How the Giants Might Be Planning to Replace James Bradberry

Cornerback Julian Love could be called upon this weekend to fill in for cornerback James Bradberry, who will miss Sunday's game after landing on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Giants cornerback James Bradberry tried to get his body right for this week’s big game against the Cleveland Browns by seeking chiropractic therapy from a third-party service.

Instead of being ready, the Giants' top cornerback will be sitting this week out after learning that he was deemed a high-risk close contact of someone in the chiropractic service that tested positive for COVID-19. This development has landed Bradberry on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

With Bradberry unavailable and rookie slot cornerback Darnay Holmes declared out this week due to a knee injury, the Giants are expected to turn to Julian Love, a college cornerback who has mostly played safety for the Giants since being drafted by the team last year in the fourth round out of Notre Dame.

"We have the utmost faith in Julian [Love],” safety Jabrill Peppers said when asked about the confidence level in Love.

“He's been working at corner for quite a while this year for just in case, and that's what he did in college. He was a Thorpe Award finalist for a reason. He's a sure tackler out there and we know he's going to compete."

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At Notre Dame, Love accumulated 176 tackles, five interceptions, and 39 passes defensed. However, since coming to the Giants, Love has played the bulk of his snaps at safety, this year seeing 453 snaps at free safety and only six as a boundary cornerback.

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Bradberry, who leads the league in pass breakups with 14, has been one of a small handful of Giants defensive players to take every snap.

Love, meanwhile, hasn't played more than 30 defensive snaps in any one game this year. So while it does look as though Love will get the opportunity for an increase in his snaps, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham hinted that he might deploy a committee approach in compensating for Bradberry’s loss.

“(Defensive backs coach) Jerome (Henderson) does a great job—he is always thinking ahead on situations like what if this happened,” Graham said.

“All those guys have rotated through corner, safety, whatever it may be. Sometimes I get caught as the coordinator in the Xs and the Os, and I’m like, ‘Why is so and so out there at corner? Oh, that’s what we talked about at the beginning of the year. We have to get thinking ahead so it’s not a surprise when it comes up.”

The Giants, who enter Sunday's game short-handed at cornerback--they'll be without Darnay Holmes, their slot corner who is out with a knee injury--are expected to call up Jarren Williams from their practice squad to provide additional depth.

They could also turn to safety Logan Ryan, who has lined up outside 26 times this season, to play on the perimeter in certain situations.

"It helps to have flexibility and have versatility on the back end," Graham said of his options. "That’s definitely a bonus."