Rookie LB Jones likely to start Sunday

Deon Grant liked what he saw, even if he wasn't sure whom he saw.

It was his first day of practice with the Giants in training camp last month, and Grant was on a knee near the sideline while the third-team defense was on the field. Some linebacker crashed into the fullback and came up from the hit screaming, exhorting his teammates to play more physical.

"I hear you 5-3!" Grant yelled back from his veteran's perch. But he still didn't know who 53 was.

He does now. It's Greg Jones, the sixth-round pick out of Michigan State who became one of four rookie linebackers to make the roster and, on Sunday, likely will become the first of that group to become a starter. Jones appears to be the man who will replace Jonathan Goff, the starting middle linebacker who was lost for the season with a torn ACL.

"I was impressed the first time I saw him," Grant, an 11-year veteran, said Wednesday. "The faith that his teammates have in him is very high. Jones is a smart, young linebacker who can play ball."

The Giants thought that when they drafted him, taking advantage of his undersized stature to snag him late in the selection process. He's listed at 6 feet, 248 pounds but is probably about 2 inches and 15 pounds shy of that. He was a two-time All-American at Michigan State, though, and Tom Coughlin said he hasn't seen any sign of a size impediment.

"He's got that force," Coughlin said. "He's always been an outstanding tackler, a physical player, and I think you can see that."

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Jones spent the preseason with the Giants and played well enough in the games, getting two sacks against the Patriots in the finale. But there was one thing he hadn't done all summer that he got to do Wednesday for the first time: line up with the first team and call the defense.

"It was cool just being out there," Jones said of the practice where he was between starters Michael Boley and Mathias Kiwanuka. "It's a different type of motivation and everybody is so positive and not saying 'You're only a rookie.' Everybody is saying 'You can do this, believe in yourself and we'll follow your lead.' Everybody works together, so it felt good."

Coughlin didn't say that Jones will start Sunday against the Redskins, but he made it clear that he'd be comfortable with him doing so if it came down to it (and what other choice does he have?).

"We can play a game the way we are, the way our breakdown goes right now," Coughlin said. Beyond that, the Giants brought in some veterans for a tryout Wednesday in a group that included former Giants Chase Blackburn and Kawika Mitchell, but they are unlikely to add anyone until next week, when veteran contracts are no longer guaranteed.

Jones said he'd be comfortable making the calls and checks on Sunday, even though he's a rookie, had no offseason, and has been in the NFL for a little more than a month. A more likely option could be having Boley handle it. The Giants also have to figure out how to reconfigure their substitution packages, which already have been redesigned with the loss of cornerback Terrell Thomas.

"All these things have to be taken into consideration," Coughlin said of how the game plan changes for Sunday. "We'll force-feed it, obviously, and then we'll make some decisions on what we can play without, what possible errors could be made in some situations that we don't want to have to put ourselves through. We'll make those decisions."

As for Jones, Coughlin made it sound as if he is ready. If he's not, he'd better be.

"He's been here all preseason," Coughlin said. "He is a good football player or he wouldn't be here. He's had a good preseason. Sometimes," he added with a wary smile, "it's time to step it up."

The Greg Jones file

LB, Michigan State

6 feet, 248

Drafted: Round 6, 185 overall

Slip in production in senior season (154 tackles and 9.0 sacks as junior, 106 and 1.0 sacks as senior) had him slide in the draft, but Giants loved his overall stats . . . Undersized for a middle linebacker, but plays with heart and intensity and is a vocal leader . . . Was the first Spartan to earn back-to-back consensus first-team All-American honors (2009-10) since Bubba Smith and George Webster in 1965-66 . . . Credited with eight tackles and two sacks in preseason.