Rolle happy with debut at nickel
New York Jets' Shonn Greene runs the ball while teammate Santonio Holmes, center, blocks New York Giants' Antrel Rolle during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game in East Rutherford, N.J. (Aug. 29, 2011) Credit: AP
Antrel Rolle said it’s going to take some time before he feels like he’s back at home playing cornerback in the Giants’ nickel defense, but the Pro Bowl safety said he was happy with his first step.
“It’s just something I’m working on right now,” he said. “It’s going to take a little while for me to find my comfort zone, but for the first debut in a while I thought it was pretty solid.”
Rolle plays safety in the base defense but when the Giants go to three cornerbacks he moves down and covers the slot receiver. Deon Grant comes in to play safety with Kenny Phillips.
Rolle had only one ball thrown his way in the nickel, and it was when he was covering Santonio Holmes and Mark Sanchez threw a pass too soon. It bounced off Holmes’ helmet.
“I just try to put my hands on him as much as I can,” he said of covering players off the line of scrimmage. “Any receiver, if you disrupt their route it throws off the timing so I think that’s definitely my strength when you talk about press man coverage. I just tried to make sure I was on the same page with my defense and making sure I knew all my key assignments and adjustments.”
