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Whitfield Ready to Roll
Topic Started: Nov 16 2006, 10:52 PM (20 Views)
KCGirl
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Shaper of Young Minds (aaahhhhhh!)
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
Whitfield Ready to Step Back in the Ring
Fifteen-year vet will fill in as Manning's protector at left tackle.
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

November 16, 2006

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – He is a 15-year veteran who will play in his 214th game and make his 170th career start, but Bob Whitfield said he’ll still feel butterflies in his belly before the Giants tangle with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night.

“I get them every time I play,” Whitfield said today. “It’s the matchup, the competition – you just have nerves. It’s like the first time playing every time. You just try to do a lot of things right. You get butterflies. But after you hit somebody, you settle in. The first hit knocks them out.”

Despite his vast experience, the 6-5, 318-pound Whitfield has good reason to be a little nervous, because he has suddenly become one of the Giants’ most important players. A fractured left fibula will sideline left tackle Luke Petitgout for an indefinite time period. Whitfield, who turned 35 last month, will assume the offensive line’s marquee position and protect Eli Manning’s blind side.

Whitfield was a full-time starter with the Atlanta Falcons for 11 years (two at right tackle, the rest on the left side). But in his two seasons with the Giants he has been a versatile and adaptable backup.

Last year, he played in every game with two starts – on Dec. 17 against Kansas City at left tackle and a week later vs. Washington at right tackle. This season, he played almost exclusively on special teams through the first seven games of the season. Then Kareem McKenzie arrived at Giants Stadium on Nov. 5 suffering from migraine headaches and Whitfield played the entire victory over Houston at right tackle. Last Sunday night against Chicago, Petitgout broke his leg late in the first quarter. Whitfield took over at left tackle and there he will stay for the foreseeable future.

“I’m not concerned,” Manning said. “I think Bob’s going to do fine. Bob is in a tough position. Last week he had to start at right tackle. All of a sudden they throw you in there and say, ‘You’re playing left tackle right now.’ It’s not an easy thing. It’s one of the toughest positions on the field. For the most part he did well. I’m going to have all the faith in him. He's going to do a good job for us there and our offense will get back to playing good football.”

Although his teammates and coaches have confidence in him, Whitfield gave himself a harsh evaluation after the 38-20 loss to Chicago. He allowed two second-half sacks by defensive end Alex Brown, who forced fumbles on both of them. The Giants lost one and the other skidded out of bounds for a 14-yard loss on a drive in which a Giants field goal attempt fell short, resulting in a Chicago touchdown. Whitfield was called for a holding penalty. He was also mad at himself for failing to stop Devin Hester’s 108-yard return of Jay Feely’s missed field goal following the second fumble, though a speedy rookie return man would seem to enjoy a mismatch against a 15-year offensive lineman. Whitfield, however, takes a different view.

“I always feel like if you’re on the field, you can be the one to make the great play," Whitfield said. “You can be the catalyst and you can be the fire starter. For me to have four bad plays and not make something happen, it hits me hard. It actually gives me extra motivation to know that I’m starting, playing with the first unit, getting a lot of running and practice time in and getting a lot of opportunities to make those big plays.”

Whitfield has vowed not to repeat his mistakes and bad plays on Monday night.

“I feel like the steam was lost when we had to go kick the field goal,” Whitfield said. “I feel like I let the team down, let myself down, let everybody down. You want somebody at left tackle that you don’t have to worry about. I don’t want the coach to have to change the scheme for me. So I know it’s all on my shoulders with Luke gone. I want all the spotlight on me. I can take all the criticism, all the hatred, because I know that I have to go out there and show up so we can go to the Super Bowl. Because you need a shut down left tackle to go to the Super Bowl and I’m going to be that guy.”

This week, the Giants are concerned only with beating the Jaguars. The loss to Chicago broke a five-game winning streak and left the Giants with a 6-3 record and a one-game lead in the NFC East. Jacksonville is 5-4 and also looking to right its ship after a 13-10 defeat to Houston.

This is a homecoming of sorts for Whitfield. Two years ago, he played in 10 games for the Jaguars as a reserve tackle.

“I’ll see all my buddies down there and then I hope to kick their (butts),” Whitfield said.

That’s typical Whitfield. In addition to being a terrific player – he was the eighth overall choice of the 1992 NFL Draft, by Atlanta, and was a Pro Bowler in 1998 – Whitfield is thoughtful, quotable, funny and profane. Very profane. His interviews are honest, instructive and hilarious.

But while Whitfield can laugh at himself, he takes his job very seriously.

“As a player, I try to be perfect,” he said. “If I have a great game and have one mistake, I remember the mistake more than the great parts of the game. I always want to be a perfect player where you have no mistakes. That’s how I train my mind and train my body. I get upset with myself if I don’t play perfectly. I’ve never had a totally perfect game, but I’ve been pretty close. It’s funny. Even in those games where you dominated your man, you didn’t do anything but had one small little glitch, that’s the first thing you remember. You think, ‘I’d have been perfect if I didn’t have that one mistake.’”

