Nate Ebner – Page 5 – Syndication Server

Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones among Giants’ six team captains

The New York Giants revealed their six team captains on Tuesday, which includes QB Daniel Jones and RB Saquon Barkley.

The New York Giants have named their team captains for the 2020 season and both running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones will wear the “C” on their jerseys.

In addition to Barkley and Jones, veteran linebacker Blake Martinez, defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson, safety Jabrill Peppers and special teams ace Nate Ebner have also been voted in as captains.

Barkley and Jones will represent the offense, Martinez and Tomlinson the defense, and Peppers and Ebner the special teams unit.

Head coach Joe Judge expressed what he wants to see out of his captains during a Zoom conference on Monday.

“I think it’s important to me, for the head coach, to have someone who’s a voice of the team that can communicate for everyone in the locker room,” Judge said. “I stress to the players, leadership is about doing your job well, it’s about putting the team first, and it’s about being unselfish. You have to be able to bring people with you to actually be a leader. Otherwise you’re just up there giving speeches and kind of rah-rahing.

“We just preach to the players that make sure you take your time and decide who you want to represent you. It’s not a popularity contest. You’re picking people to represent you when we meet on a weekly basis with the captains.”

Last year’s captains were: Eli Manning, Nate Solder and Saquon Barkley (offense), Alec Ogletree and Antoine Bethea (defense), and Zak DeOssie and Michael Thomas (special teams).

Only Barkley remains from that leadership group (Solder opted out due to COVID-19). All others are first-time Giants captains.

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Nate Ebner on playing for Joe Judge compared to Bill Belichck: ‘It’s refreshing’

New York Giants safety Nate Ebner compared playing for Bill Belichick to playing for Joe Judge, and his conclusion may surprise you.

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New York Giants head coach Joe Judge became an instant topic of conversation across the football landscape once the outside world got a look at his practices in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Judge faced heavy criticism from pundits and former players for the way he chooses to lead, with former Giants linebacker Emmanuel Acho calling him “imbecilic” and retired tight end Shannon Sharpe promising that his stint with the Giants won’t end well.

The gripe? Judge is too hard on his players and assistant coaches. It’s too much like Bill Belichick, they say, and that “never works.”

Special teams ace Nate Ebner spent eight seasons playing for Belichick in New England, so he has first-hand experience and knowledge when it comes to what that’s actually like. And compared to how Joe Judge runs his ship, it’s a breeze.

“I’d say Joe likes to have more fun,” Ebner told the New York Post with a chuckle. “But when he’s serious, he’s definitely serious, no question about it. I think Bill’s obviously serious all the time too, but I think Joe’s a little more intent on building real relationships with the people that he’s working with as far as his players are concerned.”

That’s not a knock on Belichick so much as it’s a credit to Judge. He genuinely cares about his players despite what those on the outside would have you believe. In fact, like Bill Parcells long before him, Judge makes personal relationships a staple of his leadership model.

“It’s important to have daily connections with every player on your roster. It’s important they know that you know them on a personal level and that you care about them,” Judge told reporters last week.

But don’t let Judge’s personable approach fool you — he’s an extremely intense guy.

“I just think of something like a coaching point that he’s been driving home, and when you do it right, he’s intense about showing the team that that’s a great example that we’ve been talking about, about how to do it right. When you do it wrong, and we’ve been talking about it, he’s just the same way,” Ebner said.

“He’s a great teacher. There’s some serious key points that he wants to drive home, and when he sees those examples, he’s intense on showing the good ones and the bad ones because he’s trying to make that picture as clear as possible for his students if you will to learn the key points he’s trying to teach.”

The way Ebner sees it, Judge has things balanced out perfectly and for players who excel with structure, it doesn’t get much better than this despite what the critics say.

“I think when you really know where you stand and things are very clear about what’s expected, that makes it easier to operate, and Joe’s very good with that,” Ebner said. “It’s kinda refreshing for an NFL coach — he does care.”

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2020 Giants training camp: Position battles to watch

As the New York Giants ready themselves for padded training camp practices, here are some key positional battles to watch.

Every summer brings NFL training camps and every training camp has their share of roster battles.

With a new coaching staff and a load of new faces to pit against some unproven old faces, the New York Giants’ camp will have quite a number of battles for key positions this year.

