Many different thoughts raced through Darrian Beavers’ head Wednesday as he ran around the field with the Giants’ starting defense.
The stability of his surgically repaired knee wasn’t one of them.
“When I’m out there, the knee is the last thing on my mind,” Beavers said after the first practice of training camp. “It’s more about knowing what I’m supposed to do — knowing the calls, knowing my alignment, other things like that. My knee, I didn’t even notice. There’s so much more I have to focus on.”
Beavers was one of the surprises of last summer — a rookie sixth-round draft pick pushing to start — until he tore his ACL tackling a runner in the box during the second preseason game.
He spent his entire rookie season weightlifting and rehabbing as a revolving door of six inside linebackers started games.
“I’ve seen the play four or five times,” Beavers said. “It was just a normal tackle. That time, a [teammate] was tackling the guy from behind so it was the force of two people. That’s the only difference I’ve seen. It was a tackle that, if I had to make it today, I would’ve went out and made it.”
Beavers, 24, never suffered an injury worse than a “twisted ankle” from the time he started playing football through college at Cincinnati.
“When it happened, it was a shock,” Beavers said. “I had to get through ups and downs, and now that I’m out here playing again is a blessing. I know the stuff that I could’ve done last year helping this team out, but the injury itself is just so catastrophic that it doesn’t matter what role you are in because it takes your whole season away.”
The Giants’ decision to spend on quality over quantity at linebacker during free agency — adding Bobby Okereke on a four-year, $40 million contract — suggested faith in Jarrad Davis and Beavers as capable wingmen.
Beavers’ rookie experience eventually afforded him sympathy for Davis, who was starting next to Okereke in the spring until he suffered his own season-ending knee injury.
“In one play it’s just gone, and it sucks,” Beavers said. “I know how much time and effort he put in, so for me it’s just more sad than anything.”
The by-product of Davis’ injury is the job belongs to Beavers, as long as he can fend off fellow second-year linebacker Micah McFadden.
“He’s hungry,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “That’s something that I’ve known since he got in. That’s what we love about him. Obviously, he’s still young, he’s still learning. That’s why he has guys on the defensive side helping him and getting him through the little bumps. He is a hell of a player, and we are just going to keep pushing him to be where we know he can be.”
Beavers found out Tuesday night that he was returning to the starting lineup. He was not forgotten.
“It felt natural,” he said. “Hopefully, I can keep being productive and keep that spot. I haven’t played, so I wasn’t putting film out there to remind people, so it’s my opportunity to prove to myself, to the team, to everybody that I still have it even though I [tore] my ACL.”