Giants rookie wide receiver Kadarius Toney earned himself a reputation for being a slippery player throughout his career at the University of Florida, often making defenders look silly in the open field with his ability to break out of tackles.
One defender who took a crack at bringing Toney down during his days as a Gator was Hamsah Nasirildeen. Now a Jets rookie linebacker, Nasirildeen saw plenty of Toney while at Florida State, as the two programs meet annually in a rivalry game at the end of the regular season.
Nasirildeen lost two of his three matchups against Toney. Worse, he suffered a torn ACL — which cost him most of his senior year — trying to tackle the receiver in their final meeting.
Nasirildeen was asked if memories of that play could give him pause should he have to tackle Toney in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Giants. The converted linebacker dismissed the idea, though.
“I don’t think like that,” Nasirildeen said Tuesday. “I honestly think he’s a good player. I like the way he plays the game, but I don’t really concern myself with stuff like that. We have to play. I have to tackle people every day.”
Nasirildeen’s injury, which was induced largely by Toney’s slipperiness, played a major part in his draft stock taking a hit. That could cause some players to harbor a sentiment of ill will, but Nasirildeen does not hold anything against Toney for simply trying to make something happen for his team.
“He’s out there trying to make a play, I’m trying to make a play,” Nasirildeen said. “That’s all we can do.”
Spring practices and the early days of training camp have indicated that Nasirildeen and Toney have promising NFL careers ahead of them. Nasirildeen is on track to win the Jets’ starting weak-side linebacker spot, while Toney, a first-round pick, has given Giants quarterback Daniel Jones a dynamic new weapon to work with.
Saturday night is the first of what figures to be many matchups between Nasirildeen and Toney. If Nasirildeen is tasked with bringing him down in the open field like he was in Gainsville two years ago, he won’t think twice about accomplishing the task at hand.
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