Word on the road at Giants camp is Kayvon Thibodeaux can sing.
The No. 5 general choose’s rendition of The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy” was the standout efficiency of every day rookie singing within the defensive assembly room.
That earned him an encore efficiency days later, and in keeping with gamers, Thibodeaux introduced the home down with a rousing rendition of Chris Brown’s “Yo (Excuse Me Miss).”
“He’s the best performer for sure,” a teammate mentioned. “He knocks it out of the park.”
Oddly, nevertheless, Thibodeaux was not amused Friday when advised he’d been labeled the highest rookie performer.
“Who’d you hear from?” he mentioned. Teammates, he was advised.
“I mean, no,” he mentioned, sheepishly. He was requested if he’d at all times been an excellent singer.
“Uh, I don’t know, what do you think? That’s a — What’d they tell you about my skills?” he mentioned. That he’s one of the best within the room.
“I’m happy they feel that way,” Thibodeaux deadpanned.
The Giants didn’t even embrace the alternate within the transcript of Thibodeaux’s podium interview.
Thibodeaux’s message seemed to be that he’d quite concentrate on soccer, significantly Sunday evening’s preseason recreation in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals at MetLife Stadium. And there’s nothing fallacious with that.
After all, nobody has greater expectations for Thibodeaux than he does.
He has memorized teammate Azeez Ojulari’s official Giants rookie sack file — “eight and a half,” he answered promptly. And he intends to interrupt it this fall.
“I mean, I wouldn’t not want it [the record], so …,” Thibodeaux mentioned with fun.
There are indicators he may do it, too, based mostly on his encouraging begin to coaching camp.
For one, Thibodeaux thus far has proven himself to be a strong, usually immovable physique setting the sting in run protection. He doesn’t usually lose floor. He both stands a lineman up or creates a push into the backfield.
He seems like a three-down participant, not a cross rusher who may get subbed out situationally.
“That’s been great for us, because he’s not just a 1-on-1 pass rusher,” exterior linebackers coach Drew Wilkins mentioned lately. “He’s the total package as far as [how] he sets that edge, he’s violent in the run game, and he’s got a motor as a pass rusher. It’s not just gonna be one move clean all the time [for any edge rusher]. And he fights and he scraps.”
Secondly, Thibodeaux confirmed humility and poise on the Giants’ preseason opener in New England.
He mentioned he wasn’t nervous in any respect — “I try to stay level and poised. I was just focused and waiting to see what was to come.” And he rejected the premise that he was having a robust camp.
“No. I feel like it can be better,” he mentioned. “I feel like I got a lot of stuff to work on. It’s all about translation. You can make 100 shots in practice, but if you don’t make it in a game, you’re not worth nothin’.”
Thirdly — and Giants followers will love this — Thibodeaux was genuinely disillusioned he solely performed 14 snaps within the opener in opposition to the Patriots.
“I mean I was sad when it was my time to stop, actually I was really pissed,” he mentioned postgame Aug. 11 at Gillette Stadium. “I tried [to stay in], but they told me I was done, and I said, ‘for this snap, for this drive?” And [coach] mentioned, ‘no for the sport.’”
On Friday, he lobbied for extra enjoying time in opposition to Cincinnati, so hopefully which means an extended showcase for the hometown followers.
“Hopefully I get a little more run in the second preseason game,” Thibodeaux mentioned. “But definitely [I’m] just trying to refine and realize that you only have so many rushes and plays to dominate. So [I’m] making sure I don’t leave anything out there.”
Thibodeaux additionally mentioned he’s performed lots on the suitable aspect as a result of “I’ve had this chip on my shoulder with [left tackle] Andrew [Thomas] simply ensuring that I proceed to maintain going after him.
“I’ve got to even up the score,” he mentioned of their head-to-head work. “He kind of got ahead a little bit [in training camp] and I’ve got to even it back up.”
That competitiveness is music to the Giants teaching employees’s ears. Thibodeaux’s eagerness to refine his craft and carry out exhibits up in his apply habits, too. He’s all enterprise.
As onerous as Wilkins coaches Thibodeaux — continually reinforcing hand placement and rush methods — the defensive assistant mentioned that’s what the rookie needs, too.
He needs to be nice.
“Every great player I’ve been around — Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil, all those guys that wanna be great — those little details, they wanna be coached hard,” Wilkins mentioned. “They wanna be maximized on every single rep. And the great thing with [Thibodeaux] is whether it’s the run game, pass rush, dropping in coverage, the pressure stunts, everything else, he’s a perfectionist himself. So I’m gonna push him to that level because he wants to be pushed that hard.”
Keeping the concentrate on the sphere, although, could also be simpler mentioned than carried out some weeks.
This week, for instance, Super Bowl champion edge rusher Chris Long recorded constructive critiques of Thibodeaux and rookie sort out Even Neal in a video for The thirty third Team assume tank.
Long mentioned Thibodeaux is “really a good hip turner at the top of the rush” however must “work really hard on his technique” and strikes to get there. Long additionally mentioned “for as slight as he is,” Thibodeaux doesn’t seem “extremely twitchy” and that “he seems to lay hands on people, not put them on people … So he’s got a lot of work to do.”
It wasn’t scathing clickbait. These have been respectable teaching factors from a former No. 2 general NFL Draft choose.
Thibodeaux appeared irritable throughout his Friday interview performed instantly after apply. It wasn’t clear if exterior noise was bothering him. But his tone was totally different.
Like when he was requested if defensive coordinator Don Martindale generally asks his edge rushers to create a chance for others within the Giants’ blitz-heavy scheme — quite than being the tip of the spear themselves.
“I mean that’s everybody, that’s the game,” Thibodeaux mentioned. “I try to explain football to a lot of people who just watch for entertainment, but if you’re not making the play, you’re doing something that is going to help someone else make the play. That’s every play. So, yeah, every team has that. That’s like one of the pillars of football.”
Maybe he’s uninterested in speaking about enjoying soccer — and about his singing abilities — and he simply needs to play. Understandable.
Bring on the Bengals and a better take a look at the Giants’ prized choose.
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com