The New York Giants love to push one word when it comes to their football operation: collaboration. But that buzzword was nowhere to be found Wednesday when Brian Daboll announced a stunning quarterback change. “It’s my decision,” Daboll told reporters before practice. That line itself has enough to say.

For two years, Daboll and GM Joe Schoen presented themselves as a unified front after the messy Dave Gettleman – Joe Judge era. But when Russell Wilson was benched in favor of rookie Jaxson Dart, the messaging wasn’t “we.” It was “me.” And now, the whispers are growing louder. A tweet revealed how Schoen “seems to be more protected by ownership” than Daboll. A detail that insiders believe the head coach has picked up on.

“Daboll seems to clearly see that. And in the last few days, he has started to air out the organization’s dirty laundry.” That kind of move doesn’t happen unless a coach feels his footing getting shaky. Owner John Mara didn’t mince words at the end of last season. He said straight up that he needed to feel “a lot better” about where the Giants were headed because his patience was running thin. So given that some around the league don’t even expect Daboll to last until Monday.

The final call came on Thursday, when Daboll openly mocked the Giants’ medical staff. Asked why the team was outside in wet conditions instead of staying indoors on turf, he replied, “It’s good for the guys’ legs. Instead of going in on turf, we’d rather be out here. I wish it wasn’t slippery, but we’d rather go in here than go in there. And so would the (air quotes) ‘medical people.’”

That was a direct jab at longtime trainer Ronnie Barnes and his department—a move that, inside this building, is viewed as career-ending. But Daboll’s demeanor now screams like a man who knows his seat can’t get any hotter. His Giants are 0-3, staring down an undefeated Chargers team in Week 4, and he’s swinging away at every target in sight.

He also hinted that someone other than him was responsible for the leak 11 days ago that suggested the Giants had “no sense of urgency” to play Dart. “I haven’t had any conversations but with players,” Daboll said. Players later admitted they found out about Wilson’s benching on social media. When asked if he wished they had learned directly from him, his response was telling: “The world we live in. So. It’s the world we live in.”

Leaks, finger-pointing, and fractured trust—that’s where the Giants are now. It’s not new, either.

Brian Daboll’s job security hits breaking point

In 2023, Schoen literally had to sit in on headsets for four games to keep tabs on Daboll’s sideline behavior. After last year’s 3-14 disaster, the two met with Mara for a postseason autopsy and came out even more divided. Daboll contradicted Mara publicly over who suggested handing play-calling back to Mike Kafka, overruled the front office to push for Jaxson Dart over Shedeur Sanders, and presented himself at training camp as Schoen’s partner despite the cracks already showing.

Even winning might not be enough now. Giants fans have already booked two protest planes to fly over MetLife with banners before Sunday’s game, with a third tentatively planned. One was set to read: “MR MARA ENOUGH IS ENOUGH CLEAN HOUSE.”

Mara and Steve Tisch have shown remarkable patience with this duo. But after Daboll’s latest public shots, it feels like he just volunteered himself as the first coach in the NFL this season to run out of time.