Giants' Thomas not letting Ross take back job
No givebacks. That’s the high-stakes game Terrell Thomas is playing, and he doesn’t care who knows it. He landed in the starting lineup because of a lingering hamstring issue that put Aaron Ross out of commission, and wasn’t going to give the spot up without a fight.
You can’t have it. It’s mine. It’s business, nothing personal.
“I know how the theory goes, when somebody gets injured, you step into his place; pretty much when the injured guy comes back they get their spot,”
Thomas said yesterday. “The main thing I wanted to do was make it hard as possible on the coaches, and I think I did a pretty good job of that.”
“The mentality they are taking right now is don’t fix nothing that ain’t broke. It’s making me a better player, and I think it’s making him a better player because obviously he wants his position back. I’m doing everything in my power not to give it back.”
Thomas has made the right cornerback position his own property. Ross returned three games ago but has not been able to supplant Thomas, who absolutely is fulfilling his draft destiny as a second-round pick out of the powerhouse USC program. He is the most dependable corner on the roster, making him a key player as the Giants face the Eagles on Sunday night looking to gain a share of first place in the NFC East.
“He has done a good job, a solid job, and we are fortunate,”
Tom Coughlin said.
The defensive backfield has been a minefield all season — heck, the Giants gave up 392 passing yards last week in a victory over the Cowboys — and they were torched beyond recognition the first time they tangled with the Eagles. It was a big-play festival in Philly, and in order to prevent a repeat, the Giants are going to need Thomas most of all to deal with speed burner DeSean Jackson.
This is not the standard-issue blasé Eagles receiving corps. Jackson is back after sitting out last week’s 34-7 victory at Atlanta with a concussion. He might be the greatest big-play, downfield threat in the league, averaging 17.5 yards per catch. All eight of Jackson’s touchdowns this season have been for 35-plus yards and seven of them are at least 48 yards.
“You got to get your hands on him,”
the 24-year-old Thomas said. “You got to throw different looks at him, you got to frustrate him, you got to confuse him. He’s a great player so you definitely got to slow him down.“
“You got to be patient at the line. Speed is not the problem at the line, it’s more his quickness and being able to be skinny and make himself thin. He’s a small receiver, so when he turns his shoulder, he makes himself a lot narrower compared to a big receiver like Roy Williams or Terrell Owens.”
Hands and arms are what separate Thomas from others.
“He’s got long arms,”
said Mario Manningham, another member of the 2008 draft class, who goes against Thomas every day in practice. “I think he’s a difference-maker at the corner spot. He’s smart, he knows the game, he’s a hard film studier. He can jam you up sometimes if you don’t get a good release.”
It is not as if Thomas is surrounded by high-level performers. The nickel back spot is in a state of flux, with Kevin Dockery benched and rookie Bruce Johnson looking clueless the past few games. Even Corey Webster, the top cornerback on the roster, has struggled. He was beaten last week for all three Tony Romo touchdown passes.
Lean and lanky at 6-foot and 199 pounds, Thomas has a confidence about him, and he’s living up to his own hype.
“When I came here, I put it to the media, not in a negative way, just that I’m going to go compete to start and keep the spot,”
he said. “I had my ups and downs, it was a learning experience. I think I got a good grip on it now and I’m playing very well.”
