Williams quickly shows he belongs in secondary
Young Giants corner Jarren Williams was impressive in his first NFL start against the Cowboys last Sunday, playing outside corner against one of the league’s top receiving corps in his fifth career game.
Williams, 24, credited the high standards of teammates James Bradberry, Logan Ryan and Xavier McKinney for his ability to look and play like he belonged.
“It’s just preparation and the confidence of being out there with JB, Log and Zay,” Williams said Wednesday. “Being out there with players of that caliber, I’ve gotta play up to their level, as well. Mentally I didn’t want to be the odd ball out, you know? I wanted to stand out and show that I belonged with guys like that.”
Williams stepped into the opportunity because corners Adoree Jackson and Aaron Robinson were on the COVID-19 reserve list. He responded by allowing three catches on five targets and 40 coverage snaps for a total of 16 yards, per Pro Football Focus. He broke up a pass, recorded five tackles and played a career-high 70 defensive snaps.
NEW DBs JOIN UP
Joe Judge had wide receiver Alex Bachman working exclusively with the defensive backs in Thursday’s open practice period.
With Jackson, Robinson and safety J.R. Reed projected to miss Sunday’s game against the Eagles, too, the Giants also signed veteran corner Darqueze Dennard and rookie freeagent safety Dwayne Johnson Jr. to the practice squad.
Judge has no qualms throwing new or young players into the fire if they’ve put in the work.
“I don’t care if you’re on the practice squad, I don’t care if you’re a rookie, I don’t care if you just got here, it doesn’t matter,” Judge said. “You’re expected to play.”
Bachman made his NFL debut with one offensive snap last season. He made his season debut last Sunday against Dallas, with one tackle on nine special-teams snaps.
Dennard, 30, is a former Bengals 2014 first-round pick who played for the Falcons last year. Johnson, 24, played for Atlanta this preseason but hasn’t played in the regular season.
ANOTHER PRO BOWL SHUTOUT
The Giants had zero players selected to the Pro Bowl for the second time in three years. James Bradberry and Evan Engram made it in 2020. That’s it. Only one Dave Gettleman draft pick has made a Pro Bowl in his four years as GM: Saquon Barkley as a rookie in 2018.
The Giants have had seven Pro Bowlers in Gettleman’s four seasons, including five in 2018. Only three of them were acquired by Gettleman: Barkley, special teamer Michael Thomas and Bradberry. The others were all Jerry Reese players: Landon Collins, Aldrick Rosas, Olivier Vernon and Engram.
TONEY ACTIVATED
The Giants activated WR Kadarius Toney off the COVID-19 list Thursday. Toney, Reed and edge Oshane Ximinesall were allowed back in the building. But none of them practiced, and it still seems unlikely Toney will play against the Eagles since he’s missed the last four games with an oblique injury, too.