Giants Inside Linebacker Tae Crowder Posts Impressive Week 4 Performance

Giants linebacker Tae Crowder is looking to build on a strong Week 4 outing.

Author:
Andrew Parsaud
Publish date:
Oct 7, 2022 6:54 PM EDT

In this story:

Giants linebacker Tae Crowder shared his thoughts after a solid outing in the Giants’ 20-12 win against the Bears in Week 4.

The New York Giants have been hoping for better inside linebacker play for a long time. With the team cutting ties with veteran linebacker Blake Martinez just before the start of the regular season, third-year linebacker Tae Crowder once again had to step up and be the main guy in the middle of the defense.

"I think he played a good game," head coach Brian Daboll said of Crowder earlier this week. "Made a lot of tackles, was instinctive. Like all of us, still, things to clean up. But I thought he played well."

Indeed, Crowder led the Giants defense with 11 tackles against the Bears and is currently second on the team in tackles with 25, two behind team leader Julian Love.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Crowder was the last pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, earning the title "Mr. Irrelevant." With the odds stacked against him, Crowder not only stuck on the roster, beating the odds, but he also became a contributor right from the get-go, appearing in 11 games and recording 57 tackles in spot duty.

Crowder was thrust into a bigger role the following season when Blake Martinez suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Crowder, who became the defensive signal caller following Martinez's injury, finished with a team-leading 130 tackles.

Entering his third season this year, Crowder got off to a slow start, playing his worst game against Dallas in Week 3 when he posted an embarrassing five missed tackles and collected only two stops.

But give credit where it's due, as Crowder rebounded from that poor showing against the Bears.

“I feel like I played a solid game," Crowder said this week. "Each week, I just want to go out and be better than the next week.”

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The linebacker also recorded his first sack of the season, coming on a blitz right up the middle. He credited teammate Jalyon Smith for allowing him to run freely to Bears quarterback Justin Fields.

“Jaylon did a great job of having great penetration. You know he opened up the lane for me and made it happen,” Crowder said.

Crowder has also thrived in defensive coordinator Wink Martindale's system, which features a lot of heavy pressure packages and exotic blitzes. Crowder alone has been sent on blitzes 13 times so far this season. Adjusted to 17 games, he is currently on pace for about 55 pressures this season, breaking his career high of 37 in 2021.

“We trust Wink, so we just go with it. When it does work, it builds confidence. Once it works, we just want to keep it going,” he said.

Crowder has been enjoying his revamped role in the defense. And he's also enjoying being on the field for most of the team's defensive snaps.

“I’m a guy who just wants to win. If I’m drained or not if I’m out there, I’m trying to win," Crowder said. "Whether I’m tired or not, I’m going to keep going. I’m just trying to do whatever the team needs me to do, and yeah, I’m just trying to be the best version of myself.”