NY Giants Defense out to show depth against Michael Vick and Philadelphia Eagles


Keith Rivers is out. Jayron Hosley is out, too. Corey Webster is choosing a cast for his right hand, and Antrel Rolle, the leader of the secondary, has a nasty cut on his knee.

Such is the state of a banged-up Giants defense as it prepares to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles, meanwhile, will return a key piece of their big-play air attack: wideout

Jeremy Maclin is fully over the hip injury that sidelined him last week and all but certain to play.

Add in dangerous rusher LeSean McCoy, and the Eagles have the arsenal to attack the Big Blue “D.” But the Giants are hardly worried.

After all, said Webster, they have been here before.

“We’ve been doing this for the last couple years, actually,” Webster said Friday. “We’ve been kind of filling in and preparing like starters for a long time right now.”

Added safety Kenny Phillips: “We’ve been banged up for like two, three years.”

Dealing with all those injuries — along with defensive coordinator Perry Fewell’s coaching philosophy — has resulted in a balanced unit that is “deep at every position,” as linebacker Chase Blackburn put it.

Nearly every key defensive player on the roster has in-game experience or heavy practice experience. Blackburn said Fewell treats Giants defenders like “interchangeable parts,” routinely shifting them in practice and prepping the team.

“It’s like TC (Tom Coughlin) always says,” linebacker Michael Boley said. “Next man up.”

Rivers, perhaps the Giants’ most athletic linebacker, will sit out with a hamstring injury, but second-year linebacker Jacquian Williams played plenty of snaps last season. Rookie corner and nickelback Hosley’s out, too? Last year’s first-round pick, Prince Amukamara, made his NFL debut against the Eagles in Week 11 of last season, intercepting a pass on his first defensive snap, and veteran Michael Coe, an option at nickel back, started at corner in the 2012 season opener against the Cowboys.

The Giants’ battered secondary is so certain that its understudies can deliver that Webster worries most about himself. He is playing with a broken bone in his right hand, and he will wear a protective cast on Sunday.

Webster said that he used his left hand to make a pick in practice Friday.

“I’m expecting to have a few more balls coming to me,” Webster said. “It’s a great opportunity, and hopefully I can make the best of my opportunities.”