Giants' Hagan showing his maturity and resilience

ALBANY - Derek Hagan had a rough time in Thursday's practice. First he rolled his ankle while blocking on a running play. On the very next snap, he dropped a deep ball when he tried to run a sideline route. To top things off, he had to be helped off the field after a collision with safety Michael Greco made him land headfirst on the turf, seeing stars.

"It was a strange day," he said with a chuckle. "But it was one of those days where things just happen and you have to keep working through them, keep fighting through them, and hopefully come back and have a much better day."

Hagan was back Friday, of course. That's who he is. So while other players are nursing injuries on the sideline - including some at Hagan's wide receiver position - the five-year veteran keeps plugging along.

"He's a tough guy and he usually bounces back," coach Tom Coughlin said. "Over the course of a couple of years, he's had some things that might have kept somebody else out. But not him."

Maybe that's because he's learned to appreciate what it means to not only be an NFL player but also a castoff. Of the 10 receivers the Giants have in training camp, he's the only one who has played for a team other than the Giants. Hagan was drafted by the Dolphins out of Arizona State in the third round of 2006, but he was released midway through the 2008 season. He had troubles with dropped passes and he wasn't contributing on special teams.

Now that he's with the Giants - who picked him up in December of that 2008 season - he has become known as a guy who catches almost every pass thrown to him and a solid special teams contributor.

"I don't like talking about Miami too much," Hagan said. "What went on down there, I felt like it was blown out of proportion. But things happen. They didn't work out so well and now I'm up here and enjoying every minute and every second of it."

He's only 25 years old, but Hagan carries himself like a much more worldly player. And in a room with many young, inexperienced players, that kind of maturity stands out.

"I think I'm a lot more mature," he said of the difference in himself as a player since being cut loose by the Dolphins. "Going down there and getting drafted, you don't know what's going on too much around the league and you don't know how to do certain things, whether it's working out or watching film. As you get older you start to learn how to do those things and it becomes easy and natural. It's really easy now."

With that maturity comes a little acceptance about how things work in the NFL. Hagan understands that he's not with the Giants to be a top receiver. He simply is working hard on special teams and as a backup in the rotation. If he's ever needed, he'll be able to step into a more productive role in the offense. But being a "number one" receiver no longer drives him the way it used to or the way it does for some of his younger teammates.

That doesn't mean Hagan is less hungry or ambitious. It just means he knows how the game - and the business of the game - is played.

"I feel like I can do whatever they need me to do," he said. "I just try to go out there and perform. If they like what I do, great. I'm just going to continue doing what I'm doing."

And that includes staying on the field, even after a strange, difficult day such as the one he experienced on Thursday.

"I think I could take a Mike Tyson punch now after hitting the ground like that," he said of his crash landing. "I was just sitting on the ground like 'I need to get up.' And I finally got up."