Challenge accepted: New Giants LB Tuzar Skipper seeks to be a fast study of Giants playbook

New Giants linebacker Tuzar Skipper knows he has a lot to catch up on as he readies himself for his Giants debut this weekend. And he's accepted the challenge.

Patricia Traina, The Maven- NY Giants

Rookie linebacker Tuzar Skipper, an unsigned free agent out of Toldeo, had his bags packed for the Pittsburgh Steelers' first regular-season road trip of the year.

But instead of heading to New England with his teammates, Skipper was informed that the Steelers were going to waive him in order to make room for receiver Johnny Holton, also a special teams gunner and a need at the time.

"They were going to bring me back into the 53 again," Skipper said Wednesday.

That was until the Giants swooped in with a last-minute waiver claim driven, in part by what turned out to be a season-ending knee injury suffered by outside linebacker Kareem Martin in the Giants' Week 1 loss to the Cowboys,

So in a whirlwind sequence of events that saw the euphoria of making the 53-man roster to the disappointment of being waived to the hope of being claimed off waivers and given another chart, the 24-year old Skipper, No. 54 in your program, is with the Giants where he's going to have to learn the team's defensive playbook on the fly.

"It's difficult home because it took me a little while to learn the Pittsburgh Steelers playbook," Skipper said of the challenge he's facing.

As is usually the case, there are similar concepts between what the Steelers and the Giants run. but so far, Skipper admitted that the biggest issue has been translating the language between the two systems.

Fortunately for Skipper, he won't have to look too far if he needs support from other than his coaches. 

"Yeah, I got a couple of friends here actually," he said, mentioning receiver Reggie White Jr, defensive lineman Freedom Akinmoladum, and linebacker Jake Carlock, all currently on the Giants practice squad. "I trained with them for the draft, pro day and things like that.

"I will probably be going to Jake Carlock because he plays the same position as me, and he's been here since the OTAs and training camp and things like that. So I feel good to go to him and ask him any questions."

Listen! LockedOn Steelers cohost Chris Carter provides a glowing review of linebacker Tuzar Skipper and what he can bring to the Giants'  defense.

The Giants have been looking to answer questions about where their pass rush would be coming from this year, especially after trading edge rusher Olivier Vernon in the off-season.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Giants managed just four total pressures--none of which were sacks, in their Week 1 loss to the Cowboys.  

"When it comes down to whether you pressure or you four-man rush, it comes down to winning one on ones," defensive coordinator James Bettcher said Thursday.

"We have to do a better job of winning one on ones."

One man alone probably won't make that big of a difference, let alone a man who is coming from another defensive system and who is trying to play catchup, but Skipper is ready to roll up his sleeves and do what he can to help alleviate the problem.

 "It's a challenge, but challenge accepted," he said.