Can Giants keep up with DeSean Jackson?

A few years ago, Pat Shurmur was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles and was coaching the team through a two-minute drill in practice. It was late in the workout and it was hot, Shurmur recalled, and no one wanted to be there any longer than absolutely necessary.

That’s when DeSean Jackson, one of his receivers, approached him.

“He said, ‘Pat, just call a nine ball so we can end this thing,’ ” Shurmur said of Jackson’s request for a deep go route. “Our defense was playing back and he just ran by everybody and caught it, ending the drill.”

So yes, Shurmur is aware of how dangerous Jackson can be.

He’s also been with him at MetLife Stadium enough times to know how dangerous he almost always is against the Giants. During the past decade, he has singlehandedly brought more misery and disappointment to the Giants than just about any other player in the league has.

In 17 career games against the Giants, Jackson has caught 65 passes for 1,071 yards and six touchdowns. He’s also rushed for a touchdown and scored two on punt returns (the most memorable being a 65-yarder as time expired in a 2010 game to give the Eagles a win over the Giants and punter Matt Dodge).

On Sunday, the Giants will face Jackson for the 18th time. They hope they can keep him contained more than they have in the past.

“It is taxing,” Shurmur said of trying to defend Jackson. “The one thing about him is regardless of the coverage, he can run behind it. He’s not a big guy, he’s kind of lean, but he’s hard to bump and run, and when he gets going, he’s hard to stop. That’s the challenge for the defense is to not let him get behind you because he can do it even when you’re trying to keep him in front of you.”

Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said what makes Jackson so effective is not only his “elite speed” but his experience after 11 NFL seasons.

“Any kind of route you can draw up, any kind of route combination, he knows how to run routes,” Koetter said. “He’s seen it all before, he’s seen most of these DBs before.”

It's not only the Giants whom Jackson has scorched. He has four receiving touchdowns of at least 80 yards, one shy of the NFL career record shared by Jerry Rice, Bob Hayes, Lance Alworth and Derrick Alexander. His 29 career touchdowns of at least 50 yards are tied for the second most in NFL history with Randy Moss; Rice has 36.

Making him even more dangerous is a pairing with Mike Evans, a bigger and more physical receiver who draws attention to the underneath routes. The two of them have totaled 83 catches, 1,530 yards and eight touchdowns this season. The Bucs are only 3-6, but they lead the NFL in yards per game (452.8) and passing yards per game (361.2).

“They’ve got a lot of playmakers, so it’s hard to overload and double on somebody when the other guy can beat you one-on-one as well,” Shurmur said. “That’s where the challenge of playing team defense is going to come in. Everybody’s got to make sure they get good pressure on the passer and the guys in coverage got to do a good job of staying tight.”

For the Giants’ secondary, that job will fall to starting cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and B.W. Webb.

Jenkins has faced Jackson a number of times. In fact, he once labeled Jackson as “one-dimensional.” Two years ago, when Jackson was with the Redskins, Jenkins said: “I just think he's kind of fast. Deep guy. I don't see no digs, or dig returns, nothing like that. Just stay on top of the route.”

Jackson caught five passes for 96 yards and a touchdown as Washington beat the Giants a few days later.

This time, Jenkins was more careful in his words. He said Jackson is the fastest receiver in the NFL, and that’s a pretty good skill to have. But who will be the fastest player on the field on Sunday? Jenkins said it almost doesn’t matter.

“We have 11 New York Giant players,” Jenkins said of the defense, “all of them together faster than one guy.”

If they’re all chasing him on Sunday – as they often are whenever he plays against the Giants -- we’ll find out if that’s true.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.