Fewell blueprint for Giants' 'D' on hold

Perry Fewell has been using the lockout to come up with a few new wrinkles for the Giants' defense. But the coordinator who will be entering his second year with the team said he knows that there are some wrinkles that are going to be hitting him in the coming weeks.

While optimism abounds over an end to the lockout, Fewell is preparing to play a season with a defensive-heavy rookie class whom he has yet to get a feel for and a returning cast that could change drastically in free agency.

"It's pure projection right now," Fewell said.

He was recently watching film of last year's minicamp, Fewell said, and looking at those rookies such as Chad Jones and Jason Pierre-Paul.

"We were able to evaluate our players and teach them some of the basics and fundamentals of what we were doing, what we were installing," he said. "We don't have that luxury this year. We know what they look like on tape, but we haven't had a chance to work with them and that's the biggest difference. We can't project going into the fall what this kid can do and what he can't do because we haven't had a chance to work with him and we haven't used any building blocks as far as New York Giant terminology, New York Giant defense, etc."

His concerns go beyond first- and second-round picks Prince Amukamara and Marvin Austin, two players who could be competing for starting jobs. Depending on how the new collective bargaining agreement is structured, the Giants could be saying goodbye to free agents Mathias Kiwanuka and Barry Cofield. When it was suggested that the flow of personnel both out of and onto the Giants' roster could force Fewell to basically tear up an offseason's worth of planning -- just as he has already had to scrap schedules for OTAs and minicamps -- he laughed and conceded.

"That is very true," he said. "It's like a teacher in school, you have a lesson plan and we're projecting that we think these players will be back, we hope these players will be back, so you make plans according to your projections."

Fewell may not get to coach his NFL players until training camp opens, but this summer he'll get some practice in coaching at several non-contact football camps run by the Giants for kids 6-14 years old in the tri-state area. Three of them will be held on Long Island: at the Greenvale School in Old Brookville from July 11-15, at the Long Island Sports Complex in Freeport from July 18-22, and at HANC Plainview Elementary School from July 25-29. Those interested in attending can visit www.nygiantscamps.com or call 877-226-9919 for registration information.

"We don't have any players to coach because of the lockout so I'm excited about coaching somebody," Fewell said, adding that his 9-year-old son will be taking part in the camps. "These kids are going to get our best. When coaches don't have anybody to coach, we will be fired up to coach anyone."