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New York Giants head coach Joe Judge has refused to discuss players who are not officially on the team’s roster this summer, but he deviated from that approach on Tuesday.
Although veteran defensive back Logan Ryan has not yet signed his one-year contract, that is merely a matter of semantics at this point. As such, that led Judge down memory lane.
Judge and Ryan were together for the first four years of the defensive back’s career in New England — a span that saw them win two titles together. Ryan now brings that championship culture with him to New York.
“I have a ton of memories with Logan,” Judge told reporters. ” I was there early on. It was only my second year in the league when we drafted Logan. We kind of learned a lot of stuff together, to be honest with you. As you get working, I was working with him as a gunner, a vice player and a core special teamer for us, and obviously, he was growing within his defensive role. I think the thing that stands out to me the most about Logan is the improvement I watched him make from year one to year two.
“I think Logan’s a guy who comes to work every day with the right demeanor. He’s a smart guy that plays tough on the field. He’s a player that I noticed through my time with him and then also my time away competing against him that he’s a guy that really improves from year to year. He really works on his craft. He’s not just a guy who’s out there, kind of ‘this is what I am.’ He’s always looking to work on maybe something that hurt him the year before and he’s looking to always go ahead and improve on his strengths.”
One of the most valuable aspects of Ryan’s presence will be his versatility. He can play cornerback, nickel and safety.
“Look, he brings a lot of versatility. He’s a smart, tough football player. We’re glad to have him. We have had a lot of guys in the defensive backfield make a lot of improvements every day. It’ll be good to get him in the mix with all of those guys,” Judge added.
“He’s going to play a variety of roles for us, so if I gave you one answer right there, I’d be lying. Logan, one of his strengths really is versatility. We’re going to play him in different packages all over the field. Really, having a guy like that allows you to play other guys in fewer positions because he can handle a lot of the multiples while these guys are learning the system.”
Because of COVID-19 protocols, Ryan won’t be able to join his new teammates on the field until Thursday when the Giants are scheduled to hold their second Blue-White scrimmage at MetLife Stadium, but he should have just enough time to get up to speed before the team’s Week 1 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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