While his coach almost shrugged off the idea that the season was set to start, New York Giants safety Landon Collins embraced the start of a new year in the NFL as well as his team’s marquee match-up in Week 1.
Collins, a candidate for MVP last year and the brightest star of what is a talented Giants defense, showed plenty of enthusiasm on Monday about the start of the season. Much like they did last year, the Giants open at the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1, a match between the top two teams in the NFC East a season ago. It is two playoff teams from 2016 that think they can each challenge for the Super Bowl.
And for Collins, all the buzz about the game is something that certainly has him amped and ready to go.
A few moments after cautioning that “it’s one game, it’s early,” Collins personally embraced all the talk around this game and the start of the season.
“Oh yeah, I feed off of that. It’s something that I harp on,” Collins said. “It puts a fire in me and just makes me play a little bit harder.”
His head coach on Monday seemed barely to acknowledge that the season was starting. Typical to his form of not giving away much to the media, head coach Ben McAdoo said little and certainly didn’t show much enthusiasm publicly for the start of a season where the Giants are legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
He wasn’t exactly George Gipp on Monday. Then again, if he adds another trophy to the Giants coffers, he doesn’t have to be.
“We just try to take advantage of every day. We have to find a way to get better regardless of what time of year it is, whether it is preseason. Preseason is just as important as anything else,” McAdoo said. “Making sure you evaluate who you need to evaluate, so you make good decisions when it comes to your 53. So, we are all excited for the season, glad it is here.”
