Mathias Kiwanuka could slide into Justin Tuck's role

Mathias Kiwanuka finished last season as a starting defensive end and began this one as a starting linebacker, but you can't really call him a full-time starter or even pin down his position. That versatility, however, makes him the perfect candidate to slide into defensive end Justin Tuck's spot if his shoulder injury limits his effectiveness against Tennessee on Sunday.

Tuck has said he intends to play, and Kiwanuka fully expects that. "That's the type of mentality he has, and that's why I respect him a lot," Kiwanuka said of Tuck. "I have all the faith he's going to do everything he can to get back on the field."

When the defensive linemen moved off to hit the blocking sled in the part of practice witness by the media today, Kiwanuka did not accompany them. He remained with the linebackers and cornerbacks working on their various packages. Does that mean he's a linebacker now?

"Umm, I don't know," Kiwanuka said with a smile. "It depends on what today is. Today is Friday? Yeah, I'll be a linebacker today."

Sunday could be a different story. In the opener against Carolina, Kiwanuka recorded two of the Giants' four sacks, and he was coming from defensive end on both plays. That should say something about his ability up front.

"It says something to me," Kiwanuka said, "but once you get into the season, it's not about the individual. For me, it's the last year of my contract. It's a good opportunity for me to showcase all the skills I have. Whatever this team asks me to do, I'll do it, and next year will be a new year."

It might be early, but the veterans on the defensive line could be under the microscope against the Titans. They finished last season poorly and then gave up 160 yards rushing to the Colts of all teams last week. If Tennessee running back Chris Johnson has a field day, you'd think rookies Jason Pierre-Paul and Linval Joseph might get a chance for serious playing time.

"It's one game," Kiwanuka said of the Colts loss. "It's still early in the season. If you start panicking and try to change everything, you kind of kill the whole season. The standpoint we're looking at it from is that it was a loss, a bad loss, not something we're proud of. But when it comes down to it, we expect them to come up with a gameplan, and we'll go out and play and let everything take care of itself."

The performance last week was heavily influenced by defensive coordinator Perry Fewell's gameplan that relied on six defensive backs most of the game and never really adjusted to stop the Colts' running game because of the fear of what quarterback Peyton Manning might do.

"There were a lot of mistakes," Kiwanuka said. "It wasn't just a coaching error. There were player errors, too. I made some of them. Like I said, from top to bottom, we have to come out and execute a better gameplan."