Journeyman ready to cast Webb on Texans receivers
B.W. Webb smiled at the suggestion, fully aware of what’s in store for him Sunday in Houston. The journeyman cornerback may as well have a bull’seye on his jersey. He is expected to make his first start as a Giant in a virtual must-win game against the Texans.
“Every play I expect the ball to go to my man,” he said on Friday.
Minutes earlier, it became official Eli Apple will be inactive Sunday with a groin injury, thinning out the Giants’ already paper-thin depth in the secondary. Webb will be tasked with dealing with one of the Texans’ two star wideouts — 2017 All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins or explosive Will Fuller — most of the game. With Janoris Jenkins on the other side, the expectation is Deshaun Watson will attack Webb frequently, much like the Cowboys and Dak Prescott did Sunday night. “Why wouldn’t you?” he asked rhetorically on Friday. “I’m not too much of a household name.” But that smile didn’t seem like one of nerves, despite the prospect of facing Hopkins and Fuller, who combined for 223 yards, 14 receptions and two touchdown catches in a three-point loss to the Titans last Sunday. Webb, in his sixth NFL season with his seventh team, welcomes the challenge. When the Giants signed him last March, the move was hardly significant. Other signings, like that of veteran William Gay, were supposed to be more noteworthy moves. But Webb flashed early in training camp, rising up the depth chart and earning the starting job as the nickel corner. Now he will be an integral piece to the Giants avoiding what would be a disastrous 0-3 start.
“I hope I get targets,” the 5-foot-11, 188-pound Webb said. “It’s football. I want to go out there and make plays. I hope they do come at me. It’s going to be a fun game.”
The 28-year-old defensive back didn’t appear in an NFL game last year and has spent time with the Browns, Steelers, Bears, Titans, Saints and Cowboys, who took him in the fourth round of the 2013 draft out of William & Mary. This is not new to him. Injuries have forced him into a prominent role before — Webb started a careerhigh eight games for the Saints in 2016 — and he has heard the questions about his ability to step in.
“One hundred percent, I don’t doubt myself at all. I think I can play with whoever in this league,” he said. “I’ve been here for a while now in this league. I come in, no matter who it is, ready to fight.
“I always have something to prove. I always have [a chip] on my shoulders.”
Through two games, the Giants’ secondary has performed well, allowing just 328 yards passing and two touchdowns through the air. But that was against the Jaguars and Cowboys, two offenses that lack the vertical explosiveness of the Texans, and which feature pedestrian wide receivers who can’t compare to Hopkins and Fuller. And Apple played in six of the eight quarters. Now it will be Webb on the outside, with the diminutive 5foot-9 Donte Deayon in the slot.
“I think it puts stress on the different coverages that you’re trying to do and you have to make sure, obviously, that you’re accountable for that,” secondary coach Lou Anarumo said, re- ferring to the Texans’ penchant for stretching the field. “We do every week and we’re aware of it, but it adds to it when you got receivers of that caliber that are doing those types of routes. So we want to make sure that [Fuller], he’s going deep and certainly [Hopkins] is great at the point of attack with the ball. We’re aware of it.”
Being aware of it and stopping those plans are two different things, especially without a starter. Still, without revealing the game plan, Giants coach Pat Shurmur said Big Blue has the ability to leave their cornerbacks on an island in one-on-one coverage, even against Fuller and Hopkins. Webb hopes he is given such an opportunity.
“I’m excited, man,” he said. “The more I can do on the field, the happier I am. I’m looking forward to it a lot. I just got to come in ready to play.”