Ross changes exercise routine to stay healthy and on field

ALBANY - Aaron Ross wanted to get out of the training room and back on the field. Sometimes the fastest way between two points isn't a straight line.

That's the way Ross used to train: Straight. He'd run sprints. Then run them again. Sometimes backwards. He had a sheet of paper from the team with a list of those runs - shuttles, jogs, etc. - and he stuck to it.

Then last year, around this time, his hamstrings started to catch. He wound up with several tears in them throughout the season, missed the first nine games as well as the final three, lost his starting job at cornerback and had to deal not only with pain but fear.

"I was scared," he said. "Every movement, I was scared it was going to be the last one."

That's gone now, he said. His legs are stronger than they've ever been, thanks to a different training routine.

This offseason, he didn't just do what was on the paper. He ran in sand. He ran in different directions. He ran up and down stadium steps. He had Eric D'Agati, a trainer with Functional Movement Screening, come to his house several times a week, starting last fall, "to balance me out and stretch me." He got into Pilates. He started doing yoga.

"I pretty much took it upon myself," Ross said of changing his routine. "My wife [Olympic sprinter Sanya Richards], she does a lot of Pilates and stretching and she hasn't been injured. And just talking to Sam Madison and guys who have been in the league for a while and whose bodies are older, they let me know what I need to do to take better care of myself and make it in the league."

So far it's working. Ross not only has been on the field but has made an impact there. He had an interception recently and has looked good in coverage, primarily in the nickel packages. He's also moved in as the Giants' primary punt returner since Domenik Hixon was lost for the season with a torn ACL. "He has made a couple of very good plays as of late," coach Tom Coughlin said.

Still, it will be difficult for Ross to unseat Terrell Thomas as a starting cornerback. Thomas also has had a strong camp. That's fine with Ross.

"I'm really not focused on trying to get my job back, I'm just focused on trying to make it through camp and just doing what I need to do to get on the field," he said. "If I'm not the starter, then I'll be the best 12th man you've ever seen."

Being the 12th man is a lot better than being the man on the sideline who is too injured to play.