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The New York Giants released an expanded statement Thursday aiming to discredit what Brian Flores has said as part of a class action lawsuit regarding their hiring process to fill their head coach opening.

“The specific claims against the Giants and Mr. Flores’ allegations about the legitimacy of his candidacy for our head coach position are disturbing and simply false,” Thursday’s new statement said, in part.

The Giants initially issued a short statement Tuesday when news of Flores’ lawsuit broke, pushing back on the former Miami Dolphins coach’s assertion that the team did not take him seriously as a candidate to be their head coach.

Flores decided to file suit after New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick — thinking he was texting Brian Daboll — purportedly told Flores that he had heard the Giants had settled on Daboll before Flores’ interview. The Giants pushed back on that idea in Thursday’s statement, saying Belichick’s text exchange also preceded Daboll’s in-person interview.

“The allegation that the Giants’ decision had been made prior to Friday evening, January 28, is false,” the statement said. “And to base that allegation on a text exchange with Bill Belichick in which he ultimately states that he ‘thinks’ Brian Daboll would get the job is irresponsible. The text exchange occurred the day before Coach Daboll’s in-person interview even took place. Giants’ ownership would never hire a head coach based only on a 20-minute zoom interview, which is all that Mr. Daboll had at that point.

“In addition, Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants. Mr. Belichick’s text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search.”

Flores is Black, and only one NFL team currently has a Black head coach — Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The league’s Rooney Rule, which requires that teams interview at least two external minority candidates for head-coaching jobs, is under scrutiny as some believe teams are only interviewing minorities to check a box.

Giants Provide Timeline

The Giants claimed owner John Mara reached out to Flores two days after the Miami Dolphins fired him as coach following three seasons at the helm. They reiterated that the hiring team thought he was “an outstanding candidate.”

“Our hiring process and, most certainly, our consideration of Mr. Flores was serious and genuine,” the Giants said Thursday. “We are disappointed to learn that Mr. Flores was under the mistaken impression the job had already been awarded.”

Hours after Flores’ lawsuit made headlines Tuesday, New York put out an initial statement saying the club was “pleased and confident with the process” that led them to hire Daboll, the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator.

“The fact of the matter is, Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour,” the Giants said then. “Ultimately, we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach.”

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)