National Football League

Giants try to fill leadership gap

Published Aug. 25, 2010 4:48 p.m. ET

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There have been two incessant noises all summer at Giants training camp. One, that the Jets now own New York City and two, can Justin Tuck or someone please be the leader of that Big Blue defense?

In their Monday night preseason opener on Aug. 16 in the first football game played in the new Meadowlands Stadium, Tom Coughlin’s serious but mellow bunch beat Noisy Rex and the Jets. A preseason win doesn’t constitute bragging rights, but at least it toned down the Jets’ silly rivalry blather. The leadership story, though, remains unanswered although the foundation is there.

FOX NFL Sunday’s Michael Strahan put Tuck on notice publicly a couple months ago about his role, and the 27-year-old agrees with his former mentor. “I will try to be that guy,” Tuck told me. “But I also don’t believe you can force yourself into being a leader. I’ve always led by example. But I am going to try.”

What happened last season to the Giants, the total collapse after starting 5-0 only to lose eight of their last 11 -- including blowout losses at the end to Carolina and Minnesota by the embarrassing total of 69 points -- shouldn’t happen again. Injuries ravaged the secondary and defense in general, including Tuck, and all of them are on the mend.

To help fix matters, GM Jerry Reese brought in two veteran safeties in Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant and middle linebacker Keith Bulluck, who was a tackling machine in Tennessee for 10 seasons. Granted, "Stray" is in the studio now, but New York has the makings of a defense comparable to the one that whipped New England in the Super Bowl.

Coach Tom Coughlin won’t go that far, but he definitely likes what he sees thus far. Defensive tackle Chris Canty has had a solid camp; ditto for 325-pound Linval Joseph, the second-round pick from East Carolina. They are spoon-feeding safety Kenny Phillips (knee) back into the flow (when he went down last season, the Giants’ pass defense was a sieve down the deep middle) while anxious to see cornerbacks Kevin Ross and Corey Webster return to form. Right now, the Giants have eight quality defensive linemen and Osi Umenyiora is more of an afterthought than a focal point.

Umenyiora may have led the Giants with seven sacks last season, but that’s all he seemed interested in doing. Teams loved running right down his throat and basically his lack of performance cost Mike Waufle, his position coach, and defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan their jobs. Neither of those coaches was on the same page with Osi. Perry Fewell, who learned under Dick Jauron, is now the defensive coordinator and he brings high energy and an aggressive attitude to the unit.

In his final seasons, Strahan was the perfect leader of this defense. He had seen it all and developed into a Hall of Fame performer. No defender played with better leverage, plus he was a rock at the point of attack. He epitomized confidence.

“What happened last year was that AP (Antonio Pierce) was that guy all by himself, our known leader and when he got hurt we tried to fill that role,” Tuck said. “But if you are not accustomed to that role, well, it doesn’t always work. As a player, you also want to be natural about doing things. You don’t want to be saying stuff just because someone needs to be saying stuff. I’m not as worried about the leadership stuff because we have several guys who can pick up parts of the role.”

Terrell Thomas may have been the Giants’ best defensive player last season and the third-year cornerback understands that it’s not in Tuck’s character to be Antonio Pierce. “My horse in the race is Deon Grant,” Thomas said. “Grant is a natural leader. You can’t force leadership. But I also see many guys stepping up by not only leading by example, but by holding everyone else accountable.”

“I can see Deon doing that,” said Rolle, who was a Pro Bowl safety for the Cardinals last season, “but I see a huge amount of leaders on this team. The talent level here is through the roof. It’s definitely the best talent I’ve been around in the pros.”

The Giants’ thin linebacking corps really didn’t have a leader once Pierce went down and there are hopes that Bulluck, whose left knee had ACL surgery seven months ago, can return to form. Bulluck didn’t dress against the Jets and it could be awhile before he sees serious action.

“The front office really helped us out by bringing in veteran guys who have been leaders like Bulluck and Grant,” Thomas said.

“Hey, I’m a natural leader, but my teammates haven’t seen me play,” Bulluck said. “So, first things fiirst. The great thing about the NFL is that every year you have to prove yourself. I’m kind of like Allen Iverson right now, we are talking about practice. I hope I will turn a lot of heads when the bullets start flying.”

Bulluck has generally lined up behind an excellent defensive line. The Titans, when they had Albert Haynesworth a couple seasons ago, may have been the finest front four in football in 2008.

“This group can be scary if everything meshes,” Bulluck said. “We definitely have the type of talent to give offensive coordinators some nightmares. But football is an attitude game. It’s not about what you have on paper, it’s how you process it and put that talent into play. You have to want it more than the other guy.”

Already, Bulluck has been a talker in defensive meetings, asking questions and offering suggestions. Fewell’s defense is similar to what Jeff Fisher ran in Tennessee except with different terminology. “I’m a very detail-orientated guy,” Bulluck said. “I don’t think it will take me long to fine tune the intricate details of the defense so that I can cheat within the scheme in order to make plays. I don’t think it will take me long.”

For the Giants to succeed this season, the basic tenet remains the same. “We have to run and be able to stop the run,” Coughlin said. The day I visited with him, the night before his players went out to dinner with their respective position coaches. It was something new to get away from the grind of camp and interestingly about 40 players showed up at the best steak restaurant in town.

“One year we had a bowling tournament, but the only thing I think they liked was watching me and then getting on me for throwing gutter balls,” Coughlin said.

To the Giants, from Coughlin to the players, when you discuss the NFC East is that the Washington Redskins, the whipping boy in the division, could now be a factor with Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb.

“He’s a great quarterback,” Tuck said of McNabb, who has beaten the Giants in four of his last five starts against them. “I’ve always believed that the East is the best division, but this season it has more parity than ever before. I could see any team winning it. Dallas is not going to run away with it. With all the talk about the Jets around here, and all the media guys talking about the Cowboys all the time, we’re floating under the radar. We like it that way.”