NFL

Giants DBs may actually be as good as advertised

David Merritt has an inside look at the Giants defensive backfield and the longtime safeties coach is buying into the hype about the new-look secondary, a unit he believes can be the best in the league.

“Yes, I think that is fair to say,’’ Merritt said Tuesday. “I do.’’

The addition of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Walter Thurmond at cornerback makes the Giants deep at that critical position.

“Most depth I have seen since I’ve been here and I have been with Tom [Coughlin] now going on 11 years,’’ Merritt said. “This is the most depth I have seen and I am happy to have all the toys.’’

At safety, there’s Antrel Rolle, who Merritt believes is coming off his best season, and Stevie Brown returning from missing all of 2013 following knee surgery. The Giants signed veteran Quintin Demps for depth and Merritt is impressed with two young players, second-year Cooper Taylor and rookie Nat Berhe. Merritt calls Berhe “the missile’’ because of his aggressive ways.

Taylor was in for 38 snaps in the 17-13 preseason-opening victory over the Bills, and Merritt gave him a negative grade for only one play. It was by far the most extended look on defense for Cooper, who at 6-foot-4 and 228 pounds is linebacker-sized and has filled out from his rookie year.

“He is definitely more masculine, if I can say that,’’ Merritt said. “He is thicker.’’

The one big negative for Cooper came on special teams, when he failed to get in front of Marcus Easley, resulting in an easy blocked punt for the Bills.

“He just didn’t block the guy,’’ Coughlin said. “It was a one-on-one, the player just ran around him. Now that’s a good special teams player he played against, he’s a good one. But still, it was one-on-one, it was a breakdown. It’s a technical thing that can be corrected.’’


The Giants signed 11-year veteran Israel Idonije, a defensive end who played nine years for the Bears and last season for the Lions, and tight end Jerome Cunningham, who will be in his first professional training camp. The roster spots became available after the Giants waived/injured running back David Wilson and waived defensive end Kendrick Adams. Wilson cleared waivers and is now on injured reserve.

Idonije, 33, has played in 149 regular season games, starting 50. He has 29 career sacks, six forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries. He played in 15 games last season for the Lions before landing on injured reserve with a neck injury.

Cunningham played at Southern Connecticut State from 2009 to 2012. In four years he caught 61 passes for 690 yards (11.3-yard average) and seven touchdowns.


Rookie WR Odell Beckham Jr. (hamstring) sat out again but he looked fluid running and changing direction on the side. … RB Peyton Hillis was forced out with a sprained ankle. … LB Spencer Paysinger cleared his concussion protocol and returned to the field. … Rookie S Bennett Jackson, thought to have a significant ankle injury coming out of the preseason opener, was able to participate in practice.


Rookie RB Andre Williams had a sensational debut, rushing seven times for 48 yards and a touchdown, none of which surprised Coughlin.

“Well, that was what we expected,’’ he said. “That’s why we drafted him.’’


The opener was the first time the Giants used the NFL-issued Microsoft surface tablets on the sideline, technology designed to provide better pictures for players and coaches of specifics going on during the game.

“I thought it was really effective,’’ quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan said. “It’s a good teaching tool. I thought the guys were able to see it. It’s a little bit clearer for them than the old photographs were so I thought it was really good. The guys seemed to like it. I think it’s going to be a real useful tool for us down the road.’’


Practice notables:

– Practice was pushed back to 5:30 p.m. as coach Tom Coughlin this week scheduled late sessions for extra time to rest following the preseason opener. There were no fans allowed to watch, as parking was an issue with the One Direction concert nearby at MetLife Stadium.

– Rookie safety Nat Berhe came up big when he streaked in front of TE Adrien Robinson for an interception of Curtis Painter. In addition to Berhe’s pick, safety Cooper Taylor leaped with TE Larry Donnell to swipe the pass from Ryan Nassib and cornerback Trumaine McBride notched his third INT of camp by jumping a route and swiping a Nassib pass. CB Walter Thurmond had a perfect chance for an interception off Manning but Thurmond reached up with one hand instead of two and the ball knocked off his hand and onto the grass, with Thurmond grabbing his helmet in frustration.

– LB Dan Fox came unblocked on a blitz and would have had a clean shot at Nassib. Fox pulled up as he’s supposed to do and Nassib fired down the field to WR Marcus Harris, who made a difficult juggling catch with CB Jayron Hosley leaning in on him.

– DE Mathias Kiwanuka had a big day. He pushed past RT Justin Pugh to apply pressure to Eli Manning and a bit later forced LT Will Beatty to make what looked to be a holding penalty in order to prevent pressure in the pocket.

– Jerrel Jernigan got open but dropped a pass from Manning that glanced right off his hands.

– S Stevie Brown, continuing to show he’s fully recovered from knee surgery, had no trouble staying with and sticking with TE Kellen Davis to knock away a lob pass in the end zone.

– Nassib’s best throw had plenty of touch on it as he lofted the ball to Julian Talley, who turned his head around at the last second to find and secure the ball, with CB Thomas Gordon in pretty good coverage.

– LG Geoff Schwartz came off the field, replaced by rookie Weston Richburg with the starting unit, then went back on and finally stayed out as it looked as if he tried to walk off some physical issue.