‘Dirty Thirty’ Gets In Tune With New York Giants Defense

Contrary to the fears of many New York Giants fans, the entire 2022 Big Blue roster is not terrible. There are talented football players that have been put in compromising positions, early in their careers by either bad coaching or awful teammates signed by the previous front office and coaching regime. Some of the veteran Giants players are taking advantage of their new opportunities and are personally making the most of them.

Friend of The Drive with Charlie & Dan, Tom Rock from newsday.com talked to 3rd year cornerback Darnay Holmes. The 2020 4th round draft pick from UCLA talked about learning his limitations from his new staff. “I’m a guy who is very open-minded so I’m constantly evolving,” Holmes told Tom Rock. “I’m more in tune with things. I’m in tune with understanding that you’re never going to be able to eliminate doubt. You’re never going to be able to eliminate fear. You’re never going to be able to eliminate the inevitability of losing reps. Having the understanding that when I hit that field, it might not go my way and be able to respond. I feel like I’m more grounded and more free-flowing.”

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That seems philosophically pretty deep but how is it working out for Holmes? Well, he got a new cool nickname from Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale. “I call him Dirty Thirty,” Martindale told newsday.com. “I just love his toughness. I’m not saying he plays dirty, I’m just talking about how he embraces the grind of practicing every day, doing things right and asking the right questions. He’s got some qualities that we haven’t had before at that position.”

Holmes has been a stand-out in training camp so far. However, Thursday night, the real competition begins when the Giants take on the New England Patriots in their first pre-season game of the year. It will be interesting to see how Brian Daboll's new team performs. Hopefully 'Dirty Thirty' and the rest of his teammates do their jobs.