Michael Coe is calm before the storm. He won’t need to wear a purple jersey with pink polka dots Wednesday night with a HERE I AM sign when the Giants welcome the Cowboys to MetLife Stadium, because Tony Romo will know who he is, and where he is, at all times.
Coe, who will be making his first NFL start, will be in the eye of the approaching storm, a storm that is certain to rain footballs in his direction, and the danger exists that when he awakens Thursday morning, he will be a Big Blue Pariah, The Most Hated Man in New York Until the Jets Play.
“I know I’ll be on the hot seat,” Coe said. “You live in that kind of world playing cornerback.”
If Corey Webster is assigned to keep Dez Bryant away from the end zone, if not the strip clubs, then it will be Coe who draws Miles Austin, Coe who replaces Prince Amukamara, who replaced Terrell Thomas. Or vice versa.
But there is no deer-in-the-headlights look on Coe, no hint of Romo-itis or Bryant-itis or Aust-initis, in part because he gets to count Jason Pierre-Paul among his best friends.
“I feel great … I feel better than last year,” Pierre-Paul told The Post. “Nothing’s bothering me right now.”
Not even the prospect of double- and triple-teams.
“I don’t care what they give me, I’m still going to get through it,” Pierre-Paul vowed.
And therein lies the Big Blue key — get to Romo before Romo gets to Coe.
“I’m sure that anybody that we face will try to look more at my side,” Coe said, “because Corey building up the reputation that he’s built up, they’re always going to go after somebody new whether it be whoever’s out there in the secondary.”
Coe’s mindset? Go ahead, make my day.
“I think that gets you more ready, because you know the ball could come your way any play, so you’re always going to be ready for that,” Coe said. “I think that just motivates you even more, when especially you know the ball’s coming. A lot of guys can take plays off when they know it’s not, but I don’t have that, I know the ball’s coming.”
Never mind Coe’s next interception will be his first interception. Kenny Phillips believes no one in the secondary enjoyed a better training camp. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell liked Coe enough to consider him in the mix for a starting position in the spring.
“Michael can run, he’s very fast, Michael’s physical, he’s not afraid,” Fewell said. “And Michael has a very strong mentality in my opinion. If he doesn’t have success on a play, you can chew his (butt) out, he can come back, he’ll make a play for you, so I like his mental makeup as a corner also.”
Coe’s task will be complicated by Romo’s considerable improvisational gifts.
“Really, really dangerous when he gets outside the pocket, he really can create,” Coe said, “and the receivers come back to him, one goes deep, obviously they have that coordinated really well.”
Coe, 28, is no babe in the woods. The resume, please: Originally a fifth round (173rd overall) draft choice by the Colts in 2007 … Waived/injured by the Colts on Aug. 30, 2009. … Signed to the Giants’ practice squad on Sept. 15, 2009. … Signed by the Jaguars on Nov. 25, 2009. … Waived by the Jaguars on Sept. 27, 2010. … Signed to the Giants’ practice squad on Sept. 29, 2010. … Signed to the Giants’ active roster on Nov. 27, 2010.
He has played 27 NFL games as a reserve and special teamer. Fewell’s system is closer to what Coe was accustomed to at Arkansas, before he transferred to play his senior season for his father, Charles, at Arkansas State.
“In Indy, it was a lot of Cover 2, and I never really did any Cover 2 in Arkansas, we just played a lot of press zero coverage,” Coe said.
He underwent surgeries on his left knee and right shoulder with the Colts. But learning under Tony Dungy and practicing against Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne proved to be an invaluable experience. And he even intercepted Peyton Manning. “I can’t remember the very first time, but I remember a couple of ’em,” Coe said, and chuckled. Asked if he remembers the first time he picked Eli off, Coe said: “No, I don’t.”
Have you? “I’ve got him a couple of times,” Coe said, and chuckled again.
Coe, asked what he learned in Jacksonville, said: “That the Giants are a great organization.”
He missed the Super Bowl run when he fell on his left shoulder Nov. 20 against the Eagles. He did get to stand on the sidelines at the Super Bowl. “It was something I think you dream of since you’re a kid. I always wanted to be out and playing it, but to share it with guys that I’m closest to in this world, man, was awesome, it was just like I was out there,” Coe said.
Coe was asked if he cared to guarantee a pick. “No, I don’t want to guarantee a pick,” he said. Then he laughed and said, “But I’m confident in what I can do though.”
Coe get the quarterback.