When the Giants’ defense buckled down against Aaron Rodgers and the Jets’ offense in the red zone two weeks ago, the loudest voice on the practice field was a rookies.
Giants safety Tyler Nubin, an imposing second-round pick out of Minnesota, was strutting around the back of the defense barking encouragement, corrections and play call adjustments.
“That’s what he does,” top corner Deonte Banks said Wednesday. “He likes to be loud. He likes to talk and communicate the call, and he’s gonna tell you when you did something wrong. I like that. He’s got a little leader in him as a young guy.”
Leadership is great. What the Giants need most from Nubin and Banks in Sunday’s season opener, however, is playmaking enough against a Minnesota Vikings attack led by star wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
Fortunately, neither player lacks confidence in their abilities, despite both being just 23 years old and having one total year of NFL experience between them.
Take the 6-1, 199-pound Nubin, who is expected to start at safety alongside Jason Pinnock in Week 1. Nubin, who was drafted to replace departed free agent Xavier McKinney (Packers), set a new Golden Gophers program record with 13 career college interceptions. But he agrees people are sleeping on how hard he hits.
“I think that’s a forgotten part of my game, because I always look to be physical first in a game,” he said. “I’m not going out there like, ‘I gotta go get a pick, I gotta go get the ball.’ Usually the ball finds me. But when I get into my game, when I’m most comfortable is when I lay a big hit on somebody or I’m getting physical and I get that little shot early.’
“I’d rather get the big hit,” he said, ”because I’m a tone-setter, for sure.”
Then there is the 6-2, 200-pound Banks, who has ultimate respect for Jefferson but simultaneously craves this exact kind of challenge.
“I wouldn’t want it [any] other way, really,” Banks said. “He’s one of them elite guys. I feel like I gotta be on my s–t. It just means being me, being Tae Banks, being physical, doing what I do.”
So does that mean the ‘Bank’s Closed’ for the Vikings, as the corner likes to say?
“Ya’ll gonna see Sunday!” Banks said loosely with a laugh.
As talented as Nubin and Banks are as individual players, though, their work together in tandem may end up being an underrated ingredient to how coordinator Shane Bowen’s secondary comes together.
Banks said the way he can take his game to the next level in his second NFL season has less to do with anything physical.
“[I have to] expand my game in a mental aspect,” Banks said. “Know what’s coming, know what they like to do in this formation, in this down and distance, in this part of the field. [It’s about] being more situationally aware.”
Off the field, that has meant studying film more often and differently. On the field, Nubin’s understanding of offenses’ tendencies and checks as a self-proclaimed “film junkie” – plus his communication abilities — could help tie together Banks’ and the secondary’s understanding of what’s coming.
“I came in with the mindset to come in and do my job and communicate as much as possible,” Nubin said Wednesday. “I think that’s what they expected out of me. That’s what they told me when I came in: I gotta be a great communicator, somebody who knows the defense and can communicate that to everybody else.
“So my main focus is studying as much as possible, making sure I know my stuff, and maybe help out a couple other positions to know their stuff, as well,” the safety added.
Veteran Adoree Jackson’s last-minute signing before the season, of course, reflected a bit of panic about the state of the defensive backfield as a whole. They still have to stop the Vikings’ Jordan Addison, too, who is expected to play through an ankle sprain.
Dane Belton (back) also spent a lot of time with the Giants’ first-team defense during training camp until Nubin got healthy from an early calf injury and began rotating in with the ones.
Bowen even seemed restless in mid-August about Nubin’s availability and progress, given that the Giants had projected him as a starter when they selected him back in April.
The coordinator said Wednesday, however, that he has been pleased with Nubin’s recent progress and that he would have a role in Sunday’s game plan against Kevin O’Connell’s offense led by quarterback Sam Darnold.
Nubin said he has always been ready to be a primary contributor, even though that wasn’t his immediate goal.
“I wasn’t really focused too much on, ‘Oh, I have to be the starter and make plays,’” he said. “It was just doing my job, and I think that’s gonna come … I acclimated right away in OTAs. I had the confidence I could come out here and play with these boys and make plays.”
That confidence allowed Nubin to hone in on the details of learning the Giants’ offense and their opponents’ offenses.
Banks, meanwhile, has enough experience to know that when Sunday arrives, that preparation is great. But all that matters is how they play, especially against Jefferson.
“It takes all 11 of us,” Banks said. “Everybody’s gotta know where he’s at. I gotta know where he’s at. And we gotta play ball.”
