Ryan's New Coach Already Knows Him Well

Logan Ryan’s new coach won’t have to spend any time getting to know the former Tennessee Titans cornerback. The two already are well-acquainted.

Joe Judge, in his first year in charge of the New York Giants, was a special teams assistant and then special teams coordinator at New England during Ryan’s four seasons with the Patriots (2013-16).

"I have a ton of memories with Logan," Judge said this week, via the team’s website. "It was only my second year in the league when we drafted Logan. We kind of learned a lot of stuff together, to be honest with you. As you get working, I was working with him as a … core special teamer for us, and obviously, he was growing within his defensive role.”

The two were a part of four division winners and two Super Bowl champions with New England.

Ryan signed with the Giants this week after having spent the entire offseason as a free agent. The deal is for one year and will pay the 29-year-old cornerback as much as $7.5 million.

Because of COVID-19 protocols, Ryan won’t be able to practice with New York before Thursday but Judge already has a good idea of how to use him.

“We're going to play him in different packages all over the field,” Judge said. “Really, having a guy like that allows you to play other guys in fewer positions because he can handle a lot of the multiples while these guys are learning the system.

"… Look, he brings a lot of versatility. He's a smart, tough football player. We're glad to have him. We have a lot of guys in the defensive backfield make a lot of improvements every day. It'll be good to get him in the mix with all of those guys."

A seven-year veteran who has played in 109 regular-season games and 15 playoff contests (45 and five, respectively, for Tennessee), Ryan is the second-oldest member of the Giants’ secondary. Nate Ebner, another former Patriots player, is 31 but never has started a contest (regular season or postseason).

"I think Logan's a guy who comes to work every day with the right demeanor," Judge said. "He's a smart guy that plays tough on the field. He's a player that I noticed through my time with him and then also my time away competing against him that he's a guy that really improves from year to year. He really works on his craft.

“He's not just a guy who's out there kind of 'This is what I am.' He's always looking to work on maybe something that hurt him the year before and he's looking to always go ahead and improve on his strengths.”