When the Giants cleaned out their lockers and headed home after a playoff-less season last January, Keith Bulluck said he appreciated the opportunity but did not want to return if it meant filling the same limited role he assumed in 2010.
Bulluck half-jokingly said he would “go buy a boat” rather than play anywhere in the NFL as a part-timer.
The veteran linebacker this week told The Post he wants to come back to the Giants, but he hasn’t backed off his stance that he needs to play more to satisfy his competitive urges.
“Definitely this year, no matter where I go, I would have to play a bigger role,” Bulluck said. “I don’t have to be an every-down player, but I need to play to my strengths and that’s the passing downs.”
Last season, Bulluck took a seat on passing downs, because the Giants did not trust his ability to drop in coverage coming off reconstructive surgery to repair a torn left anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Bulluck started 127 consecutive games before shredding the knee on Dec. 20, 2009 in what turned out to be his final appearance for the Titans. The Giants signed him last July 24, just one week before training camp and only seven months after surgery.
Bulluck, set to be a free agent when the lockout ends, hasn’t thoroughly examined his 2010 performance because, he says, he knows what he did — and did not — accomplish. He aced his first goal of proving that his knee could hold up, playing in 13 games, and the three games he missed were the result of a turf toe injury.
Bulluck started eight games at strong side linebacker and his production was modest: 28 total tackles, no sacks, two interceptions, one fumble recovery.
“I kind of know the things I was lacking and the things where normally I was strong and where I wasn’t as strong,” Bulluck said. “Point of attack and explosion were my two biggest things I was missing. Initial contact was fine. When it came to the drive and follow through, even on tackles, dealing with offensive linemen, those things I had the most trouble because I wasn’t used to being in that situation.
“I definitely did not hurt the team,” he said. “I was able to manage two interceptions last year and I barely played. They might not have been spectacular, but it [showed] I made plays. I need to be a bigger part of a team’s puzzle.”
The lockout means Bulluck, 34, once again has to wait until training camp is nearly here to find an employer. He has listed the Giants, Lions (Detroit’s head coach, Jim Schwartz, was Bulluck’s coordinator in Tennessee) and the Patriots –“Always veteran-friendly” — as his top three choices. But Bulluck said he realizes in the expected signing frenzy after the lockout ends that he will not be anybody’s top priority. His one year with the Giants convinced the Rockland County native — he grew up in New City — that he wants a second chance to make a first impression and is convinced another year removed from knee surgery will allow him to once again be the impact player he was for a decade in Tennessee.
“With the Giants first and foremost they gave me the opportunity to come back, get healthy, get to where I am now,” Bulluck said. “If they wanted me back I definitely would love to get that opportunity because I know the guys in the locker room, great locker room, great coaching staff, it’s a great organization. Just from being there that one year I know they take a lot of pride in the football they play there and they’re about winning.”