating the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round.
It all fell apart pretty spectacularly in 2023 between injuries and a lack of development from some key players.
Hyatt himself is in the middle of a positional battle at the wide receiver position, which should have plenty of eyes on it during training camp.
Who knows? Maybe things will bounce the Giants' way in 2024.
For more Giants coverage, check out Kevin Hickey's work on Sporting News.
