New York Giants news, 11/17: Players try to explain defensive collapse

As the New York Giants have surrendered 82 points the past two weeks, the effort of some players has been called into question. On Thursday, defensive leaders Damon Harrison and Landon Collins offered different explanations for the recent struggles.

Harrison said that in some cases players who have been out of position are trying to do too much.

“Somebody who doesn’t know exactly what’s going on, they see it as a bad angle and it may be that way, but it may be a guy just trying to do more than he should be doing. You have that at times in a game. We just got to limit them,” Harrison said. “I stress a lot in the game trying to make plays and end up not with the result that we need, but we just got to trust that each other is doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”

Collins pinpointed injuries and a lack of continuity.

“A lot of injuries, that’s what I’ll say. Injuries, and the not being on the same page with the guys that we’ve been playing with. So, that’s about the biggest thing on that that I can give to you,” Collins said. “A lot of guys have been injured, so we’ve been playing with guys that have been, either here and there, linebackers that haven’t played a lot of downs, guys are switching in and out from the front, just different guys all the time.”

The Giants’ star safety did call the poor defensive play “very disappointing.”

“We know the caliber of defense that we have, the caliber players that we have and the game changers that we have on defense,” he said. “It messes with our head a little, but at the same time, we should be better than what we are, but we’re just not being how we are and how we were last year.”

Quinn: Rosas’ struggles “between the ears”

Rookie placekicker Aldrick Rosas has missed field goals in five straight games. On Sunday, he put the game-opening kickoff out of bounds. This week the Giants worked out kickers Marshall Koehn, Andrew Franks and Jason Myers. Special teams coordinator Tom Quinn believes Rosas will “break through” his struggles.

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“He’ll break through it. I mean, he’s got the talent. It’s just a little bit between the ears right now, so he’s just got to keep pushing through,” Quinn said. “Just to keep trusting the process and trusting his technique will be the biggest thing.”

Injury update

Justin Pugh (back), B.J. Goodson (ankle) and Kelvin Sheppard (groin) did not practice. Cornerback Eli Apple was excused for personal reasons, with his mom having tweeted that she was undergoing brain surgery on Thursday.

Jason Pierre-Paul (knee), defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson (ankle), linebackers Devon Kennard (quad) and Calvin Munson (quad), guard D.J. Fluker (knee), and cornerback Donte Deayon (ankle) were all limited in practice.