Kenny Phillips might see a big increase in action against the Ravens

Kenny Phillips might have found a way to extend his time on the field. He just needs to figure out a way to exploit it.

Phillips was supposed to play only six snaps against the Steelers on Saturday and coach Tom Coughlin said Phillips was taken out “right on the sixth play.” But apparently, the question is: what constitutes a play? That’s because Phillips was in the game for seven snaps – one of which was a holding penalty that negated a “play.”

So if Phillips, who has been limited in his recovery from knee surgery, wants to stay on the field as much as possible this Saturday against the Ravens, why not just keep grabbing guys to draw holding penalties?

“Then I’ll definitely come out of the game,” Phillips said.

Good point. Then again, it sounds like Phillips won’t have to artificially inflate his snap count.

Second-year safety Sha’reff Rashad is sidelined with a concussion and likely won’t play in Baltimore. Meanwhile, rookie free agent Michael Greco was waived/injured after suffering a knee injury. The Giants signed rookie Matt O’Hanlon, formerly of the Buccaneers, but he might not have enough knowledge of the system to play extensively.

So that means Phillips, who was to see a bit more action against the Ravens, could be asked to play much more.

“I’m hoping not to,” Coughlin said. “He should advance. He’s proven in the last couple of days of practice that, in addition to coming back and feeling fine, he can take some more reps so maybe that will allow us to give him a few more this weekend.”

Phillips didn’t see much action in his six, er, seven snaps against Pittsburgh. The closest ball to him was a completion to his left for 17 yards – a play on which Aaron Ross slipped.

Phillips believes he could have made a play on that ball and would have done so if he hadn’t lost sight of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

“I saw him open up (his shoulder) that way, so I was sort of cheating,” Phillips said. “And then, I couldn’t see him. One of his linemen hid him and he actually threw it that way.

“I felt good about just knowing he was going to throw that way. Maybe next time I’ll go get it. … I really felt I would have made that play if I would have seen him. I didn’t want to just take a chance and give up a big play.”

Phillips is hoping for more of a chance to make his own big play on Saturday. He plans to lobby Coughlin for more playing time.

“You know I am,” Phillips said. “I’m going to beg for a little bit more, no matter what he tells me.”

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(nj.com)