On quest to be best
No surprise, Collins would love to see it.
“If he gets back to return punts, I’m gonna tell coach let me get (in as) that gunner real quick,” Collins said with a smile.
Collins’ swagger and supreme confidence are enough to make you believe he actually might win the award he seeks. He finished 2016 with 100 tackles, five interceptions and a touchdown return, four sacks, a fumble recovery, 13 passes defended, nine tackles for a loss, and a league-high 49 defensive stops among safeties, per Pro Football Focus. And his approach to the game always makes him a threat.
“He’s contact-crazy,” corner Janoris Jenkins said of Collins Tuesday. “All he wants to do is run around and hit people.”
Collins isn’t perfect, though, and the way last season ended reminds him of that: The Giants’ fearsome safety was one of four defenders victimized on Aaron Rodgers’ game-changing Hail Mary just before halftime of Big Blue’s eventual 38-13 Wild Card playoff loss in Green Bay. And while corner Eli Apple and safety Leon Hall had better chances at the ball, Collins never jumped.
“(I’ve put it) in the back (of my mind), but I don’t forget about it,” Collins said Wednesday. “I wish I would have done something different. I wish I would have jumped and gone over to that side. I let my other guys jump because I saw them go up, so I was just playing the back tip and making sure it doesn’t go into somebody’s hands either way. (But) in my mindset I should have jumped and made sure the ball went out of bounds or made an interception… It was the first time it ever happened to me. I was like, ‘What in the world?’ I will not allow it to happen again, if it’s up to me.”
That loss drives Collins and the Giants in their ultimate goal for a championship. But it’s also extra motivation for Collins in his quest to quiet his doubters once and for all, to leave no doubt when it comes to a vote at the end of this season: Who is the best defensive player in the league?
“Now that I’m in their head,” Collins said, “they’re definitely gonna be watching me.”