Bradberry keeps Giants’ season alive with big game vs. Birds
James Bradberry set the bar so high last season that, naturally, matching those standards this year was an unlikely proposition.
But despite an uneven second campaign in New York, the Pro Bowl cornerback may be turning the corner at the perfect time for the Giants.
With the secondary banged up, Bradberry’s star performance on wide receiver DeVonta Smith was key to the Giants’ 13-7 win Sunday against the Eagles. Bradberry traveled the field with Smith after Adoree’ Jackson left with a quad injury in the second quarter and limited the star rookie to just two receptions for 22 yards on four targets.
“I feel like he’s a savvy type of receiver, he’s very crafty with his releases and what not,” Bradberry said. “Really, I just watched film on him. Tried to study him the best as I could. I know the coaches, they put us in good situations against them. After that I just tried to, when I was in press, just tried to get hands on him because I knew how quick he was. When I played off, I just tried to make sure I kept my eyes on him because I knew they were running a lot of double moves throughout my preparation that I did on them.”
Bradberry was admittedly disappointed in his Monday night performance last week at Tampa, where he allowed seven catches for 66 yards and a touchdown while in coverage, per Pro Football Focus.
That was a nightmarish matchup for the Giants in general. Tom Brady is simply too good to blitz, and since the Giants struggled to generate a fourman rush — and often do without a premier passrusher — the secondary was scrambling against Brady’s talented arsenal of receivers.
Still, Bradberry has had inconsistent performances where he has taken bad angles or missed tackles. Sunday was a step in the right direction — a reminder of Bradberry’s ability to take away an opposing team’s top target and make life easier for the rest of the defense.
Head coach Joe Judge is effusive with praising Bradberry’s leadership and work ethic since the 28-year-old former Carolina Panther signed a three-year, $43.5 million contract last year.
“There are a lot of things that people don’t know about James, in terms of days he comes in there and maybe we have a plan with the medical team of we have to pull off this guy today, today we’ve got to get this guy a little bit of extra rest,” Judge said. “Next thing, you look out there and there’s 24 in one-on-ones and you kind
of tell him, ‘Hey James, we can back you down a little bit right here,’ and he’ll say, ‘Nope, they’re out here working. I want to get out here, too. I don’t want to be the guy standing around watching.’ You really appreciate and respect the guy who does that.”
Other players in the Giants’ patchwork secondary followed suit Sunday with Bradberry holding up his end of the bargain.
With the game on the line during the Eagles’ final drive, the defensive backfield alongside Bradberry consisted of Xavier McKinney, Julian Love, rookie Aaron Robinson, Steven Parker (first defensive snaps of the season) and J.R. Reed (second
week with defensive snaps this season).
McKinney, for his part, looks like he may be emerging into stardom. The second-year pro from Alabama had an interception and finished as PFF’s highest-rated safety for the second time in the Giants’ last three games.
“I think it just gives us more confidence as DBs knowing that we’ve got playmakers behind us that are going to go back there and make plays anytime a quarterback attempts to throw it deep on us,” Bradberry said. “We’ve just got more confidence in our guys around us when you see them making plays like that. We’re happy to see him make plays like that.
We want to play aggressive so quarterbacks can throw it back there to try to test it.”
Safety Logan Ryan was out with COVID-19, and then Jackson and cornerback Darnay Holmes suffered in-game injuries. Logan was activated from the COVID-19 list Tuesday, but Holmes is now on injured reserve with a rib injury.
Yet the Giants got the job done Sunday — with some help from Jalen Reagor’s two dropped passes — thanks to another excellent game plan where defensive coordinator Patrick Graham disguised coverages and made quarterback Jalen Hurts indecisive.
Graham’s schemes are
also predicated on another important factor: Limiting No. 1 wide receivers.
Bradberry obliged against Philadelphia. And if that continues in December, the Giants just may creep into the playoff hunt.
“I think Coach Graham, his ability to be able to adapt to the feedback he’s getting from his players and also from the films that he does throughout the week,” Bradberry said. “But also, I think we’re playing better as players as well. I know me individually, I think I played pretty good yesterday and I want to continue to keep that performance continue to go up and what not and continue to make plays.