All season, we’ve heard from Giants safety Julian Love on the weekly Giants Report with Tiki & Tierney – and all year, we’ve heard about how the Giants’ mantra is one game at a time.
It’s no different this Sunday, Love said to the media on Tuesday, despite the fact that a win puts the Giants in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Although, he says, it is difficult at times to compartmentalize that.
“I mean it's tough for sure. None of us are naïve in the sense that we don't know if we win this game what it means. That's on the back of all of our minds, but you've got to stay true to what we've been doing all season,” Love said. “For me that's to stay in my routine, that's attacking, playing with high effort, and giving our defense a place to stand at all times. If I just do my job, hopefully we get the win we all know what happens if we do that.”
Love has become the leader of the secondary with Adoree’ Jackson, Aaron Robinson, and Xavier McKinney all out, and the latter especially has been outspoken about hoping the Giants get into the postseason while he’s been out with a hand injury.
“He’s a guy who is very passionate about the game. I'm sure it's been killing him to not be out there with us,” Love said of McKinney. “Him, all of the guys who have been out, I think you want just another week, another shot to get back at it. Xavier, he's chomping at the bit; he's getting ready to go for sure.”
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Love and the Giants got the chance to watch the Colts’ last game live, as they were on Monday Night Football against the Chargers. Not the best performance, but Love has seen first-hand what former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles is capable of in the right situation, so he’s not taking anything for granted.
“I watched it at home with my wife like it was normal game, didn't really try to over analyze it because we have time to do that. I just wanted to get a feel for kind of how they were playing,” Love said. “We all know what Nick Foles is capable of and you have to be prepared for that. He's a guy who's been there, who has accomplished great things. He's a guy you can't sleep on quite frankly. He has experience that you need to be on your A-game for sure.”
If the Giants are on their A-game, they’ll be postseason bound, and that would mean the world to Love, whose first three Giants teams went 14-35 under two head coaches that are both gone.
“It would mean the world to me. I'm a competitor. I'm a guy who has tried to be as consistent as I possibly can during good times, during bad times, I think you know what to expect when it comes to me. That's been a constant for years, for the past four years,” Love said. “I haven't been to the playoffs in the league yet. I've achieved that goal in college, I've achieved that goal in high school of course, so I'm excited. I'm excited to have a shot. This position is pretty exciting that we can control our destiny. It's going to mean a lot, but I know I have to lock in on the process of this week just so I can be that consistent guy I've always been for the team as we prepare for the Colts.”
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But that said, of course, head coach Brian Daboll isn’t letting the team outwardly show that emotion on the practice field, because as Love had noted, anything can happen and nothing’s guaranteed until it is.
“We're all grown men in this building and on this team. We understand what this game means, we win and we're in. I think his approach has been great because he lays it out obviously, we know what we have in front of us, but don't get outside yourself, don't do some stupid (stuff) because of the increased ramifications,” Love said. “Just stay true, and that's why I think he's not even mentioning it because he's just treating it like another week. A week that we have to really get after it. We have a lot of things to correct, we have a lot of things to build off of, and I think that's where that comes from. It's not out of a sense of denying what's going to happen, just in a sense of keeping his guys locked in on just being themselves.”
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