Giants to thrive again 'under the radar'

[VC15]

The Blue Screen
by Ralph Vacchiano
June 3, 2010 11:37 PM 13 Comments
Tuck: Last year's pain will help "spoiled" Giants »

By Ralph Vacchiano

Justin Tuck still feels embarrassed by what happened to the Giants last season. But he’s hoping that the miserable experience will eventually become the best thing that ever happened to his team.

In fact, Tuck said he now believes last year’s struggles were “a good thing” for a team that became “spoiled” by its own success. And maybe it’s just what the Giants needed to get them back on the right path again.

“A lot of people said our fans got spoiled because I’ve been here five years and we made the playoffs four years in a row and we won the Super Bowl,” Tuck said last night. “But I don’t agree with that. I think we got spoiled. We started 5-0 and we kind of looked at ourselves like, ‘Here we go again. We’re going to make the playoffs.’ And then we got hit in our face and we couldn’t respond.

“So it’s a good thing. I’m actually happy all of that happened last year because not we have to start from square one.”

And so far Tuck is encouraged by that start. Speaking outside of Slate NYC in Manhattan - - where he held the second annual Justin Tuck Billiards Tournament to benefit his R.U.S.H. for Literacy campaign - - the Giants’ defensive end said he’s “excited” right now, even though the team is still two weeks away from its June mini-camp. And he’s particularly excited by the presence of new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell.

“Right now he’s made all the right steps with the players,” Tuck said. “He has every guy’s back in that room and everybody has his back right now. And that’s hard to say considering the season we came off last year where people pointed fingers at each other, people were pointing fingers at the coaches, people were pointing fingers at the D-line and people were pointing fingers at the safeties, the corners and the linebackers.

“It was bad last year and to be able to make that fresh start like we have so far, that’s encouraging.”

Even more encouraging, Tuck said, is the fact that last year’s disaster has pushed the Giants back into the background - - even in their own city where the Jets suddenly appear to be kings. That, he said, is not only a good thing, it’s also exactly where the Giants prefer to be.

“I’m glad that we’re under the radar,” he said. “I’m glad the Jets are getting all the headlines. I’m glad no one is talking about us. I’m glad we’re picked to be third or maybe fourth in our division. That’s cool with me. If you know anything about the Giants, that’s when we thrive. I hope we come out and lose the first two games. I don’t care. I know what this team is made of, and we’ll find a way to get back to the top.”

***

Giants DE Mathias Kiwanuka, who was involved in a frightening motorcycle accident last week, has returned to the Giants’ offseason training program, according to Tuck. The team had an organized team activity (OTA) session on Wednesday and have another one scheduled for Friday. Tuck’s hope is that a return to practice will be a welcome relief for Kiwanuka, whose brother is still in an Indianapolis hospital with a serious arm injury.

“He’s fine and his brother is doing better,” Tuck said. “We try to get Kiwi’s mind off of that. If you can imagine seeing your brother slung 100 feet in the air off a bike, I’m sure that’s a traumatizing event. With us, the good thing about the D-line is that we come in, we have fun, we tell jokes, we get our problems off our mind for a little bit. I hope that we were able to do that for him this week.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants/2010/06/tuck-last-years-pain-will-help.html#ixzz0q58phr6L

 

[cruzg24]

Very nice charity work by Tuck to help less fortunate people read. I think the Giants this year will be in the 10-6 or 9-7 range this year. The return of Kenny Phillips and some much needed safety pickups in the offseason will change dramatically the look of the defense. As for the receivers, liked Ive said a million times they are going to be great. Already 1 year under their belt together, theyve got all the chemistry that they need now.