Anthony
In Brendan we trust.
ALBANY - The first time Justin Tuck was introduced to a defensive end rotation was when he arrived as a third-round draft pick with the Giants in 2005. Tuck was behind Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan and the rotation was simple.
"I took all Strah's reps in practice," Tuck said. "And he took all the reps in the game."
It's not nearly as simple this year, of course, especially on the right side of the line where Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka are battling for a starting job they both want and feel they deserve. Add Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants' first-round pick, to the mix and it's clear the biggest challenge of training camp is keeping all the ends happy and finding ways to get them all on the field.
It's a good problem, but it's a problem nonetheless. Kiwanuka and Umenyiora have both been vocal about wanting to start. Umenyiora even threatened to retire if he didn't win the job (though he later backed off that statement since no one believed him).
The Giants have long believed in former GM Ernie Accorsi's philosophy that "you can never have enough pass rushers," but it takes mature players and a creative defensive mind to make a glut of ends really work.
How it will work is still to be determined and it depends on many factors. In some games, the details of the rotation and the amount of playing time may simply come down to who has the hot hand.
"If somebody's in there and getting the job done and staying hot, they're going to stick in there," said new defensive line coach Robert Nunn. "I'm sure there will be some rotation. But again, if a guy gets in there and is clearly being productive and doing a good job, we're going to stick with a guy that's hot."
That, Tuck said, is the way it's always been with the Giants, even when Strahan was the team's dominating presence. That's good, in that it keeps players fresh so the pass rush can still be strong in the fourth quarter. But any form of rotation has its downside, too.
"Do I like it? Certain aspects about it I do. Others I don't," Tuck said. "It puts a lot of pressure on you to try and get in a rhythm early. If you get off to a slow start, it really makes it hard to catch up when you're rotating like that. But you don't have to be as tired in the fourth quarter - even though in the fourth quarter I'm not coming out. And you can write that."
That, of course, leads into the biggest problem: Players want to play, and they want to start. Tom Coughlin insisted that "we are a situation-oriented defensive team" that rotates in players at many positions. And he said he's talked to his players "about trying to leave the egos at the front door."
But that's easier said than done. And the reality is this:
"It's going to be tough, I'm not going to lie about that," Kiwanuka said. "Nobody wants to sit and watch somebody else playing instead."
Added Nunn: "I can't guarantee that everybody's going to be happy all the time."
The degree of their happiness - or unhappiness - is certainly something to watch, particularly with Umenyiora, who has yet to speak to the media during training camp. Nunn said "he's been outstanding and continues to buy in more and more every day."
How much he's buying in at the end of the summer remains to be seen.
"We all understand that the best person for the job is going to play," Tuck said. "We accept that. And I think Osi's the same way. He's going to push Kiwi and Kiwi's going to push him and that's going to make both those guys better."