Bruce Johnson might see plenty of playing time in NFL debut for Giants

With starting CB Aaron Ross and backup Kevin Dockery both sidelined with hamstring injuries, Giants rookie Bruce Johnson has gotten plenty of work as the team's third corner in practice this week. But that's nothing new for Johnson, who saw plenty of action in training camp and the preseason while Ross and Corey Webster were out with injuries.

"I got a little bit tired," Johnson admitted Thursday. "I don't want to say that gave me an advantage, but it helped me out a lot when the season came around. I was tired, but I had to keep pushing through. We didn't have anybody else. I'm in football shape now."

Johnson had better be in shape because he might be needed on Sunday. Coach Tom Coughlin is hopeful Dockery will be available to come off the bench, but it's uncertain how much he'll be able to play. That could mean the Giants will need Johnson, an undrafted free agent from Miami, to play a lot in his first real game as a pro.

Coughlin doesn't appear to be worried, as he told reporters the team's turning to a rookie free agent "has happened before," such as Dockery in 2005 and Curtis Deloatch the previous season.

In fact, Coughlin walked into the training room on Saturday and asked Johnson if he could trust him. That was Johnson's only indication he had made the team ahead of sixth-round pick DeAndre Wright.

"I had worked hard, but you never know," Johnson said. "So you just have to keep pressing on each day in practice until you get that final word - and I got that final word.

"And I'm not going to stop. I'm just going to keep pressing hard."

He's been doing so ever since his draft stock fell from high- to mid-round pick to a player who didn't get a call until after the draft was over.

"That was just a little bit more motivation for me that, when I didn't get drafted, I'd show them what I can really do," he said. "By me working hard in training camp and minicamp and rookie minicamp, I think I had a chance to show what I could so. That was my goal coming in. I felt pretty good about everything. I just knew I had to keep up with the system and everything."



(nj.com)