New York Giants Notebook: McKinney's Growth, A New Way of Coaching and More

When the Giants drafted safety Xavier McKinney in the second round, visions of the former Alabama player, who had made so many plays for the Crimson Tide, replicating that production for the Giants no doubt left the Giants eagerly anticipating the rookie's debut.

Unfortunately, a broken foot suffered in training camp put those expectations on hold.

Fortunately, McKinney's rehab and recovery from the surgery to repair a broken metatarsal went smoothly, and the rookie was able to return to the field by Week 12.

Initially, McKinney was worked back into the lineup slowly, getting 14 and 11 snaps in his first two NFL games. But over the last three weeks, he's seen a significant increase in his responsibilities and playing time, as he's filled a variety of different roles on the Giants defense.

"Obviously, I have been asked to do different things and I’ve been prepared and ready to do so. It’s definitely been different, definitely been more on my plate," he said.

"I’m always staying prepared, making sure that I’m ready to go, whatever position they ask me to play. As far as making that play, I know it will come. I’m not trying to force anything. Just trying to make sure I do my job and make sure I execute for the team."

The big plays haven't come yet for the rookie, who so far has 12 tackles, including two stops, and who has allowed 57.4% of the pass targets against him to be completed for 14 yards, but who also has no interceptions or pass breakups.

He came close last week to adding his first notable play, but he admitted to being just a step behind, his timing off.

"I should’ve went a little earlier. I definitely would’ve made a play on that. It’s been a couple plays where I feel like I was really close to it that I didn’t get," he said.

Not to worry, though, as McKinney is looking forward to playing a lot more snaps and, within those snaps, he anticipates the plays will start to come.

"For me, I’m just going to keep making sure I execute my job and doing what I have to do for the team," he said.

The COVID-19 Way of Coaching

Thank goodness for the iPad.

Offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo, who tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, has been able to be at the team's practices through the ZOOM application run on an iPad that's held up behind the huddle to give the veteran coach a full view of what his linemen are doing.

While it's not the preferred way to coach, head coach Joe Judge said it's just a sign of the times.

"Our guys are so used to change at this point; they just keep on moving. That’s the way we want to build this team anyway. To be able to adjust on the fly--that’s in-game adjustments, and that’s off the field adjustments.

When we talked to the team, there weren’t a lot of heads looking around like, 'What’s the answer? What are we going to do?' They know we have a plan. We have something in place. They just go out there and just start executing."

O-line Coaching Update

Giants assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson was identified as the coach who had close contact with COVID-19 stricken offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo. Wilkerson, however, was cleared to return to work after being deemed not a high-risk contact.

The other “potential close contact” of Giants OL coach Dave DeGuglielmo, a staff member, was deemed a high-risk close contact and will remain isolated from the team.

Add us as a preferred source on Google