Giants' Xavier McKinney, a former Alabama star, is not used to losing
The Eagles' Miles Sanders, center, is tackled by the Giants' Logan Ryan, left, and Xavier McKinney during the first half of an NFL game on Sunday in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Rourke
Xavier McKinney will do something Sunday that he hasn’t had to do in years. He’ll play in a meaningless football game.
Plenty of Giants have been here long enough to have played in games with the team mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, as they were with Sunday’s loss. McKinney, though, is not among them. In three years at Alabama, he was in four losing games, total. With the Giants, he’s been in four losing games this month.
"It’s very difficult," the second-year safety said of dealing with so much losing. "I think the best thing about this is, everything in life is pretty much an experience. I always try to look at the positives within the situation that’s going on now. I think this is going to build a lot of character for us as a team, as individuals and especially for me."
McKinney knew the NFL would not be like college, but after going 38-4 at Alabama, he likely had no idea that his pro career would start off with a 10-21 record. At least last year as a rookie, the Giants were in the mix for a division title in their last regular-season game. This year they’re playing out the string, starting with Sunday’s game against the Bears.
That’s a first for McKinney and, he hopes, a last.
"I hate to lose, and I’m trying to be a part of this organization and change the culture, just knowing that’s been kind of the culture the last four or five years, however long it’s been," he said. "I want to be the one to change that culture and turn it around."
Notes & quotes: Matt Peart, who the Giants hoped would earn the starting job at right tackle this year but wound up as a reserve, tore his left ACL on Sunday and will miss the rest of the season. The third-round pick in 2020 remains in the Giants’ long-term plans, coach Joe Judge said Monday. Korey Cunningham replaced Peart on Sunday and Judge said the team will look at other options, including former Titans 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Wilson, who is on their practice squad. The Giants also could get Nate Solder back in time for Sunday’s game. Solder was placed in COVID protocols Saturday, but if the NFL abides by new CDC guidelines, he might be able to return . . . Same with safety Julian Love, who was placed on the COVID list Monday. Love, a Chicago-area native, has been looking forward to the game against the Bears for weeks . . . If the NFL’s current COVID protocols remain in place, the next player to clear them will be special-teamer Keion Crossen on Thursday.
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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