Jalin Hyatt likely to get another shot to be ‘game-changing’ Giant

Jalin Hyatt has been down this road before. 

Now in his third year with the Giants, the thoughts of the third-round pick becoming the deep threat the Giants envisioned when they drafted him out of Tennessee have mostly been replaced by questions about Hyatt’s future with the team.

But with Darius Slayton out last week with a hamstring injury, Malik Nabers out for the season with a torn ACL — and with Jaxson Dart establishing himself as the quarterback of the present and future — Hyatt made his first catches of the season in the stunning win over Philadelphia.

Still, it was just three receptions for 17 yards.

Slayton missed practice again Thursday, so there is a solid chance Hyatt will get playing time again on Sunday in Denver. And he has one main goal when he faces the Broncos.

“To have an opportunity again to go out there Sunday and make the plays that come to me is what I want to do,’’ Hyatt said Thursday. “I need to make a game-changing play. That’s what I’ve been missing. I’ve got to make a game-changing play. That’s what they drafted me for. That’s what I’m known for and I’m working on that for this game.”

That might have been what Hyatt was known for at Tennessee, when he was the Biletnikoff Award winner in 2022, as the top receiver in college football.

Since then, though, he’s been a disappointment, as evidenced by his lack of receptions until last week’s win over the Eagles.

But the Giants don’t have much choice but to rely on Hyatt, as well as backup Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who was called up from the practice squad with Slayton out and Nabers done for the season.

Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka praised Humphrey’s veteran presence and size on Thursday after Humphrey caught four balls for 55 yards versus Philadelphia. 

“He’s a really smart player, he’s big, he’s got the ability to go get the ball. … I think he’s got a lot of trust, he’s had a lot of time on task with Jaxson throughout the course of training camp and the spring and stuff, even in the preseason, so there was some comfortability there.’’

Perhaps Hyatt will find some rhythm with Dart that eluded him with Daniel Jones and others for the first two-plus years of his NFL career.

“With Jaxson out there, the receivers in this room have got to step up with him not having a lot of experience,’’ Hyatt said. “We have to help him out.”

And he was disappointed he didn’t come up with a touchdown catch in the fourth quarter, when Philadelphia’s Kelee Ringo was called for defensive pass interference. 

“I have to find a way to get that ball, but it definitely felt good, getting some catches in and getting into the flow of the game,’’ Hyatt said.

But if the Giants intend to knock off the tough Denver defense — on the road — they’ll likely need more production than he had against Philadelphia, which was Hyatt’s biggest game in nearly a year. It was Nov. 10 of last season when he had four catches for 39 yards against the Panthers.

And he still has just one 100-yard game in his NFL career, when he put up 109 yards against the Patriots on Nov. 26, 2023.

“How I look at it now is I had opportunities last year and I had opportunities before that,’’ Hyatt said. “I’ve had lots of opportunities I didn’t take advantage of. You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror and figure out what it is and I’m very hard on myself.”

And what he’s seen, Hyatt said, is a player that’s not going after the ball enough.

“Looking back on film, attacking the ball is the biggest thing,’’ Hyatt said. “I’m letting the ball come down too low on 50-50 balls. I have that in my arsenal, to go get it. I have to high-point the ball and come down with it.”