Nick Greisen is set to start tomorrow, something he has been expecting to do since July.
But after going through the preseason as the Giants’ top middle linebacker, he was beaten out by Kevin Lewis.
“That was as tough as it gets,” Greisen said. “To go from thinking it’s your job to then losing your spot right before the season, you don’t know what to do.”
That disappointment led the third-year pro to appreciate his current opportunity even more. For the second straight game, Greisen should start at weakside linebacker in place of Barrett Green, who missed practice all week with ankle and leg injuries. Green was downgraded on the injury report yesterday from questionable to doubtful.
Greisen played well in his debut at his new position last week in the Giants’ lopsided victory in Minnesota – surprising even himself.
“I’d never played the position before in my entire life,” Greisen said. “Everything is different about it, so I had to learn everything over again. I thought I’d be slower and more tentative while I got used to it.”
He has completely different roles at weakside than he would in the middle on every play, particularly when rushing the passer and dropping back into coverage. Those changes led Greisen to be skeptical about what kind of immediate impact he would have on the defense.
Instead, he has adjusted well and embraced his chance to get back on the field.
“I accepted this with open arms,” Greisen said. “Any way I can get on the field, I’ll take. My goal is to be a starter, whether it’s at [middle], [weak], [strong] linebacker or on offense.”
For now, he’ll likely stay on defense, especially since he has managed to impress head coach Tom Coughlin.
“He’s played well.” Coughlin said. “He certainly is an aware player. As he plays in that role and gets more time, he has seemed to rise to the occasion.”
After his early-season disappointment, Greisen wanted to make sure he didn’t let his chance slip away again.
“I really had thought that things were going well and that I would be set to start,” Greisen said. “Looking back, I guess there were some signs that it wasn’t going to me, but you don’t think that way when you’re right in the situation. It hurt.”
Still, he had tried to make the best of it.
“I had kind of accepted the fact that I wasn’t starting, but I wasn’t happy about it,” Greisen said. “So it really doesn’t matter to me where they have me, I was going to work to make sure I didn’t lose it again.”
And while Greisen still needs to get used to his current position, he thinks his experience as a middle linebacker – with its unique responsibilities – is an advantage both to him and the rest of the defense.
“It’s different than being in the middle and getting the calls from the coach and signaling to everyone what they’re going to do,” Greisen said. “But I can help Kevin if I see something before he does or when he’s doing something else.”
Lewis is happy to get the assistance.
“It’s great having him out there because he plays with so much intensity,” Lewis said. “And even though he just started at [weak], he knows the defense so well that he’s really important out there.”
In the end, Greisen believes that the setbacks he has suffered this year will wind up making him a better player.
“I’m getting more comfortable each game I get out there,” Greisen said. “What happened earlier in the year, that just drives me even harder.”
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