Steve Serby

Steve Serby

NFL

Beastly Beason’s return ignites Giants’ confidence

He was wearing a black T-shirt with the word BEAST emblazoned in bright lime green letters on his chest.

A jolt of electricity sizzled through the practice field and then the locker room as Jon Beason returned to the middle of his defense, lighting up the Quest Diagnostics Training Center with optimism and Big Blue bravado, causing Mathias Kiwanuka to gush:

“On the defensive side of the ball, we can stop every single thing that a team can throw at us, and we can win a championship that way.”

And there was Beason, seated at his locker, vowing to be The Beast come opening night against the Lions for however long he can be.

“That’s who I am. … That’s in my DNA,” the middle linebacker said. “I’ve been that way since I was 9 years old playing Little League. I embody it, and I think when people say, ‘Man, that guy’s a beast,’ I take it as they’re saying, ‘Hey, that guy plays like John Beason.’ It’s like the ultimate compliment.”

Beason, who has been racing furiously to beat the clock on the broken foot he suffered in June, was asked for his definition of a beast on the football field.

“Well I think a guy who goes about his business a little different,” Beason said. “Like the way he moves, with a purpose, the way he tackles, the way he covers, how consistent he is — that’s a beast, a guy that every single play is gonna bring it as opposed to a guy you feel like, ‘Hey, you know what, I can get him this time.’”

Beason loves the game the way Lawrence Taylor loved the game. He is a heat-seeking missile with a computer chip in his brain.

“Intellectually, he’s definitely a beast,” Stevie Brown said. “A coach on the field.”

“A pro’s pro,” former Giants great Carl Banks said. “He’s fast, quick, smart … and knows how to find the ball.”

The Beast plays relentlessly with what Antrel Rolle likes to call a dog mentality. He is one of those precious heart-and-soul players every team craves. He is a natural born leader.

“He’s a guy you gotta account for when you’re game planning,” Rashad Jennings said, “ ’cause he shows up everywhere. He’s a playmaker, and he runs sideline-to-sideline first play to the last play of the game type of attitude guy.”

Jennings and Beason train together in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., during the offseason.

“The first thing he came up to me and said when he saw me train, ‘Who is this big, fast dude flying?’ ” Jennings said. “The same thing I said to him, ‘Who is this beast running around?’”

There is no surrender ever with Beason. A window into his soul opened as he was talking about the hot, humid practice he had just endured.

“The will has to be greater than the pain,” Beason said.

It has not been lost on Jason Pierre-Paul and his Big Blue brothers that Beason’s arrival following last season’s 0-6 start changed the complexion of the defense and of the season.

“He just brings a presence that we’ve been missing from him,” Cullen Jenkins said.

It is a presence that emboldens Kiwanuka to continue gushing:

“Healthy, we’re one of the best defenses in the league — on paper.

“I think across the board, we’re better at every position, and just gotta go out there and prove it.

“There are impact players at every level, and we have the ability to go out there and to dominate from the beginning to the end.”

Beason’s energy and enthusiasm were a sight even for Tom Coughlin’s sore eyes Monday.

“The medical people are very confident,” Coughlin said.

Here’s why:

“It was a screen play where the running back kinda shifts through the line and do a little hook route and try to get the ball from the quarterback,” defensive tackle Mike Patterson said, “and I thought I was chasing down the screen and he’s coming flying through, I was like ‘Whoa!’ ”

The time away from his teammates was torture for The Beast.

“We talk about our outside passions besides football, everybody knows I love to cook and things like that,” Brown said, and smiled, “and Beason’s like, ‘I just love ball.’ That’s what he tells me every single time. He just loves playing ball, and being a beast when he’s out there doing it.”

If Eli Manning is ice, The Beast is fire.

“He’s a great leader of the defense, of the team, so I think it’ll be good to have his personality, his positive energy, around practice, around on game day,” Manning said.

Beast back, hunting Lions.

“I feel good about where I should be on [Monday night],” The Beast said.