Kenny Phillips says team will experience 'something special' against Jets

It started with an answer to a question about the pass rush well in front of Kenny Phillips.

“We haven’t gotten sacks in a while but we still have a great pass rush and they’re ready to get after it,” the Giants’ safety said today after practice. “I like our matchups, I like our chances and I think we’ll be successful this week.”

For the rest of the session with reporters, Phillips made it clear he’s got a very good feeling about the Giants’ chances against the Jets and for the rest of the season.

“A player talking up his own team?” you ask. “What’s the big deal? Happens all the time. For Antrel Rolle, it’s a weekly ritual.”

Well, yeah, but it’s rare to see Phillips speak so confidently. That’s why his words carry weight. Well, that and the fact the last time he puffed out his chest was before the game against the New England Patriots — a game, if you can recall that far back, the Giants won.

Like yours truly, Rolle and a few others, Phillips has seen some giddy-up in the Giants’ gait this week. And he likes it.

“I’m not really that guy,” he said of his being such a public boaster. “I just watched the way we practiced this week, I listened to the guys, I just feel like we’re ready. I really think so.”

He continued, “Like the morale, you would think after losing five of the last six that guys would be down, but you can tell guys are really buying into it, buying in to the defense and into the whole Giants organization. Practice has been crazy. Guys have been running around, just having fun. And I think that’s something we have to get back to — having fun — and that’s what we’re doing. I’m really positive, I feel positive about this week.”
The next reply from Phillips hammered it home: “I mean, it’s going to be something special this week.”

Funny, because Santonio Holmes said similar things on Wednesday when he said the Giants’ secondary misses a lot of tackles and can be beat over the top.

Asked if those comments are “disrespectful,” Phillips replied, “Yeah you could say that. I think it’s very disrespectful, But at the same time, he’s entitled to his opinion. We feel a certain way, we’re not going to put it in the media or whatever but we’ll have it in the back of our heads when we’re out there playing. And he knows that.”

Phillips isn't surprised by the chatter that began in Florham Park and was volleyed back by the Giants on Wednesday.

"That's just the Jets," he said. "They talk a lot; we don't. That's all it is."


(nj.com)