Like the rest of the NFL, the New York Giants are in the midst of a virtual offseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, defensive back Julian Love feels the offseason is going well.
In an appearance on the “Giants Huddle” podcast, Love said the Giants have worked trivia about their teammates and the New Jersey area into the mix.
“There’s an importance on getting to know the area because we’re the New York Giants and we encompass a lot of demographics, a lot of people, a lot of areas geographically as well,” Love said. “So part of it could be know the New Jersey area, know different areas of New York in trivia and geographic ways, and then there is get to know your teammates. It could be where somebody is from, what high school they went to, their picture and name this person – coaches as well. Everybody is involved into who could pop up on the trivia. So that’s a conversation starter with that person going forward. You learn such interesting [backstories] on people. I think you learn more doing that than you do in person with each other in a way.”
“That implementation has been awesome. I really enjoyed each day hopping online to meet with people and meet with teammates and to see what the new challenge is for that day. Communication has been flowing, very fluid and open. I think that’s important right now to build that camaraderie, which we’re not able to because we’re not in the facility together.”
Love feels he has been able to grasp new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s playbook.
“It’s tough at first, but they’ve done a great job setting up film, setting up meetings, certain PowerPoints,” Love said. “Some coaches might step back in the camera and demonstrate something, which is kind of funny. But I think it’s gone well. None of us can control what is happening right now and why we’re in this virtual setting, but all we can do is our very best to learn as much as possible in this setting. And I think we’ve done a great job so far. Everything is very easy, they put it in front of you, a lot of guys are asking a lot of questions, and I think that’s a start of building something great.”
Love finds that applying pressure is pivotal to one’s growth.
“I like to say I’m always confident in my abilities and learning playbooks and being intelligent, just learning to grow – and I am,” Love said. “I’m excited for all that, but then you’ve got to have that element of pressure behind you to be able to grow and get better. I think that’s kind of what I’ve always done every year of football no matter what level I’m at, no matter what I accomplished the year before. You’ve got to feel that element of pressure in order to grow.”
Love expresses how he wants to be a “factor” for the Giants.
“I want to just be a factor,” Love said. “I want to contribute in a positive way and do whatever I have to do to do that. Last year – I don’t want to talk about last year too much – but I tried to be there in any way I could [by] knowing the playbook, knowing different things I could do to see the field and just try to help. And it’s not for, ‘Oh, I want to play, I want to play.’ No, I want to help. I want to build on this. So my personal goal is just to be ready for that.”
The Giants selected Love with the 108th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was inserted into the starting lineup when safety Jabrill Peppers suffered an injury in a Week 12 matchup against the Chicago Bears. Love started five games, totaling 37 combined tackles, five tackles for loss and one interception.
This post was published on 2020-06-23 15:11
