Giants Rookie CB Dru Phillips All Ears When It Comes to Perfecting His Craft

Dru Phillips is trying to lock down the Giants slot cornerback spot.

East Rutherford, NJ -- July 24, 2024 -- Dru Phillips, cornerback, during the first day of training camp for the 2024 New York Giants. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - New York Giants cornerback Dru Phillips, appeared to be taken aback by the question.

“So much run?” he asked, repeating the reporter’s question about the amount of snaps he’s gotten thus far in training camp at the slot cornerback spot.

When the question was clarified, Phillips was nonchalant. “It’s just another day of going out there and competing,” he said. 

“I don’t think of it as where I’m at, it’s more the reps I do get, make them count the most. I don’t really care what I run with, whatever makes this team better.”

What will make the team better is for Phillips, the team’s third round draft pick this year, to cinch the slot cornerback role, a position where last season, of the four Giants who played a minimum of 40 snaps in the slot, only Darnay Holmes, who played 56 snaps, finished with a decent enough coverage rating (70.7).

“I’ve made some plays. It shows the hard work I’ve put in and what I’m trying to get done. I’ve been making plays, but I feel like there’s so much more I can still do,” Phillips said of his quest to nail down the job.

One of the key things is to get the game to slow down, a process that Phillips said is coming along 

“It's been so fast, especially with the talent of guys, you're at a new level, and the efficiency and the attention to detail is so much higher,” he said. 

“There's so much going on, especially with the nickel, at one time, it's like, ‘bam, bam, bam, bam, bam,’ but in like two seconds. You've got to think, make a play, move on, and try also to be in the right spot to make a play. Yeah, it's faster, but it's going to slow down eventually. I'm just taking my time and learning everything.”

Phillips said he’s been leaning on the veterans in the room to pick up tricks and tips.

“From my position, you have guys like (cornerback) Nick McCloud and (safety/inside linebacker) Isaiah Simmons. Those two guys, they’re older. They’ve been doing it, especially Nick. He teaches me so much. Anytime I have a question, I go ask him. He’s been nothing but a great leader and role model for me.”

And there is also defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson.  

 “He’s a great coach,” Phillips said of the former NFL defensive back turned coach. “I haven’t had a coach like him, I would say. He’s so straightforward and he’s so knowledgeable. Every day when I’m in there, I’ve just learned to shut up and listen to everything he says.”

Phillips sheepishly admitted that he likes to ask a lot of questions and has to hold his tongue sometimes, but he is willing to do that to reach his goal of being the best he can be at his position.  

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