He wants to get there, but Prince Amukamara knows he’s not there yet.
The Giants will not ask him to shadow Dez Bryant all over the field Sunday in what Amukamara believes is “definitely a big statement game for our team’’ as the Cowboys arrive attempting to end the Giants’ four-game winning streak and knock them out of contention in the NFC East. There will be plenty of plays where the two are locked up together, but mostly Amukamara figures to stay at his right cornerback spot and take who lines up across from him, be it Bryant, Miles Austin or Terrance Williams.
“I think that’s when you know you’re starting to get that idea that you’re a lock-down corner, that the coaches trust you enough to follow the guys around,’’ Amukamara on Thursday told The Post. “It either means you have a weaker link at the corner position on your team or you have so much trust in that one corner that he can shut down the wide receiver.’’
The trust in Amukamara is growing in his third season and there’s no doubt the Giants want to see him on Bryant as often as possible, although they aren’t going to bust up their defensive scheme to do it.
Their other options at corner are Terrell Thomas, who has usually handled the slot receiver in his comeback season, and Trumaine McBride, who returned to practice after missing Wednesday’s session with a hip pointer. McBride has filled in decently for injured Corey Webster — who likely will miss this game with a high ankle sprain — but asking him, at 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, to battle the 6-foot-2, 222-pound Bryant might be asking too much.
“He’s grown up,’’ defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said of Amukamara. “Prince was the little brother and he still may be the little brother to most of these guys, but he’s made some plays.’’
Gone are the feeble passing attacks the Giants feasted on in their four-game winning streak; Tony Romo can slice up a secondary. His most dangerous weapon is Bryant, who has 52 catches for 749 yards and eight touchdowns and once he gets on a roll he is tough to stop.
“At some point in time, I don’t care what the circumstance might be, you’re going to get stuck one-on-one, and you’ve got to be able to defend,’’ Tom Coughlin said. “Prince did pretty well the first time around and we’re hoping he does well again.’’
Bryant was not a factor in the season-opener. He was targeted eight times and had four catches for just 22 yards. His longest reception? Seven yards. Romo had much greater success throwing to Austin (10 catches for 72 yards) and tight end Jason Witten (eight catches, 70 yards, two touchdowns).
Amukamara actually covered Bryant only once in the opener (won by the Cowboys 36-31), as Webster and Aaron Ross got the majority of the work. That won’t be the case in the rematch.
Amukamara has been the leader in a pass defense that has not allowed a touchdown pass in 18 consecutive quarters. That’s the longest such streak for the Giants since they went five straight games without allowing a passing touchdown in 1996. This Giants streak is the longest in the NFL since the Bills did not give up a passing TD in four straight games during the 2009 season.
Amukamara at 6-foot, 207 pounds, is built like a mini-linebacker and doesn’t mind mixing it up inside. Fewell said he instructed Amukamara last week to get some bigger shoulder pads to make some tackles and he responded with six solo tackles against the Packers, often taking Eddie Lacy to the turf by himself.
“At one point in time I was like ‘Damn, who was that?’ That was Prince,’’ Antrel Rolle said. “We’ve been hard on Prince, we’ve been hard on him because we expect him to make those kind of plays, being that he’s a big, physical specimen and he’s an athlete and he can do things like that each and every single game.’’
Amukamara described a confrontation with Bryant as “a boxing match’’ because Bryant is so athletic and has such strong hands. Fewell says that duel is “a strong matchup for us,’’ something he would not have said in the very recent past.