The New York Giants are banking on their young secondary to come together quickly this season and third-round pick Andru Phillips is one of the players they have high hopes for.
Phillips, who was selected 70th overall out of Kentucky in this year’s NFL draft, is more known for his physical play as an inside defender than as an outside corner.
Thus far in training camp, the Giants are lining Phillips up inside in the slot and in packages, per veteran beat reporter Art Stapleton:
Rookie Dru Phillips got his first extended looks at nickel corner with 1st team. Had been in with 1s in dime with Nick McCloud in the slot. Phillips had a PBU in breaking up screen to Wan’Dale Robinson
Phillips, who showed good penetration in the box on Monday, was asked after practice how he thought the team’s first padded practice of training camp went.
“I love it,” he said. “Any time you can play football and put the pads on, it just clicks something different inside most people, like me. It just amplifies it a lot more. I had so much fun out there today.”
The pro game is so much faster than the college game and rookies sometimes experience a shock to the system when they first hit an NFL practice field. Phillips has been no different.
“It’s been so fast, especially with the talent of guys, you’re in a new level, and the efficiency and the attention to detail is so much higher,” he said. “There’s so much going on, especially with the nickel, at one time, it’s like, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, but in like two seconds.
“You’ve got to think, make a play, move on, and try also to be in the right spot to make a play. Yeah, it’s faster, but it’s going to slow down eventually. I’m just taking my time and learning everything.”
Things can’t get too slow with fellow rookie Malik Nabers lining up at wide receiver. Nabers has been exceptional so far in camp.
“That kid is a baller,” Phillips said of Nabers. “I’ve been running some reps and just trying to emphasize the details. But you’re going to go see a guy like Malik every week of the season. So, going against him in a practice is — now I know what to expect. . . It’s great work every day.”
Phillips also spoke about the amount of information a young player has to process in just a short period of time. He’s working through it with the help of his veteran teammates.
“I want to be a perfectionist, but I’m always so fast, my mind is always moving every part of the day,” he said. “I’ve got to do better at some things, they make me be better. Bobby (Okereke) and J-Pin (Jason Pinnock), every single play they are in my ear like, ‘We need to hear you, you got to say this, you got to say that.’ It’s things I need to learn where eventually, they don’t have to tell me, but I’m getting there and I’m just happy that each day is getting better.”
Phillips mentioned two other veterans — Nick McCloud and Isaiah Simmons — who have helped him navigate his way through the process in his first week.
“Those two guys, they’re older,” said Phillips. “They’ve been doing it, especially Nick. He teaches me so much. Anytime I have a question, I go ask him. He’s been nothing but a great leader and role model for me.”
Simmons is a linebacker by trade but the Giants are using him as a defensive back as well this summer. Phillips was asked if he ever saw a nickel as big as Simmons.
“No,” he said. “In the spring, I was looking at him and thinking, ‘How is he going to do this?’ He’s just so big but you see him out there covering guys like (wide receiver) Wan’Dale Robinson and whatnot. It’s surprising. But he’s a freak of nature and he’s blessed for the talents that he’s got.”
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