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New York Giants Notebook: Revisiting the Past, the Patriots Coaching Fraternity, and More

How is Isaiah Simmons, whom some projected to the Giants in the draft, doing with Arizona these days? Plus why Joe Judge can't call on his fellow coaching brothers from his time in New England who already played the Cardinals and more in this week-end edition of the notebook.

Giants head coach Joe Judge generally doesn’t like to spend too much time in the past. Still, when asked about Arizona Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons, Judge was only too happy to offer some kind words about the youngster.

“I think he’s a very talented player,” Judge said. “Obviously, he’s a guy that in college was playing back deep, he was playing up towards the line as a linebacker. He was more of a kind of rover player that they used schematically. I think he’s doing a good job when they use the guy in blitz packages.”

Simmons, remember, was a player linked to the Giants in this year’s draft. New York went in a completely different direction, choosing Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall pick in the draft. Simmons then went to the Cardinals four picks later at No. 8 overall.

Thus far, Simmons’ NFL career has gotten off to a slow start. Early on, the Cardinals coaches weren’t quite sure how to deploy his multiple skillsets, so through the first seven weeks of the season, Simmons received a smattering of snaps on defense.

Simmons has seen an increase in his snaps with the game starting to slow down for him and his role becoming clearer. In 12 games with five starts, he has 40 tackles, including four tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, one interception, and two passes defensed.

He’s a young player, so there’s obviously a lot of things they are kind of finding homes for him on. I think that’s evolving as the season has gone on,” Judge said. “You see this guy having more of an impact as we go. He’s a very talented player. There’s no doubt he is going to be a very good player in this league.”

Just hopefully not this week against the Giants.

The Fraternity of Patriots Coaches

NFL head coaches are usually busy enough during the week with game planning, meeting with the media, and running practices and classroom sessions.

But considering the Arizona Cardinals, who are next up on the Giants schedule and have already played the Patriots, the Lions, and the Dolphins, all of whom have coaches that, like Giants head coach Joe Judge, have ties to the Patriots, is there a benefit for the Giants to compare notes with the other staff members?

Judge doesn’t think so for the simple reason that no two staffs view the opponent in the same way, and no two staffs have the same set of skills on their respective rosters, making any kind of potential shortcut in preparing for a common opponent null.

“I think it’s more valuable just to watch the tape more so than kind of looking to listen,” Judge said. “To me, it’s more about watching the tape. You’ve got to look at it in terms of they’re probably looking at those games relative to us to think we are going to play something similar.

“That being said, even though there are a lot of things from the same tree, or the same system. There are a lot of differences in what we’re doing this year because of who we have on the roster.”

Judge also noted that what the Cardinals like to do is out there on tape and that it’s up to each coaching staff to decipher the information on tape and adapt it to “what-if” scenarios as best as possible.

“I don’t think it’s any secret to (Cardinals head coach) Kliff (Kingsbury). I think he watches the tape. He understands that on the front end,” Judge said. “You’re just kind of trying to find similarities--maybe they’ve done that because they didn’t know what you’re doing.

“I think you have to trust your own instincts. You know your players better than anybody. You have to look at the tape and understand, ‘How can we use our guys to stop their system?’”

Home Pressure Home

There’s a common belief that when a player returns to his hometown, that X-factor lends itself to creating some extra excitement for the player to use toward having his best showing.

But Judge, when asked about Fordham graduate Chase Edmonds, the Cardinals running back who last year had two big games in his homecoming against the Giants and Jets, believes there is a downside to that thinking.

I think anytime you let external factors dictate some kind of emotion or how you prepare for a game, I think you’re setting yourself up for failure,” Judge said.

Still, that doesn’t mean that Judge believes that Edmonds will be a flop when he takes the MetLife Stadium field Sunday.

“Wherever he plays, he’s definitely a dynamic player. Look, whether it’s on offense, running the ball, catching the ball, or on kickoff returns returning it, you put the ball in his hands, this guy can make plays for you,” Judge said.

“This guy does a very good job in the passing game. He’s a threat if you get him in space. He’s very elusive. He’s an instinctive runner in space. He understands how to attack your defender’s leverage and create space, either cut back across their face or cut away from them when they create space.

“This guy is definitely someone we’ve focused on throughout the week in preparation of knowing where he is, knowing what they do with him in the game, and identifying who’s going to be matched up with him in certain packages. But we have to do a good job with all these players.”

Roster Transaction

The Giants placed defensive back Madre Harper on Injured Reserve, Harper had been listed on the injury report with a knee ailment and now must miss at least three games before he’s eligible to return. New York promoted defensive back Montre Hartage from its practice squad to fill the open roster spot.