Giants Defense Set to Rally Around New Defensive Coordinator Charlie Bullen

Contrary to popular belief, there were no celebrations in East Rutherford over the dismissal of now former New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.

“It was just a bummer because I like Shane and I worked with him this whole year being a leader, well, and last year,” said outside linebacker and defensive captain Brian Burns.

That’s an interesting take, considering how, after the total collapse in Denver and the other losses, the defense blew despite having at least a two-score lead, which has not just come from Burns but from some of his teammates as well.

Still, to a degree, the players are smart enough to know that, whatever differences of opinion they might have had with Bowen, at the end of the day, they didn’t always do their jobs.

But for Burns and the rest of the defense, there’s no time to sit and reflect on what could have been. The players will look to rally around Charlie Bullen, previously the team’s outside linebackers coach, who was promoted to interim defensive coordinator.

Bullen, whom Burns obviously knows very well, having worked with him every day, has never been a defensive coordinator in his 18-year coaching career. But his star pupil believes that the coach will step into his new role without missing a beat.

“Charlie's a smart coach,” Burns said. “I feel like he's been around a lot, he has a lot of experience, he was under a great tree, and just talking ball with him every day, watching extensive film with him every day, I picked up on his football knowledge.”

Burns seemed indifferent to interim head coach Mike Kafka’s decision to pass over defensive line coach Andre Patterson and defensive backfield coach Marquand Manuel, both of whom have been defensive coordinators at the NFL level, in favor of Bullen.

“All our coaches are experienced and are very smart, so I feel like we could have gone either way, but they chose Charlie, and I'm grateful for that because I have a very, very tight relationship,” Burns said.

At this stage of the season, any changes Bullen makes to the defense will be temporary fixes rather than wholesale schematic changes.

“I don't think the plays or the calls are going to change too dramatically, too drastically. I mean, honestly, because we're in Week 13 now, but we’re still early in the week, we haven't really gotten to the schematics of how we're going to attack the Patriots yet,” Burns said.

“I do see maybe some small things changing just because it's a new guy calling the plays and he has his own things that he's convicted by. So, I mean, you’ll just have to wait to see.”

Whatever the changes, Burns opined that the rest of the defense will respond positively to Bullen.

“I feel like he really brought out the best in all of us, so to speak,” he said of Bullen. “I feel like (outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux) Thibs is playing his best ball he's played since he's been here. I've been playing the best ball of my career from a rushing standpoint, from a dropping standpoint, really just understanding the entire defense.

“But other than that, Charlie is a guy who's going to shoot it straight to you. You're not really going to sugarcoat much, and yeah, he's going to demand your best because he's going to give you his.”

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