Isaiah Wilson Gets 'a Fresh Start' with Giants
What have you done for me lately? Not for Isaiah Wilson and the New York Giants.
Coach Joe Judge says the only thing that concerns him is what happens now that Wilson is officially a part of the Giants’ practice squad. That move became official Friday, a day after it was first reported.
“Everybody has a history personally and professionally. When you come here, I don't care about anything that happened before,” Judge said Friday. “If we bring you in here, we've already done the research, we've vetted you, we've put you to the point that we say we're willing to work with this guy.
“So, for any player that comes in here, you've got a fresh start.”
According to Judge, Wilson’s first day with the Giants included work in individual drills, time spent with the strength and conditioning staff and limited work in team drills.
His addition gives New York two tackles taken in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The Giants took Andrew Thomas fourth overall, and Wilson went to the Tennessee Titans at No. 29.
“Obviously, there's a skillset there to work with,” Judge said. “He's been very good so far in the building with us. Like any new player, we're going to go ahead and make sure we have all the information before we go on forward with him.
“… All we care about is what you do here on a daily basis – your commitment to the team, how you work on the field, how you produce on the field and how you handle yourself outside to represent the organization.”
If anyone needs a clean slate in that regard, it is Wilson, who repeatedly self-destructed during his rookie season.
Tennessee took him with the idea that he eventually would be their starter at right tackle, possibly as early as his rookie season. Yet it was less than a year before they traded him to the Miami Dolphins in a deal that included a swap of seventh-round picks. Along the way, he encountered numerous off-the-field challenges, including a DUI arrest, a high-speed chase with Georgia police and a warning from Tennessee State University police after they broke up an on-campus party at which he was an attendee.
Three days after the trade to Miami became official, that team cut him for failure to live up to commitments he made.
“In terms of any baggage anybody may have, there's not a person here – reporter, coach, player in the locker room – we've all got a history,” Judge said. “We've all got a story behind it, right? Not all of it's perfect. What I'm concerned about with our players is to make sure that when we have them here as a New York Giant, that we help them improve and that they're committed to doing the process of what it takes every day to improve.”
