Boley, Canty and Bernard return healthy and hungry

ALBANY - The Giants brought in three free agents to help solidify their defense, add veteran leadership and provide a spark on the field.

No, not Antrel Rolle, Deon Grant and Keith Bulluck. Those are this year's additions. But you'd be forgiven for forgetting about last year's big three, who came marching in to great expectations only to have disappointing seasons, mostly because of injuries that nagged them throughout the year.

Michael Boley, Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard were supposed to be big pieces in the 2009 defense. The Giants offered a combined $83 million in possible contract money to them in the first days of the offseason and saw very little return on their investment. A season with 14 starts, 124 tackles and 21/2 sacks might sound pretty good for a free-agent acquisition, but the three of them had those numbers combined.

So much of that flat production can be attributed to injuries. Boley had hip surgery in the spring of '09 and never participated in training camp. By the time he got into a game in Week 2 against the Cowboys, he had practiced four times with the team. Canty struggled through the season with hamstring issues that forced him to miss the bulk of camp and seven games. Bernard tore his left rotator cuff while working out in the spring but played through the injury. He had surgery to repair it once the season ended.

"I don't think all three of us were on the field together until late in the season," Boley said. "I think it's going to be good that all three of us are back and healthy and all rolling again. We were all sitting around joking the other day that we are all back and all healthy. That's good for us."

So far this training camp none of those three players has missed a workout. Not only are they healthy, but because of last year, they are also hungry.

"Obviously, it's something we wanted to make sure wouldn't happen again this season," Canty said. "We know our team cannot afford for us not to be healthy and available to participate. Last year, not being able to do that was frustrating for me and frustrating for our football team. I'm sure those guys see it the same way."

Canty and Boley missed time with their injuries. Bernard kept his quiet until the offseason. He could have had the surgery when the injury first occurred, but maybe the new contract pushed him to play through it. "I felt like that was the best thing for me to do, to go out and do what I could do with it," he said.

Turns out that wasn't a lot. "There wasn't any strength in it," Bernard said of his shoulder. "I couldn't do a lot of the functional things you have to do as a defensive lineman . . . I was trying to do what I could for my teammates, but obviously I couldn't do very much."

They are a year removed from such high expectations. And now there is a new crop of players here to fix the defense. But Boley, Canty and Bernard still feel a responsibility to complete the job they were hired to do.

They didn't come here under one-year contracts. They know that their first year with the Giants did not turn out the way they wanted. But they are ready to re-launch in Year Two.

Boley is making some of the athletic plays that were advertised but never developed last year. Canty seems to have found a home at right defensive tackle. And Bernard is working with the second team and flashing some of the disruptive inside moves that got the Giants' attention in free agency in the first place.

"It's hard when you have such high expectations," Bernard said. "Injuries are a part of this game, it's just something people have to realize. We definitely didn't want things to shake down the way they did, but hopefully we can come back this year and prove people wrong."