Dion Lewis may be joining a new team in the New York Giants, but it’s all familiar territory for the veteran running back.
The 29-year-old rusher, who hails from Albany, spent the last two seasons with the Tennessee Titans backing up NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry, and will be tasked with filling in that job for another one of the league’s top running backs in Saquon Barkley.
It’s a role that Lewis said he has learned a lot from and has come to embrace.
“You watch the game from a different perspective, but at the same time you always got to be ready, you always got to be alert, you always got to be in shape because you never know when your number’s gonna be called,” he said on a conference call Friday, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “It’s a unique situation and I’ve been dealing with it the past two years with Derrick. I think it will definitely help me come here and do whatever I can to help this group.’’
Lewis, who was signed to a one-year, $1.55 million contract, noted that he is quite fresh, too, considering that Henry was a workhorse in Tennessee. Lewis had just 54 carries last season, rushing for 209 yards but also played a role as a pass-catching option in the backfield, hauling 25 catches on 32 targets for 164 yards and a touchdown.
Yet, those numbers are still an improvement over the trio of backups for Barkley last year, and having a reliable back who can produce is important, especially after Barkley missed three games with a high ankle sprain in 2019.
“With a player like Saquon, you want him on the field as much as possible," Lewis said. "He is one of the better backs in this league and I understand that. I'm just going to work hard, do whatever the coaches ask me to do, compete every day and try to figure it out that way instead of going in there with hopes or what I think is going to happen."
Another reason Lewis should feel comfortable in New York — head coach Joe Judge.
Judge was the Patriots special teams coach for the three seasons Lewis was in New England, and the two won a Super Bowl together in 2016.
So when his former coach wanted him to sign him to the team he grew up watching, it was a no-brainer for Lewis.
“It was a perfect and unique opportunity,” Lewis said. “There were a lot of factors. Joe Judge being there, me having a relationship with him with my three years in New England. Also, I grew up a Giants fan so it was always a dream of mine to play for them so when I got the opportunity in these circumstances I couldn’t pass it up.”