RoanokeFan
06-22-2012, 10:10 AM
BOLEY: I'M STILL THE OUTSIDE LINEBACKER (http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/giants/post/_/id/14772/boley-im-still-the-outside-linebacker)
"Earlier in the offseason, Giants GM Jerry Reese hinted that
veteran outside linebacker Michael Boley could shift to the
middle -- a position the team needs to fill.
But right now Chase
Blackburn is there, and Boley is on the outside -- something he doesn't
foresee changing right now.
"I'm still the outside linebacker," he said
by phone on Wednesday. "But as things go, you never know. Once camp gets going,
you never know what coach has planned. So right now, I'm just happy to have a
job."
Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has said
Blackburn is currently his starting middle linebacker. But Boley and
Keith Rivers could see reps at middle linebacker in training
camp as the Giants explore their options. Mark Herzlich and
Greg Jones also are on the MLB depth chart although Jones saw
time at third-team strong-side linebacker in minicamp.
Boley called OTAs
and minicamp "not as strenuous as our previous offseason," but he said the deep
class of talent at linebacker has intensified things.
"Oh yeah, there's
definitely a lot of competition, especially with the different rule changes," he
said. "Right now, the offseason roster goes from 80 to 90, so there are more
guys. And once you have more guys at each position, it gives people more
competition, which I think is a good thing."
Boley said Keith
Rivers, the Giants' latest arrival who was brought in via a trade in
April for a fifth-round pick in the 2012 draft, is standing out as well.
"He came in and he's done some tremendous work," he said. "He's picked
up things pretty well."
Boley will be entering the fourth year of his
five-year, $25 million deal that he signed back in 2009. He finished last season
as the second-leading tackler on the team (93), behind Antrel
Rolle (96), and he had a team-high 10 tackles during the Giants' 21-17
Super Bowl XLVI win over the Patriots in February."
"Earlier in the offseason, Giants GM Jerry Reese hinted that
veteran outside linebacker Michael Boley could shift to the
middle -- a position the team needs to fill.
But right now Chase
Blackburn is there, and Boley is on the outside -- something he doesn't
foresee changing right now.
"I'm still the outside linebacker," he said
by phone on Wednesday. "But as things go, you never know. Once camp gets going,
you never know what coach has planned. So right now, I'm just happy to have a
job."
Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has said
Blackburn is currently his starting middle linebacker. But Boley and
Keith Rivers could see reps at middle linebacker in training
camp as the Giants explore their options. Mark Herzlich and
Greg Jones also are on the MLB depth chart although Jones saw
time at third-team strong-side linebacker in minicamp.
Boley called OTAs
and minicamp "not as strenuous as our previous offseason," but he said the deep
class of talent at linebacker has intensified things.
"Oh yeah, there's
definitely a lot of competition, especially with the different rule changes," he
said. "Right now, the offseason roster goes from 80 to 90, so there are more
guys. And once you have more guys at each position, it gives people more
competition, which I think is a good thing."
Boley said Keith
Rivers, the Giants' latest arrival who was brought in via a trade in
April for a fifth-round pick in the 2012 draft, is standing out as well.
"He came in and he's done some tremendous work," he said. "He's picked
up things pretty well."
Boley will be entering the fourth year of his
five-year, $25 million deal that he signed back in 2009. He finished last season
as the second-leading tackler on the team (93), behind Antrel
Rolle (96), and he had a team-high 10 tackles during the Giants' 21-17
Super Bowl XLVI win over the Patriots in February."