NFL

Giants defense about to show 'so much aggression' led by Kayvon Thibodeaux & Co.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants defense will look different this season, which isn’t a bad thing considering it ranked 21st overall last year. When teams wanted — and needed — to score on them, they usually did.

The Giants were outscored 79-0 in the final two minutes of first halves in 2021. They were spared even more embarrassment because the opposition usually didn’t need to do it again in the final two minutes of the game during a 4-13 season that included 10 double-digit losses.

Defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale inherits a group that pressured opposing quarterbacks on just 24.2% of dropbacks last season, fifth worst per NFL Next Gen Stats. General manager Joe Schoen addressed the issue, using the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft on edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux to headline what is expected to be an aggressive defense that relies on the perception of pressure from all over the formation to stress opposing offenses.

“You want to dictate to the offense instead of sitting there and letting them dictate to you,” Martindale said last week. “I think this is a game of adjustments and matchups and everything else, but I would rather them have the headache and stay up five nights before we play them figuring out what we’re going to do and [we will] try to present different looks every time we play, because pressure does break pipes. That’s our philosophy.”

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Martindale’s pressure often leaves his cornerbacks on an island, and in his four seasons as coordinator Baltimore played the fifth-most man-to-man defense (39.9%) in the NFL according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

It proved to be a problem last season when an injury-ravaged secondary contributed to the Ravens’ ranking last in pass defense.

“Don’t go to DoorDash to find a backup corner,” is what Martindale said he learned.

It could get tricky this season in New York, because the Giants lost top cornerback James Bradberry recently as a salary-cap casualty. Adoree’ Jackson, who has missed 22 games over the past three seasons, is their No. 1 corner and 2021 third-round pick Aaron Robinson is the favorite to win the other starting job.

The Giants secondary has a combined 111 career starts, which makes it a serious question mark entering the season considering what Martindale wants to do. Jackson welcomes the challenge.

“I feel like everything, it turns into [man-to-man coverage],” he said. “Whoever comes down and I’m playing whatever it is, zone, I’ve pretty much got them. I end up matching [up]. … It’s third-and-5 and he runs an 8-yard out? You’re going to match it … You’re not just going to stay in your third [of the field] because that’s what your task tells you to do. At the end of the day, it’s about being a football player and understanding what’s going on.”

With a retooled pass rush and questions in the secondary — the Giants signed unemployed former Ravens cornerbacks Maurice Canady and Khalil Dorsey on May 18 — the bar is set rather low for Martindale’s defense this season. He doesn’t seem to care.

“Look, we’ll control the narrative. That’s what I’ll tell you,” Martindale said. “People can say what they want to say. We’ll see when it’s time to kick it off down there in Nashville [against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1]. We’ll see where we’re going to be at by then. But we control the narrative in the room, and I’m excited about this season.”