Giants CB Allen

[jgcoach]

It was the first pass of the first drill -- no more than 10 minutes into the first practice of Giants minicamp on Wednesday. The ball floated in the air toward cornerback Will Allen.

 

He dropped it.

 

Sound familiar?

 

It was easy to flash back to last season, when Allen finished with just one interception, leaving many more opportunities on the ground.

 

If that pattern continues, Allen -- the former first-round pick who is entering the final year of his original five-year deal -- might be dropping off his Giants uniform for the last time when the season ends.

 

"I'm not worried about what they think upstairs," Allen said yesterday. "As long as I go out there and give my best effort and play the way I feel like I can play, then everything will take care of itself."

 

He might want to consider what "they" were thinking upstairs on draft day in April when the Giants used their first pick (No. 43 overall) to select cornerback Corey Webster from LSU. The Giants hope Webster brings what the secondary -- namely Allen -- was lacking last year: ball-hawking ability.

 

If Webster, who has a good shot at winning the third cornerback job, stays healthy and lives up to his clippings, the team could name him a starter in 2006 instead of offering Allen a multi-year deal.

 

Unlike Will Peterson, the other starting cornerback who was given a contract extension in August before entering the final year of the agreement, Allen has yet to receive a new deal.

 

"The (regular season) isn't here yet," Allen said when asked if he expected an extension before Week 1. "I really don't know, but you can't count it out."

 

Giants coach Tom Coughlin spoke to Allen this off-season and told him what he expects. Coughlin was miffed last preseason when the team's defensive backs appeared "mesmerized" by the ball. He noted yesterday there wasn't much improvement during the season.

 

Though he stressed the entire secondary was guilty, Coughlin is clearly expecting more from Allen.

 

"He knows that the quality of his game has got to improve and he set his sights to try to do that," Coughlin said. "He has had a good off-season. He looks good, he is physically healthy, he can run and the foot issue is well behind him."

 

The foot issue was an injury that kept Allen out of the final four games of 2003. Though he played in 16 games last year -- the first time in his four-year career he has done so -- Allen said the injury affected him.

 

Unable to work out the way he prefers in the off-season, Allen has said he wasn't physically ready for the Week 1 loss to the Eagles in which wide receiver Terrell Owens caught three touchdowns on Allen's side of the field.

 

And he said it wasn't until several games into the season that he had fully recovered. "It's like a 180 turnaround. At this point last year, I was still in a (protective) boot," Allen said. "I mean, I feel a heck of a lot better."

[redman]

It's nice if your CB's can hold onto the ball for INT's, but if they were that good at that, they'd be WR's, right?

 

Seriously, if Allen can make enough plays to break up passes, I can't imagine that these criticisms are going to be that great. OTOH, I've always thought he was a better FS prospect than a CB. We shall see.

[jgcoach]

My thought also but, I haven't heard anything that would suggest a move.

[Rovers]

Yesterday there was a report on the AP wire that McQuaters would sign with the G Men. Havne't heard any more about it today, though.