Translation: there’s lots of playing time to be won for the Giants’ young linebackers. And some of them stated their case by making some big plays on Wednesday night in the first full-pads practice of camp.
“They’ve been aggressive and noteworthy in their play,” coach Tom Coughlin said after practice. “Sometimes they’re in the wrong spot or something, but they recover and they seem to be able to go and make some things happen. I like the way they’re running around.”
Young linebackers such as second-year men Phillip Dillard and Kenny Ingram, as well as rookies Mark Herzlich, Spencer Paysinger and Jacquian Williams all made at least one noticeable play on Wednesday.
Coughlin said those players should realize there’s an opportunity to be had right now.
“Just let it go. Come on in here and give it all you’ve got,” Coughlin said of the young linebackers. “You have absolutely nothing to lose. … That’s what we’re getting. I like their attitude. I listen to the way they chirp away and I like what I hear.”
Coughlin and the defensive coaches will also like what they see when they watch the film of this session. A breakdown right after we run down the injuries.
THE YOUNG LINEBACKERS
(They’re getting their own section in this report because, as I noted above, they were that impressive.)
Ingram, a former safety, showed his athleticism by jamming the tight end and then crossing the middle of the field to quickly make a stop on WR Darius Reynaud as he caught a ball over the middle. (S Jarrard Tarrant was there and probably should have picked the pass off but whiffed completely.) And again, Ingram used his wheels to track down RB Charles Scott on a screen pass.
Dillard had some moments that weren’t so hot, especially in coverage, but he also made some really good plays down low. In one sequence he got small to get through traffic in stopping RB Da’Rel Scott and then came right back to clog a hole and force a draw play to be bounced outside.
They said Williams was a “run-and-chase” linebacker, but he laid the wood on one play Wednesday. He hit Da’Rel Scott hard in the hole on one play. The pads were popping big time on that one.
Paysinger had a pair of passes defensed, one right after another. The undrafted free agent from Oregon has looked pretty darn good early on here. And if he makes it big, I think he has the right name for one of those Costacos Bros. posters: “Spencer is gonna make you Pay.”
Herzlich, who is being trailed by “60 Minutes” cameras for a feature to be aired in September (guess he’s making the team, huh?) came out of nowhere to make a stop on a run that looked like it was going to be a huge gainer. There was nobody in an enormous gap in the defensive line except OL Mitch Petrus, but Herzlich somehow got there to turn a big gasher into a short gainer.