Whitfield looks like, well, like a player who has played 213 games over 15 seasons. He walks deliberately, has the face of a wizened sage and he spends much of his free time in a cold tub. But the man is confident he is still at the top of his game.

“I know I can do the job,” Whitfield said. “I look forward to doing the job. It’s more than a feeling. It’s almost like the challenge is on me. I feel like I’m George Foreman coming back in the ring for a heavyweight fight against Michael Moore. Who cares what everybody else says?”

Here’s another question: why does he still play? Whitfield has had a distinguished career. He played in a Super Bowl with the 1998 Falcons. Why does he put in the long hours and subject his body to the punishment that is inherent in football?

“The competition – the man-versus-man competition,” Whitfield said. “The physical aspect of it, the psychological warfare - all those levels of competition, it makes for a fun contest. If you play chess against a good opponent, you’re strategically trying to position yourself. You attack and you defend. The whole idea of a challenge – you never know what to expect. Football is mental just as much as physical. Both aspects excite me.

“And I’ve been doing it for 21 years, since I was a kid. This is what I know. I like the structure and everything that it provides, from your planning and preparation. It’s hard to easily say, ‘I can be done with it now.’ You think about this even when you’re chilling. There’s always football.”

And now the Giants need him to play it well, starting Monday night.

NOTES
*The Giants officially placed defensive end Justin Tuck on injured reserve and signed Lance Legree, who played with them from 2001-2004.

Legree, 6-1 and 300 pounds, made the team as an undrafted free agent in 2001. In four years with the Giants he played in 59 games with 21 starts, including 10 in 2002, when the Giants were a wild card playoff team. His most productive season was 2004, when he had 36 tackles (22 solo) and two sacks.

Legree joined the Jets as a free agent on March 4, 2005 and played in 16 games with four starts last season. He had 21 tackles and three sacks. Legree signed with the San Francisco 49ers in August, but was let go in the final cutdown.

“Lance was in a position where he was the highest-rated player that we could bring in and so we did,” coach Tom Coughlin said.

Legree can play end or tackle, but Coughlin said he will first play end, where the Giants are missing Pro Bowlers Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora in addition to Tuck.

The team announced yesterday that Tuck will undergo surgery tomorrow to repair a Lisfranc injury that will include inserting screws into Tuck’s foot. Dr. Robert Anderson will perform the surgery at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

*Linebacker Carlos Emmons, who missed the Chicago game with a groin injury, returned to practice today and is listed as questionable for the Jacksonville game. Also listed as questionable are wide receiver Sinorice Moss (who did practice) and linebacker Brandon Short (who didn’t). Both players have quad injuries. Cornerback Sam Madison (hamstring) and Umenyiora (hip flexor) are doubtful. Strahan and Petitgout are out.

Moss has played only one game this season, at Philadelphia on Sept. 17.

“He is going to have more extensive work this week,” Coughlin said. “He will have more reps and more opportunities - building his confidence as well as the ability to evaluate him the next day to see that he is coming along. So that will be extended.”

*Coughlin gave a blunt assessment of cornerback Corey Webster’s play against Chicago in response to a question at today’s news conference.

“It is no revelation for me to say that it wasn’t his best game, and he does have to play better,” Coughlin said. “I think certainly (he has to) cover better, cover tighter, have a little more confidence in himself when he breaks on the ball. There is nothing wrong with when you are off, with having a designated cushion, but when the ball is released you need to be in better, closer position.”

*Tiki Barber had his sprained thumb protected, but said it won’t disrupt his ability to carry the ball.

“I’m not worried about it, to tell you the truth,” Barber said. “I played most of the game last week against the Bears after the injury. So it’s not something that’s entered my consciousness.”

*Jacksonville Coach Jack Del Rio, who succeeded Coughlin, was asked on a conference call about the Giants’ coach’s homecoming.

“I think it just makes for a great storyline leading up to the game – the return of the only other head coach that’s ever led this team in this city,” Del Rio said. “You talk about a successful startup - he was the backbone of this organization in the very beginning (and) basically hired everybody that came in here and started this franchise. It went on to become the most successful start-up of any franchise in the history of the league. I’m sure there are a lot of emotions coming back for him and, as should be. I’m sure there are a lot of people here in town that appreciate all of the effort he did in getting this franchise started in such a first-class, first-rate way.

“Tom did a terrific job of instilling a strong work ethic and a strong fiber of discipline here in his team. What we’ve done is sought to continue that and carry that on and continue that. So the work ethic has remained strong. The discipline has remained in place and it really is something that Tom started many years ago. We’ve looked to build on the things that he started.”
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