The Giants’ most experienced player is a man of few words, often treating the media with the same disdain he reserves for opposing quarterbacks and running backs.
So don’t expect Shaun Rogers to say much if you’re wondering how much the mammoth defensive tackle still has left in his 13th NFL season.
“I never thought I wouldn’t be able to play this year,” Rogers said recently when asked if he considered retirement after missing all of the 2012 season with a blood clot in his leg. “I got myself ready to play, and the Giants gave me the opportunity.”
It remains to be seen just how much of an opportunity the 6-foot-4, 350-pound Texas product will end up getting with Big Blue, considering how busy they were this offseason beefing up what was a glaring hole in their defense last year at tackle.
As well as giving Rogers another chance after the former Lion and Brown was a washout in his first season with the Giants, Tom Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese also brought in ex-Eagles Cullen Jenkins and Mike Patterson and used a second-round pick on Ohio State defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins.
That was in addition to a position that already featured Linval Joseph, Marvin Austin and Markus Kuhn, giving the Giants a ton — pun intended — of bodies at a crucial position.
The injection of size — Kuhn is the smallest at 299 pounds, and Rogers and veteran free agent Frank Okam are both listed at 350 — combined with the talent the Giants also have at defensive end gives the line the potential to be “the best in the entire NFL if everybody lives up to their potential,” Rogers said.
But will Rogers be part of that rotation of big bodies?
The way it’s
shaping up heading into Week 2 of the preseason Sunday night against the Colts at MetLife Stadium, Rogers and Austin could be duking it out for one roster spot.
Not only is Austin 10 years younger than the 34-year-old Rogers, but the 2011 second-round pick also is healthy for the first time as a Giant and receiving praise for his performance in training camp and the preseason.
Rogers, however, got a starting nod in last week’s preseason opener against the Steelers and fared well in the 18-13 road win, notching two solo tackles. Austin played, but didn’t end up on the stat sheet.
Rogers also has experience as a nose tackle and can hold his own at that spot, which would enable defensive coordinator Perry Fewell to incorporate some 3-4 alignments and show more variety to opponents.
That’s assuming, of course, Rogers can stay healthy and is still anywhere near the player he was while making the Pro Bowl three times from 2004-2008 with Detroit and Cleveland.
The Browns and Saints didn’t think so, releasing him in consecutive offseasons before the Giants signed him last year.
Then again, Big Blue could use some veteran leadership in a defensive line that is extremely young when Rogers and Justin Tuck are removed from the equation.
Hankins certainly is looking to Rogers for guidance, saying he considers his game to be similar to Rogers’ and he planned to learn as much as he could from the veteran.
“It’s a good group of guys [along the defensive line] that we’ve got here,” Rogers said. “I want to be part of it.”
bhubbuch@nypost.com