NY Giants CB Dru Phillips Has Found Clarity in His NFL Career

Dru Phillips struggled with a vision problem before coming to the Giants in the third round of last year's draft, a problem for which he's since gained clarity

New York Giants cornerback Dru Phillips | John Jones-Imagn Images

New York Giants slot cornerback Dru Phillips was a third-round pick last year who, by all accounts, played pretty darn well for a rookie.

Phillips, out of the University of Kentucky, finished 13th among 23 NFL slot cornerbacks who played in at least 265 coverage snaps with a 95.0 rating, and was one of seven slot corners who gave up just one touchdown last year.

So, just imagine how much higher his draft stock and his first-year stats could have been if he had been able to see clearly.

Phillips, who had a vision issue in college that at times made tracking the ball difficult, underwent LASIK surgery in the offseason with the encouragement of the Giants organization, which mentioned it to him during the pre-draft process.

“It was one of those things where they were like, ‘You can’t see?’ They were the only team that cared about it,” Phillips said Thursday after the team finished its seventh practice of training camp. 

“It’s one of those things I’m glad that they pointed out because I probably still wouldn’t have had it if no one said anything, but it helped me out on an everyday basis.”

The procedure took all of 15 minutes and is one that the underrated Phillips is glad he had, especially since he didn’t like wearing contact lenses. More importantly, it’s made his vision that much better, especially when it comes to tracking the ball in flight.  

“That was one of my biggest problems,” Phillips said of his pre-LASIK challenge of tracking the ball. 

“In this camp, I’m tracking the ball a lot better with the ball in the air, I can go attack more, I can just see the ball, so it helps me in here and in outside life, like driving and stuff. It makes it a lot easier.”

So too does having a full year in the defense. Phillips readily admitted to playing his rookie season with his hair on fire, having communication breakdowns, and just running around without a plan.

“I learned and built off that coming into this year, I feel like I’ve taken a step, and I’ve seen a lot more, so now when I go in practice, it’s like I know what’s probably going to come,” he said. “The scenarios–third-and-short from third-and-long–like I can play ball instead of guessing.”

So now that things are much clearer for Phillips both in terms of his vision and his understanding of his role on defense, how much of a jump awaits him in Year 2 of his NFL career? 

“I feel like the sky is the limit for me,” he said. “I just keep on stepping and building blocks, but from last year to this year, it’s already been huge steps. 

“I feel way more comfortable, I’m taking control of our defense in ways of setting up and stuff. It’s one of those things where I just keep taking steps each day. I don’t know where I could end up.”    

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