Pat Shurmur hints to some possible personnel tweaks ahead of Week 2

Head coach Pat Shurmur once mentioned that sometimes the first regular-season game is like a fifth preseason game when it comes to the various units playing together for the first time for full games.

But not even Shurmur could have imagined how disjointed the Giants defense would have looked in the Week 1 game against Dallas.

That's why no one should be surprised to see changes made to the defensive personnel this Sunday when the Giants host the Bills.

What changes are in store?

“We’ll let that kind of reveal itself," Shurmur said during his Wednesday press briefing.

With Shurmur unwilling to spill the tea, let's drill down and try to figure out what might be different an why.

Cornerback

One of the most glaring issues last week was the play of Antonio Hamilton and DeAndre Baker, both of whom looked overmatched at times.

Both Hamilton and Baker missed preseason snaps due to injuries, hence the decision to alternate the two on every other series. Ultimately, though, the job will be Baker's.

"You’ll remember that Baker missed 14 days of training camp,” Shurmur said. “We felt like he still needed to come on. That’s why we had them both in there playing (Week 1)."

The real head-scratcher was why the coaches went with Hamilton over Corey Ballentine or Julian Love, both of whom logged six snaps on defense between them despite having not missed any preseason snaps.

That sounds like it's going to change this weekend.

"You can expect the young guys to play, just like they did the other night," Shurmur said, not naming the young guys. "We’ll see how much. The rotation on that player and maybe a couple of others may change on defense.”

Defensive Line

When the Giants drafted Dexter Lawrence No. 17 overall, they told anyone who listened that Lawerence had the potential to be an every-down player.

Despite playing the entire preseason, for the regular-season opener, the Giants limited Lawrence to only 28 snaps.

That also sounds like it's going to change moving forward.

"As he goes along here, he’ll play more and more,” Shurmur said.

What about Saquon?

Shurmur insisted after the Dallas game that the reason why running back Saquon Barkley only got 11 touches last week was more or less a by-product of the offense's inability to sustain drives.

That sounds like it's going to change this weekend.

"It’s important that he touches the ball because he has a chance to be explosive," Shurmur acknowledged.

"Again, each game plays out differently. There were games last year where he touched the ball in the run game more than he did in the passing game, but his biggest plays came in the passing game, and vice versa. We’ll see how it plays out."

Shurmur was also quick to caution that over depending on Barkley could be detrimental to the Giants as well simply because the opposing defense will know who to key in on.

That's why, he said, it's important to get others involved with touching the ball.

"Offensively, it takes a village, and everybody else has to do their part," Shurmur said.

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