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BY Ralph Vacchiano
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Tuesday, July 27th 2010, 4:00 AM
Keith Bulluck knows his new team has something to prove after last year's disaster. He just can't believe how so many people are dismissing it as a potential contender in the NFC East.
"The (Giants) have talent, and they brought in talent," Bulluck, the newest Giant, said Monday on a conference call. "I know this team as a whole has something to prove. (But) for everyone to be talking about Dallas, Washington, and Philadelphia and not talking about Big Blue is absurd."
It seems a little bit more so now that the Giants finally filled their most gaping hole on defense when they signed the 33-year-old Bulluck to be their middle linebacker. Bulluck, though, has a few things to prove himself, too - like whether his surgically repaired left ACL will hold up, and whether he can play in the middle after spending the last 10 years in Tennessee playing the outside.
The knee, he insisted again, is about "90%" healthy and he plans to be ready for the start of training camp in Albany on Sunday. He said, however, because he's not quite in football shape yet, "I've been told that they're not going to try and kill me in two-a-days."
As for the switch to middle, Bulluck insisted it won't be as big a change as it seems.
"I'm a linebacker that doesn't come off the field," Bulluck said. "On first and second down (with the Titans), I would play on the weak side. On third, depending on the offensive set, I'd be in the middle. The last three years I have been playing both outside and inside. I played outside for a year and half at Syracuse. We were always behind the ball. I was never up, stacked on the defensive end or anything.
"The only difference to me I see is more opportunity to make plays. If you just play on one side, then you're that defensive player on your team that they try to scheme you up, to cut off blocks, and run away. In the middle, you can run at me but you can't run away from me. (So) there's not much of a difference to me, man. It's football at the end of the day, and I'm a football player."
Bulluck said he hasn't actually been promised the starting job in the middle, and he expects a competition over the summer with rookie Phillip Dillard and veterans Jonathan Goff, Gerris Wilkinson and Chase Blackburn. Obviously, though, the Giants didn't convince him to spurn the Arizona Cardinals by not dangling a starting job, as well as a one-year, $2.5 million deal.
The other reason he decided to come back to play in his hometown, according to Bulluck who will wear Harry Carson's old No. 53 this season, was the chance to play for a team with enough talent to contend for a championship. And that's exactly what he believes his new team has.
"I'm just excited that we have the guys we have here," Bulluck said. "And they want to win. A lot of people here know what it's like to win. They've held that trophy up and they have rings at home that indicate that. No one is happy with just one. The Boston Celitcs said that throughout the (NBA) playoffs. Ray Allen said it's the first one that's easy, and the second one is the hardest.
"We might have to get three in my time here."
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Tuesday, July 27th 2010, 4:00 AM
Keith Bulluck knows his new team has something to prove after last year's disaster. He just can't believe how so many people are dismissing it as a potential contender in the NFC East.
"The (Giants) have talent, and they brought in talent," Bulluck, the newest Giant, said Monday on a conference call. "I know this team as a whole has something to prove. (But) for everyone to be talking about Dallas, Washington, and Philadelphia and not talking about Big Blue is absurd."
It seems a little bit more so now that the Giants finally filled their most gaping hole on defense when they signed the 33-year-old Bulluck to be their middle linebacker. Bulluck, though, has a few things to prove himself, too - like whether his surgically repaired left ACL will hold up, and whether he can play in the middle after spending the last 10 years in Tennessee playing the outside.
The knee, he insisted again, is about "90%" healthy and he plans to be ready for the start of training camp in Albany on Sunday. He said, however, because he's not quite in football shape yet, "I've been told that they're not going to try and kill me in two-a-days."
As for the switch to middle, Bulluck insisted it won't be as big a change as it seems.
"I'm a linebacker that doesn't come off the field," Bulluck said. "On first and second down (with the Titans), I would play on the weak side. On third, depending on the offensive set, I'd be in the middle. The last three years I have been playing both outside and inside. I played outside for a year and half at Syracuse. We were always behind the ball. I was never up, stacked on the defensive end or anything.
"The only difference to me I see is more opportunity to make plays. If you just play on one side, then you're that defensive player on your team that they try to scheme you up, to cut off blocks, and run away. In the middle, you can run at me but you can't run away from me. (So) there's not much of a difference to me, man. It's football at the end of the day, and I'm a football player."
Bulluck said he hasn't actually been promised the starting job in the middle, and he expects a competition over the summer with rookie Phillip Dillard and veterans Jonathan Goff, Gerris Wilkinson and Chase Blackburn. Obviously, though, the Giants didn't convince him to spurn the Arizona Cardinals by not dangling a starting job, as well as a one-year, $2.5 million deal.
The other reason he decided to come back to play in his hometown, according to Bulluck who will wear Harry Carson's old No. 53 this season, was the chance to play for a team with enough talent to contend for a championship. And that's exactly what he believes his new team has.
"I'm just excited that we have the guys we have here," Bulluck said. "And they want to win. A lot of people here know what it's like to win. They've held that trophy up and they have rings at home that indicate that. No one is happy with just one. The Boston Celitcs said that throughout the (NBA) playoffs. Ray Allen said it's the first one that's easy, and the second one is the hardest.
"We might have to get three in my time here."
