The Sports Xchange

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For wide receiver James Jones, who spent the first seven years of his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, his signing with the New York Giants isn’t exactly the same as going home, but it’s pretty darn close.

That’s because, in choosing the Giants from among a handful of suitors, Jones chose an offensive system that is very similar to what he played in for all those years in Green Bay.

“Obviously every offensive coordinator puts their own tweaks on the offense, so there are a couple of different things in the offense, but it’s very similar to the Green Bay system,” he said. “I was very comfortable out there, had some good years out there, so I’m excited about it.”

The 31-year-old Jones said the biggest appeal to the system, now run by former Packers assistant coach Ben McAdoo, who joined the Giants last year as offensive coordinator, is that it’s fairly simple for receivers to do what they do best.

“There’s really not a lot of thinking. Just go out there and play. Just go out there playing and putting the pressure on the quarterbacks, as they should because they’re making the big bucks,” Jones said. “It just allows you to go out there and play and not think too much.”

Jones said he’s not worried about a crowded Giants receiving corps that — barring injuries to Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham Jr., Rueben Randle and Dwayne Harris — has, at best, two more openings.

“You can’t really get into who’s gonna make the team and who’s fighting for spots,” Jones said. “I’ve been in the league for a little while and I’m just here to have fun and enjoy the time while I’m out here.”

He pointed to his time in Green Bay, where the Packers’ receiving weapons included Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson, Greg Jennings, Randall Cobb and Jermichael Finley at various times, and he noted that good quarterbacks such as the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers and the Giants’ Eli Manning find ways to spread the ball around.

Jones said, “I come from some talented offenses and we all were involved. We all had a chance to make the plays. Some people got more involved than others did, but we all had a chance to make the plays.

“When you have a bunch of receivers like we have in that room on the field, it’s going to be tough to stop, and I’ve been a part of offenses like that where defenses have had trouble defending a lot of weapons, especially if you’re rolling them in and out. So, I look in that room we have, and I think we could be tough to stop.”

–If safety Landon Collins, a second-round pick from Alabama, is the least bit intimidated about the challenges of winning a starting job, he has done a great job of hiding it.

“No, it’s not too fast for me,” he said about the challenges of learning the defense and making the calls. “I can read; I’m very keen on what’s going on. I pay attention a lot and I pick up the defense very well. It gives me the chance to worry about what the offense is doing and not trying to make play calls.”

The Giants understandably have some trepidation about the possibility of fielding two safeties in the defensive backfield with zero NFL starting experience. Collins said he understands that concern.

“We’re the quarterbacks of the defense in the back and you have to be able to put everyone in their positions, from the linebackers on back,” Collins said. “We can help everybody know; we’re the last line of defense.”

With that said, Collins is doing everything he can to expedite his learning curve and become an on-field general.

He has been leaning on veteran teammates for advice, but one person in particular who has taken Collins under his wing has been cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

Said Collins: “He says, ‘Man, it’s out there. Just go grab it and keep playing balls out, and nothing is going to stop you.'”

Cornerback Prince Amukamara was asked how he and Rodgers-Cromartie might be able to help the inexperienced safeties.

“I think it just depends on what they show us,” he said. “If they show us that they can handle it and they don’t need us to talk to them a lot, then we’ll adjust. But I would say that coach Spags (Steve Spagnuolo) knows the type of personnel he has to work with, and you do have two veteran cornerbacks who are pretty good, so he might try to lock me and DRC up so there’s not a lot of pressure on those guys. But we don’t really know yet.”

Until they do know, Collins and the rest of the safeties can expect a hotly contested battle this summer, something he’s more than ready to embrace.

He said, “You go in there not knowing what’s going to happen. They could pull you to the second team; you could be on the third team. It’s always a mental thing for me. You have an open mind because you never know where they’re going to put you at. Just be ready and don’t let it set you back.”