Giants rookie safety Jones has mentor in Webster
FILE -- This is a Sept. 19, 2009, file photo showing LSU safety Chad Jones (3) getting and escort from LSU linebacker Kelvin Sheppard (11) after intercepting a Louisiana-Lafayette pass in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La. Credit: AP
When Chad Jones was drafted last week, he was excited about coming to the Giants. He was just as excited about coming to Corey Webster's team.
"I love that I went to a team where I have a guy that I'm kind of familiar with," said Jones, the safety picked in the third round. "That has helped me out a lot with Corey Webster being on the team, especially since he's a defensive back. Hopefully, he will show me the ropes and show me how to be a New York Giant."
Jones will be one of 54 players participating in the Giants' rookie minicamp that begins Friday and one of seven draft picks who will get their first taste of playing in the NFL. But he's probably the only one who has been on a first-name-basis friendship with Webster for three years.
"I go back [to LSU] every summer and I work out with the team so I've been seeing him there since his freshman year at LSU preparing to get ready for the Tigers," Webster said. "I worked out right alongside of him and a bunch of other DBs."
From June through August, Webster lifts weights, runs drills and even sits in meeting rooms with current LSU players. Now he'll continue to do that with Jones, only in New York and not Baton Rouge.
When Webster arrived for his first few days of work with the Giants in 2005, he had a somewhat similar mentor in defensive lineman and former LSU player Kenderick Allen. Webster said he'll be even more helpful to Jones than Allen was to him simply because they will be playing in the same defensive backfield.
Not that Jones appears to need much help on the field. Listed at 6-2 and 221 pounds, he's bigger than some linebackers and has the speed to play in coverage. "He's a really good, aggressive big safety," Webster said. "He likes to put his nose in there and he doesn't mind getting dirty."
The Giants are excited about seeing what a full offseason of football work can do for Jones. He also played baseball at LSU, which kept him out of the weight room more than other football players.
"He could be about 230 with some full-time training," Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross said. "He's still not developed in his upper body and his chest. Obviously, with some baseball stuff, you don't want to get too bulky and big. He could probably carry 230 easily."
Jones and Webster have been in touch since the draft - they call or text each other three or more times a week - but over the next few days, Jones will be by himself. His first lesson in NFL lifestyle from Webster will be to take advantage of the downtime. Veteran players are given the weekend off while the rookies come in.
"I'm going to let him be on his own this weekend and I'm going to enjoy some of the off time," Webster said with a chuckle. "But I'll be there for him if he needs a telephone call. And then for the rest of the year, too."
More Giants
