Chase Blackburn ended last season as the Giants' starting middle linebacker. Now it looks like he'll open this summer's training camp as the starting MLB, too.
 
Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell confirmed that on Friday when he said Blackburn "goes back to that role" when the full-team minicamp opens next month. There had been much speculation about who the MLB would be, especially after the Giants' traded for outside linebacker Keith Rivers. Giants GM Jerry Reese had even dropped Michael Boley's name into the mix for that job.
 
Fewell, though, said Blackburn is still his guy.
 
"Chase goes back to that role. (Mark) Herzlich will have an opportunity to compete for that role. Greg Jones will have an opportunity to compete for that role," Fewell said. "And we're not opposed to putting Keith Rivers, giving him an opportunity to compete for that role. So there's going to be competition."
 
Boley, by the way, probably won't be part of that competition. Fewell seems happy with him on the outside.
 
"I think Michael Boley has the ability to do that," Fewell said. "Is that his best position? You know, I don't think that's his best position in the long run. But yes, he definitely has the ability to do that."
 
Fewell said the linebacking corps will be "an area of interest" for the Giants this summer mostly because they have so many potential combinations. Mathias Kiwanuka – whom Fewell indicated is still a linebacker, not a defensive end – and Boley return as starters on the outside. Rivers, a former first-round pick, will be in the mix somewhere. Jacquian Williams played well as an outside linebacker last season. And Herzich and Jones have shown promise in the middle, too.
 
Making it more of an interesting issue is that the middle linebacker position really isn't what it used to be. With so many teams running variations of spread offenses, the Giants were almost always in some variation of a nickel defense last season. That means they only had two linebackers on the field, with Boley playing the "middle" and making all the calls.
 
That's probably the way they'll play this season, too, turning the middle linebacker spot into a one- or two-down role.
 
"I don't think college football allows you to have a big, anchor middle linebacker anymore because of the way college football plays," Fewell said. "And I don't think the NFL requires that as much anymore because a lot of things change with one-back spread teams that throw the ball all over the place.
 
"We talk in terms of being a two-down Mike (MLB). We don't have a third-down middle linebacker. What is a two-down Mike? We may have to redefine that a little bit as we continue to evaluate what offenses are doing in the National Football League."
 
So what will the Giants' linebacker rotation look like. For now it seems Blackburn is the "two-down Mike" with Kiwanuka and Boley on the outsides. Williams has probably earned a spot in the rotation.
 
The mystery man is Rivers, who has plenty of talent but is trying to resurrect a stalled career.
 
"We're in the class room right now trying to get a feel for what our new addition Kaith Rivers knows about our defense and how much he can understand and learn about our defense," Fewell said. "And we're just giving the young guys more of an opportunity to hear us talk about the calls and communication of our defense.
 
"I sense that we're going to put it up for grabs. Whoever can take the bull by the horns and lead us will have the opportunity to step up and play."
 

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It cuts like a knife
 
DT Markus Kuhn, the Giants' seventh-round draft pick, can't participate in any on-field drills this weekend because of what the Giants said was a non-football-related leg laceration.
 
It turns out Kuhn cut himself with a knife that was sticking out of a box when he was helping a friend of his move. He said it was "a little puncture wound … nothing crazy" and that "I should be fine really soon."
 
"I never had stitches in my life before and then a week before I come here it happens," he said. "It's definitely unfortunate, but accidents happen. Now the next opportunity I have to get on the field, I'll definitely use it."
 
Also, the next time someone asks him to help them move, he'll tell them to hire professional movers.
 
"It's dangerous," he said. "Be careful. Hire people when you move next time."

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One and done for former Eagle

Former Philadelphia center Jamaal Jackson's attempt to try out for the Giants ended after just one day. He said he had been considering retirement and wanted to see if he had anything left.

Apparently he decided he didn't. According to Tom Coughlin, Jackson has retired.

"He came in and he was very nice," Coughlin said. "He just said, 'Coach, I just don't feel like my heart's in it."

  

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