Henderson “didn’t like” touchdown catch by CeeDee Lamb
New York Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson was critical on Friday of cornerback Deonte Banks’ effort on a 55-yard touchdown pass Banks allowed to CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys last Thursday.
“Didn’t like it. Liked nothing about it,” Henderson said. “When your man catches the ball, you have break your legs, figuratively, to get him on the ground. And I thought there was room to do more. We expect that from him and he expects that from himself but in that moment he failed.”
After watching the play on film, Banks agreed that the play “was a bad finish by me.”
“After I saw the film, I didn’t really feel it in the game. But I could have definitely finished more. I maybe could have even tackled him,” Banks said. “But we’re past it now.
“In the game, I thought it was like an angle like thing. I didn’t think it was an effort until I saw the film. It looked like, ‘oh, I could [have] had it. I could have done more’.”
This is the play Henderson was critical of:
The one where CeeDee Lamb ’d Deonte Banks.
pic.twitter.com/Gr9dStwvmG— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) September 27, 2024
Banks has been tasked this season with being the Giants’ No. 1 cornerback. That has not gone well for the 2023 first-round pick. Banks has given up 16 receptions in 25 targets (64%).
The biggest issue has not been being out of position. It has usually been not locating the ball.
“We’re working on it all the time, just trying to get him to understand that when you’re on a number one guy, even when he’s covered, to a quarterback’s mind, he’s not covered,” Henderson said. “So you have to anticipate, no matter how good the coverage is, the ball is coming right now, every play. The one play you don’t, is the one play they get you.
“To be honest, he’s been a victim of that a little bit. Those big plays that have hurt us. We gotta find a way to not relax there, to find a way to make a play. And some of it hasn’t been relaxing. It’s been really good plays by really good players. But we got to find a way to get those balls on the ground or we catch those balls, and we make the quarterback think, maybe I shouldn’t go there now. Maybe that’s not a good idea.”
Banks was drafted by the Giants to be a press-man cornerback in Wink Martindale’s scheme. Shane Bowen’s defense that relies more on zone coverage is an admitted adjustment.
“I’m trying. Doing my best,” Banks said. “I’m trying to be a better player every day.”
Bigger role for Azeez?
With Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux getting both the headlines and the vast majority of reps, Azeez Ojulari has been relegated to third wheel in the Giants’ edge defender rotation.
“We all want good players on the field,” said outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen. “I think Azeez can play more snaps. Anytime you have a lot of good players and a lot of rushers, that’s a good problem to have. But I think if Azeez is playing more, then the other guys can stay fresher.
“So I think Azeez can play more, should play more, and I think he’s done a heck of a job.”
It remains to be seen how — or if — the Giants find ways to get Ojulari more snaps.
Are Thibodeaux, Burns doing enough?
Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns were expected to form a dominant, game-changing edge duo for the Giants. Over the course of the first four games, it has not worked out that way. The duo has only 2.5 combined sacks (1.5 for Thibodeaux, 1.0 for Burns).
Everybody wants sacks, myself included,” Bullen said. “Those guys want sacks, but you have to execute the game plan which involves, for a pass rusher, affecting the quarterback. So we focus on that. … Are we affecting the quarterback?
“I think we have at times done a really good job of that and at times we can do better. But that’s where our focus is at, just how can we affect the quarterback. Hopefully that involves sacking the quarterback and getting them down, but that doesn’t always come to fruition in terms of a sack.”
Thibodeaux is on pace for 6.0 sacks a year after posting 11.5. The 2022 No. 5 overall pick has spoken about a desire to break the single-season sack record and to become an all-time franchise great. His production, though, is not to that level.
What does Bullen think of Thibodeaux’s play?
“I think he’s been good. I think he’s playing hard, he’s attacking off the ball, he’s using his hands well, and he’s just going hard,” Bullen said. “And to me, if your effort is there with your technique and an attacking mentality, the production comes.
“Within that, from a technique standpoint, I think that’s where his continued improvement can come and I would say consistency comes into play with that. He’s still a young player going into year three and just piecing it all together and doing it consistently, I would say, is his challenge at this stage in his career. So can he be more consistent? Yeah. Is the foundational big picture?(11:21) Are those things there right now for him? Yeah, I think he’s done a good job in that regard.”
Offensive line weakness ‘pretty obvious’
Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo said Friday it was “pretty obvious” that the Giants needed to do a better job in run blocking.
“We all know that,” Bricillo said. “But we’re not satisfied within our pass protection either, so I think it’s something that we’ve got to get better at. And I think that goes across the board.
“It’s like we’ve all taken a turn in it. Whether I schemed up a poor play, whether somebody went the wrong way, whether we targeted the wrong way, whether we had a poor technique.It’s not one thing in particular. It’s a group of things. And it’ll take all of us to get it right, too.”
