ALBANY — For Kenny Phillips, the goal is more than four.
Phillips is about to enter his fifth season with the Giants, and the safety has both a general and a specific goal in mind when it comes to his personal expectations this year.
“Just get the ball,” he said simply. “I had four interceptions last year. I feel like this year if I’m more involved in the defense, that number can go up. That’s really my goal.”
Phillips wants to pick up his picks this season, and to do that, he needs to be more active defensively — that could be accomplished by playing a lot closer to the line of scrimmage.
“For the most part, I’m usually always back deep,” he said. “It looks like I’m catching punts. But I would like for that to change, to be more involved, just in the box, just around the ball more. I think with Antrel [Rolle] going back to safety, [defensive coordinator] Perry [Fewell] will allow me to do that.”
Indeed, Fewell will. Asked about wanting to have Phillips be a more integral part of the defense, Fewell replied, “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that … We’re going to see if he can make more dynamic plays for us this year because that’s what his athletic ability tells us, that he can make dynamic plays.”
Last year, the Giants’ secondary was radically altered when they lost a long list of cornerbacks to major injury before the season even started — including Terrell Thomas, Prince Amukamara, Bruce Johnson and Brian Witherspoon — before Michael Coe and Justin Tryon went down during the season. Because of that, Rolle had to play a lot of third corner, and the expected safety tandem of Rolle and Phillips wasn’t the same.
Thomas reinjured the ACL in his right knee yesterday, which could cause the Giants to juggle again. Still, Phillips believes Fewell will feature both him and Rolle more actively. Said Phillips, “Just having another playmaker back there is going to allow me to … [be put] in a better position to make plays and not have to always be the deep safety and try to play hero.”
Phillips knows about being a hero, successfully defending the Patriots’ Hail Mary attempt to Aaron Hernandez to seal Super Bowl XLVI. A first-round pick in 2008 after the Giants won Super Bowl XLII, Phillips is a free agent-to-be after this season. So that’s another reason why it makes sense for the 25-year-old to want more picks — more interceptions likely equal more dollars.
“I don’t even think about [my free agency]. Money is not an issue to me right now,” Phillips said. “I’m just trying to finish the season healthy and make plays.”