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Landon Collins admitted Monday that he was "kind of lost" during the 2015 season, his rookie year with the New York Giants.
Collins, the team's second-round pick a year ago, went third person in describing the difference from his rookie season to now, where in terms of playing experience his 16 games last season make him the veteran of the safety group.
“Landon Collins now is very confident in himself and very knowing - very understanding of the situation and progress with what he’s learned,” Collins said. “If you saw him this past year, his standard of playing is elevated. Last year, Landon was kind of out there just trying to make plays and going through the motions, just trying not to mess up. So that’s probably the biggest thing -- you could say that last year I was kind of lost, and just trying to figure it out as the season went on.”
Collins led the Giants with 108 tackles last season, but often struggled in pass coverage. He said he is more comfortable now.
“After seeing things and going through a lot of stuff last year, now it’s basically kind of second nature,” he said. “It’s like, ‘I’ve seen this before, I know what’s going to happen or what the outcome of this situation, so let me just play it this way and put myself in the best situation to make a play.’ ”
Collins admitted he "definitely made a lot of mistakes last year," but that he believes he has "cut down the worst." His goal now "Be a better playmaker -- a game-changer."
"I can definitely be a great player. That’s the outcome — that’s the goal," Collins said. "Being in the right position is my biggest concern, because last year I was not. I was always kind of scattered all over the field and didn’t know where to do things at, and now that I know where to be and how to help and so on, I’ll be able to see more and then not just key on what I was trying to key on."