Offensive tackle

Nate Solder was going to have to prove that he was still left tackle timber this summer before he opted out for the season. So, left tackle was very much in play. Now, it’s their priority.

The Giants are hopeful that first round pick Andrew Thomas slides right in and starts from Day 1. That could still happen. He’ll have plenty of company, though. Third round pick Matt Peart will now be thrust into the mix for the left tackle spot as well.

Right tackle is even more wide open. The loser of the left tackle role will have to fend off veteran free agent Cam Fleming and the Giants’ everyman, Nick Gates. These are the two biggest question marks of the summer.

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Giants roster outlook: Upgrades, downgrades or lateral moves on defense

Giants Wire examines the New York Giants defense and the changes made this offseason, offering a verdict on each unit.

The New York Giants went into the offseason knowing they had to make some changes on their 25th ranked defense.

General manager Dave Gettleman used his free agent money and seven of his 10 draft picks in an attempt to revamp and revive a group that simply allowed way too many easy scores to opponents in 2019.

Here is a quick rundown on each unit as training camp begins

Defensive line

Gained: Austin Johnson

Lost: Olsen Pierre

The Giants’ big move was made last October when they traded two draft choices to the Jets for Leonard Williams, an impending free agent. They could not come to an agreement this offseason, so they applied the franchise tag to retain Williams at a price of $16.1 million. He’ll be a starter along with Dalvin Tomlinson and Dexter Lawrence. B.J. Hill, R.J McIntosh and Chris Slayton are returning as well. Johnson will provide some veteran depth.

Verdict: Slight upgrade

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7 Giants storylines to watch in 2020

As the New York Giants begin preparation for the 2020 season, here are seven storylines worthy keeping a close eye on.

As NFL training camps get ready to open next week, there are still a load of questions surrounding how the league plans on pulling this season off amid the coronavirus pandemic.

That, unfortunately, will be a day-to-day process as the virus will basically dictate how things go. Considering that all things go well and the season progresses as planned, here’s looking at seven non-COVID-related storylines to keep an eye on.

Joe Judge in first season as head coach

The restrictions put in place due to the virus wiped out any advantage Judge was afforded as a first-year head coach. Not only has he not met his team yet, he’s not been able to get an up close and personal assessment of the talent on the roster.

Judge appears to be a guy in control however, and it is believed that he will come right in and take charge. He has a veteran staff around him who will provide extremely valuable counsel to Bill Belichick’s former right hand man.

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2020 NFL Free Agency: A look at the Giants’ newest contracts

With NFL free agency all but over, here’s a quick breakdown of each new contract the New York Giants handed out.

The New York Giants have done substantial work to their roster this offseason, including the big additions of cornerback James Bradberry and linebacker Blake Martinez.

Initially, there was some confusion over the new contracts and how bonuses were structured, but the vast majority of that has been cleaned up thanks to The Athletic.

Here’s a quick breakdown of each new contract:

Linebacker, David Mayo

Deal: Three years, $8.4 million with $3.5 million guaranteed. $2 million roster bonus in 2020. $50,000 workout bonuses all three years.

Base salary (cap hits):

2020 – $1.5 million ($3.55 million)
2021 – $2.25 million ($2.3 million)
2022 – $2.5 million ($2.55 million)

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Giants announce jersey numbers for new players

The New York Giants officially announced the jersey numbers of 10 of their newest players.

It’s been slow going as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but the New York Giants have officially announced the signings of 10 players over the past two weeks, including linebacker Blake Martinez and cornerback James Bradberry.

On Monday, the team also assigned those 10 players their new jersey numbers, which are subject to change, so remember that when ordering some new attire.

The new jersey numbers are broken down below:

James Bradberry, No. 24
Colt McCoy, No. 12
Levine Toilolo, No. 83
Austin Johnson, No. 93
Blake Martinez, No. 54
Kyler Fackrell, No. 51
Cameron Fleming, No. 75
Eric Tomlinson, No. 85
Nate Ebner, No. 43
Dion Lewis, No. 33

Bradberry recently discussed the importance of wearing No. 24, which had been Josh Norman’s number in Carolina.

