The Giants are in their second week of training camp. Here is the latest news and information.
Giants safety Kenny Phillips partook in the morning practice. In limited action, without incident, Phillips was able to cut and run.
Big uptick to see Phillips on the field.
Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell is having Mathias Kiwanuka play as a linebacker.
“We’ll see how it goes,”Kiwanuka said.“Perry (Fewell) said he’s going to try to use everybody to their strengths, get a lot of different matchups, a lot of different looks. This should be just the beginning of it.”
This move makes sense for several reasons:
1. First, it allows Kiwi to get more snaps. Whether he will be lined up as a defensive end or a linebacker, Kiwi is a better player than most of our linebackers.
2. If we have injuries to any of our linebackers, Kiwi can provide depth.
3. Last season, in the takeaway/giveaway ratio, the Giants were an abysmal negative SEVEN. Kiwi can play in pass coverage and make plays. In 2006, he had two interceptions. In the NFL, it is all about making plays. If Kiwi can help create turnovers and get us on the PLUS side in 2010, most likely, we will have more victories this season.
Additionally, Fewell has had DE Dave Tollefson attend linebacker meetings. Tollefson may play linebacker in some defensive packages. Despite being a defensive lineman in professional football, the linebacker position is not foreign to him. In community college, Tollefson played outside linebacker. Unlike last year when the Giants carried SEVEN linebackers, it appears Fewell’s thinking is to have the best players make the team. In this case, the Giants have much more talent at the defensive line position than at linebacker. Perhaps by using Tollefson as a linebacker, it is a shrewd move to keep him on the roster.
Brandon Jacobs is ready to have a big 2010. Newark Star-Ledger’s Mike Garafolo reported Jacobs is slimmer and much more flexible.
Jacobs had a disappointing 2009 campaign. In February, we learned Jacobs regretted not having surgery on his injured knee. Of the many reasons speculated about his decline, Andy summed it up best:
If it happens in Week 10, you can understand that it probably ends the season to undergo surgery. But Week 1? I will have to second guess it because …
(1) There is too much football still to be played.. Jacobs implies the surgery would have cost him ~ 5 weeks recovery time.
(2) As a coach/physician, you have to see almost immediately (as WE ALL saw) that his productivity dropped off like a rock in subsequent weeks.
“If something happens to you, go and get it taken care of, no matter what it is. Because things aren’t going to get better.”
This quote from Jacobs corroborates Andy’s analysis. “I’m not one to make excuses, just like all year last year I went on and didn’t say anything about (the injured knee),” he said. “But when you’re not explosive enough at this position and you have something holding you back, that can definitely be a downer to what you want to do.”
Another positive sign: rookies Jason Pierre-Paul and Linval Joseph are having a good camp.
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