Quote (MustangMan @ Jul 30 2013 12:16pm)

if you guys wanna send me some fg we can all pool our coins together to win the giants auction, and then we'll split our winning based on how much each person paid

Quote (MustangMan @ Jul 30 2013 08:52pm)

im not down to drop 10005 on them

Quote (xnozx. @ Jul 30 2013 08:36pm)

You'll be sorry you didn't once we make it back to the Super Bowl

God I wish I had fg

Quote (xnozx. @ Jul 30 2013 08:36pm)

You'll be sorry you didn't once we make it back to the Super Bowl

God I wish I had fg

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Middle linebacker Mark Herzlich understands the difference between the Giants when they play well and when they do not play well, and it is not what a strategic or physical problem.

The third-year linebacker was quick to point out that during the 2011 Super Bowl run, the defense was simply just having more fun. “You can see that when we play really great defense,” he said. “You saw at the end of (the 2011 season), everyone was bouncing around. When someone made a great play everyone was congratulating them.”

He later said that the defense was missing that sometimes last year and, “We need to have that camaraderie, that passion, that sense of having fun on the field come back to our defense.”

Though he preached having camaraderie on the defense as a whole, Herzlich understands that the Giants linebackers have a lot of responsibility and is the core of an NFL defense.

“We know that things start in the NFL at the linebacker corps, and its very apparent,” he said. “We make the first call and the last call, so its on us.” But he would later mention that he and his fellow linebacker are not talking about the overall uncertainty of the group, which is largely unproven in the NFL and is viewed as a glaring weakness on this Giants team.

Herzlich is in a training camp battle with free agent signee Dan Conner, who last month was arrested in a Philadelphia airport for carrying a knife in his luggage. With the Conner situation seemingly in the past and with the competition ratcheting up today with the first day in uppers, Herzlich knows exactly what he has to show the coaching staff in camp.

“I think they want consistency. That’s something Coach Coughlin talks a lot about, consistency. And that’s consistency physically and mentally,” Herzlich said. He also hoped he can take over more of a leadership role, which is something he has made a point to convey to his teammates since the voluntary camps earlier this summer. “I know that we have had great leadership at the linebacker position in the past and we have been a little inconsistent lately.”

To assume the leadership role, though, Herzlich knows he has to the best understanding of the playback out of anyone on the defense, and he embraces his teammates coming to him for help on and off the field.

He’s using this ability to help to teammates as a gauge of how well of an understanding he has of the playbook, saying, “People will look for me for a call or a question, and that’s really my thing: if I can answer everyone’s question about what they’re supposed to be doing each play, then I know that I know the defense well.”

Though he is focusing on the questions his teammates have for him, Herzlich will ultimately have to answer the concerns that the outsiders have, and that is if an unproven linebacker corps can bounce back from a season that many players, coaches, and fans alike would like to erase.

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Stevie Brown will try to top his incredible and record-setting 2012 season with the Giants.


How do you top a brilliant, completely unexpected breakout 2012? How do you better eight interceptions (second-best in the NFL) and two fumble recoveries, returned for a Giants-record 307 yards?

These are the questions that flashed through Stevie Brown’s mind early on the offseason. The unheralded safety was one of the few things that went right for a disappointing Giants defense in 2012, emerging when knee woes forced Kenny Phillips out of action.

But last season, Brown’s production was a surprise. He arrived this training camp with a starting job awaiting him, and little need to prove himself. So now, he’s chasing bigger goals. He wouldn’t detail them exactly, but he did mention Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and Texans safety Ed Reed.

“I thought about it,” he said Monday. “I feel like you’ve got to prove yourself every single year, every single time you take the field. Guys like Polamalu, Ed Reed, they’ve done it every year. I’ve just done it one year.”

One thing’s certain: The Giants need Brown to make plays in the secondary, if only because the rest of their defensive backfield hardly worries QBs. Supposed top corner Corey Webster spent last season getting burned, and he’s struggled early in training camp. Prince Amukamara is playing well, but he’s unproven and injury-prone.

Brown, a Pro Bowler in 2012, is the closest thing this secondary has to a game-breaker right now, but he knows things won’t be easy this season. Early last season, QBs tested the new guy in the secondary, and Brown took advantage, making five interceptions by Oct. 28. But offenses were wary of Brown the last two months, and his production tailed off.

That’s why he did his best to close the holes in his game over the summer, revamping his offseason routine. After years of playing very few snaps during the season, he found himself with almost an entire season of game tape to analyze, and he spotted weaknesses in his technique.

“Just being able to be back there and read quarterbacks and getting good breaks, I felt like I did that pretty well,” Brown said. “But things I wanted to work on were just getting better in my man-to-man skills, trying to become a more complete safety.”

That would allow Perry Fewell to move Brown around the field more. And with that in mind, Brown shifted the focus of his offseason routine, targeting footwork and weight transfer in his backpedal. Most offseasons, he’s done traditional gym lifts — bench press, squats, power cleans — but this summer, he said he did more “body control stuff.”

“I’d be on (balance) balls, medicine balls,” he said. “I did a lot of one-leg stuff, and then I’m trying to transfer that to the football field.”

It’s only a few days into camp, but Brown said he’s seen “a little bit” of difference when he’s been in man-to-man coverage.

“There’s still room for improvement,” Brown said. “But (not being on the bubble), that aspect is good. I can just grow and develop.”