“Had 21 been open, I would have chosen 21. But since I was in college, I always thought about wearing 24 so I just went with 24 not thinking about it,” Bradberry told The Athletic of taking Norman’s old number.

“When I actually started thinking about it, it was too late. I had already chosen the number and I didn’t want to go back. People would probably say I was scared to wear that number and I didn’t want that either, so I just took the challenge.”

Interestingly, the No. 44, which linebacker Markus Golden wore last season, has not be reassigned.

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Giants’ Nate Ebner has nothing but praise for Joe Judge

Newly signed New York Giants special teams ace Nate Ebner had nothing but praise for head coach Joe Judge.

When the New York Giants hired Joe Judge they knew they were getting a coach that players would relate to and enjoy playing for.

You hear all time about players not wanting to play for certain coaches. Those are usually the businessmen who strap on the pads because it’s their job. Then there are others who simply do it for the love of it. Nate Ebner, who the Giants singed this past week, is one of those players.

Ebner is a special teams ace that built a rapport with Judge in New England and followed him here to East Rutherford because he believes in what Judge stands for as a coach and a person.

“Joe works extremely hard, I’m probably going to say that a couple more times. He is an extremely hard worker, he pays attention to the details,” Ebner said on a conference call on Monday with reporters.

“He really pays attention to the details. He comes to work with a lot of energy and he did that consistently over the eight years that I’ve known him. I think that is a genuine part of him. I think he is going to bring that same energy and hopefully that same attention to detail and work ethic. At the end of the day, he cares a lot about his guys, I can’t say that about a lot of coaches. I think that’s special and I think that’s hopefully going to want to make a lot of players play for him.”

Judge has displayed a genuine demeanor in his public dealings thus far with the Giants. His refreshingly frank approach has taken the Giants, their fans and the media by surprise. He is a no-nonsense guy. There is nothing phony about him.

Ebner cited his relationship with Judge as reason why he chose to take his talents to Northern New Jersey, but the lure of the Giants’ brand was a factor as well.

“I’m not going to act like he didn’t have a part in coming here. I obviously have built a good relationship with him and a rapport with him. Obviously (him) being a special teams coach, me being a special teams player over nearly a decade on the same team. We do have a relationship that definitely played a part in me being a Giant,” Ebner said. “Outside of that, it is a great organization that I am extremely excited to get to. It’s a great team, within a great city, with a great fan base that I’m juiced about.”

And the Giants are juiced about having him. You win football games with good football players and Ebner, a rugby player by trade who the Patriots found a niche for on special teams, is the type of player with the right perspective and attitude they want to help get them back on the winning track.

“I’m going to do the best that I can to do it to the best of my ability,” Ebner added. “Like I said, the best that I can. Whatever capacity they need me in, whatever I’m asked to do, I’m going to do it, and I’m going to do it the best I can. That, to me, is what I kind of watched in New England some great players do. That’s kind of a mindset that as a team, if we can all buy in together, then we’ll be in there playing for each other. That’s what great teams do, is play for each other. At the end of the day, I’m going to do what’s asked of me and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.”

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Giants introduce Nate Ebner: 5 things we learned

Newly signed New York Giants special teams ace, Nate Ebner, met with the media on Tuesday, and here are five things we learned.

The New York Giants officially announced the addition of special teams ace Nate Ebner on Tuesday during a conference call with members of the beat pool. He is the third such free agent addition to hold an introductory conference call in the past week.

Here’s a look at five quick things we learned from Ebner:

Joe Judge played part in Ebner’s arrival

Ebner played for years under Joe Judge in New England, so it’s no surprise the coach played a major role in bringing the veteran to New York.

“I’m not going to play out a bunch of different scenarios. I’m not going to act like he didn’t have a part in coming here,” Ebner said. “I obviously have built a good relationship with him and a rapport with him. Obviously (him) being a special teams coach, me being a special teams player over nearly a decade on the same team. We do have a relationship that definitely played a part in me being a Giant.

“Outside of that, it is a great organization that I am extremely excited to get to. It’s a great team, within a great city, with a great fan base that I’m juiced about. Obviously like everyone else, you wish you weren’t quarantined. I am extremely excited to get there and be a part of the organization first and foremost.”

Ebner would not say if New York was a potential destination had Judge not been their head coach.

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