Landon Collins to get another new sidekick at safety
Another week, another wingman for Landon Collins.
“That’s funny,” the Giants starting safety said of having to play in Monday night’s game against the Vikings with what will probably be a third different fellow safety in four games. “And it’s very true.”
Nat Berhe, who had stepped in for Darian Thompson and his injured foot, is in the concussion protocol after reporting to work on Wednesday with a headache and not feeling well. That leaves the position almost completely depleted. The only other true safety on the roster is rookie Andrew Adams, he of the untimely penalty against Washington on special teams on Sunday, who has never taken a regular-season defensive snap. Veteran Leon Hall could also play safety, but he may be needed at cornerback if Eli Apple (hamstring) and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (groin) are unavailable. Neither of those two players practiced on Thursday.
“It’s not bad, but when you’re comfortable with somebody or with two guys who play with you and they get hurt, you have to get comfortable with the next person . . . it kind of gets complicated,” Collins said. “But at the end of the week we get better.”
Collins did not even take a rep with Adams during the preseason. Collins was with the starters all summer, Adams was an undrafted rookie out of UConn trying to make the team from the third string. Asked what kind of player Adams is, Collins chuckled.
“I couldn’t even tell you,” he said, before recovering a bit with adjectives that cover just about every defensive player in the NFL. “He’s agile, he’s quick, he’s fast. He knows what he’s doing and he’s assertive.”
Collins is only in his second season but has developed into a leader in the secondary . . . no matter who else is there with him.
“Compared to last year I’m 10 times more prepared [to deal with this],” he said. “I have to step up when stuff like this happens. When you have a change in the defense I don’t just stay settled. We need playmakers, and that’s what we have to do.”
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.
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