33-32 Week 7 loss to the Broncos<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was important to me, just to help me understand that I\u2019ve gotta be ready for any opportunities when they come, especially in that situation where we\u2019re using both tight ends,\u201d Bellinger said after limited participation, due to a neck issue, in Thursday\u2019s practice in East Rutherford. \u201cIt was big for me to understand that this is an opportunity, and I have to make the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel Bellinger celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the Giants\u2019 Week 7 loss to the Broncos. Kai River Kanzer \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old registered 30 receptions in 12 appearances as a rookie, which still represents his career-high total as his fourth NFL season approaches the midway point. <\/p>\n
He slipped to 25 and 14 catches, respectively, despite dressing for all 17 games over each of the past two seasons.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Bellinger lost playing time to imported former Pro Bowler Darren Waller in \u201923, and the Giants spent a fourth-round pick on tight end Theo Johnson last year. He had seized the starting job with four touchdowns among his 20 catches through the team\u2019s 2-5 start.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tough on a personal level, but I stuck to the fact that the opportunities were going to come, and I just have to be ready for them when they do,\u201d Bellinger said. \u201cI feel like [Johnson and I] complement each other really well.<\/p>\n
Daniel Bellinger (82) and Jaxson Dart celebrate after a Giants touchdown in the fist quarter of their Week 7 loss to the Broncos. Kai River Kanzer\/ New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can both do the run and the pass game. So having that versatility helps us as an offense, and helps keep the defense on their toes and guessing what we\u2019re going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giants coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka have employed more two-TE sets since top receiver Malik Nabers went down with a torn ACL in Week 4. Veteran wideout Darius Slayton also missed last week\u2019s game, but he could return to the lineup Sunday in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger looks on during practice on Oct. 23, 2025. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that stuff happens, other guys have to step up and make plays when they have that opportunity,\u201d Bellinger said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had that opportunity and need to capitalize on it. I feel like we\u2019ve done that, but have to keep doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kafka added that he was not surprised by Bellinger\u2019s contributions in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince Belly has been here as a rookie, he\u2019s done nothing but just been consistent in his approach, consistent with his play,\u201d Kafka said. \u201cEach week will be a little bit different in how we want to attack a defense.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cBut over the course of the last couple weeks, [Bellinger] was part of that plan. And no surprise to me, he came up big in making plays, and doing the right things in both the run and the pass game. He\u2019s a guy that we\u2019re going to lean on and is one of the leaders of the group, and a guy that I have full confidence in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several important offensive contributions were rendered as mere footnotes during the Giants\u2019 historic fourth-quarter meltdown Sunday in Denver.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":328310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,149398,405,403,4716,5226,5225,1232,5228,13726,5227,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-328309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-daniel-bellinger","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-new-york-giants","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkcity","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-ny-sports-minute","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115427424630543558","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}