"It feels great to be a New York Giant." - Leon Hall pic.twitter.com/sKOU4Wijor
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 4, 2016
Leon Hall, newest member of the New York Giants, met with the media after Thursday’s practice. Here are some quick takeaways.
A whirlwind 24 hours
Hall visited with the Giants Wednesday, flew home to Cincinnati to talk with his family, decided to accept the Giants’ offer, then flew back to New Jersey.
“There was a lot of flying. I flew in yesterday, had a workout early in the morning then met with the coaches for a little while and saw the doctors, obviously. Took a quick flight back to Cincinnati and came back here in the morning once my mind was made up on coming here and joining this organization. So it’s been a while but it's been fun. Obviously, there’s a purpose for it, so I enjoyed it.
“Throughout this whole process, there have been a lot of things happening, both good and bad. A lot of various different ways. You can do pros and cons to a lot of situations, but I think that for me personally, a lot of the time I go off my gut and just instincts, if you will, and that's how I felt about this place.”
He’s healthy
Hall, 31, had back surgery in January, but said he has been completely healthy since “April or May.”
“My back's feeling good, which is a great feeling. It's been a long road for me since I had my surgery in January. I've kind of been quietly going to work and rehabbing every day. Working out for months, so I like where I am right now.”
Playing slot is a mindset
Hall has been playing the slot corner role for years now, and that is primarily where the Giants expect to use him. Here are his thoughts on how the slot and outside positions differ,
“Skills maybe, but it's definitely a different mindset. You have a lot more going on in the slot, especially in the run game and just protections. You're blitzing a little bit more, so you need to know protections and what a quarterback may or may not say. It's not so much physical is what I'm trying to say; I mean, you need to be quick, you need to be fast. On the outside, you need to be able to move well, think on your feet, and you're changing direction, but you honestly need that inside or outside. But I think mentally is the bigger jump.”