When Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale calls Isaiah Simmons a “position-less” player, he doesn’t mean it as an insult.
And Simmons, who was acquired in a trade from the Cardinals barely three weeks ago, doesn’t take it as one.
A hybrid player who can be used both as a linebacker and a safety, Simmons didn’t have to wait long to make his return to Arizona, where the Giants will attempt, Sunday against the Cardinals, to expunge the taste of their 40-0 loss to the Cowboys in the season opener.
The 25-year-old Simmons played only 15 of the Giants’ 58 defensive snaps against Dallas, lining up on the edge eight times, in the slot four times and inside the box three times.
“He’s fitting in. He’s just gonna keep getting better and better,” Martindale said before practice Thursday in East Rutherford. “I think his role is going to expand, because he’s that good of a player. He’s just learning the packages. What is this, the third week he’s been here? So it’s just gonna keep expanding.
“Like I’ve said, he’s a position-less player, which is a compliment. We can move him around and play him in different spots. And through attrition, there’s gonna be different spots that are open, and each week you can put him in the best spot that you need him to help us win.”
Simmons, the eighth-overall pick in the 2020 draft, didn’t pan out with the Cardinals, and the Giants sent a seventh-round pick to acquire him on Aug. 24.
“I’m not an emotionless person, but I’m not going to do anything crazy out there,” Simmons said after practice. “The main goal is to win the game and beat whoever is across from us, and this week just happens to be Arizona,
“I’m not letting any external factors get in the way of what my responsibilities are gonna be on Sunday. Ultimately, that’s gonna do nothing but limit my production and how I play out there.”
Simmons jokingly added that he’s not going to be “like old-school T.O.” and stomp on the Cardinals’ logo at midfield on Sunday, referring to Hall of Fame receiver Terrell Owens.
He said he’s simply looking to impact the game from various spots within Martindale’s scheme rather than seeking any personal revenge against his former organization.
“The way Wink runs his system, when he says ‘position-less’ defense, he really means that. That’s kind of how I think of things, too,” Simmons said. “I feel like that just increases your value and it’s why you’ll stay in the NFL. So I don’t take it as anything bad.”
Having been in camp with the Cardinals until the trade, Simmons — who totaled 7.5 sacks, four interceptions and seven forced fumbles in three seasons in Arizona — also can provide the coaching staff with some recent intel on the opponent.
“I think anytime you get players that were other places, you ask them stuff,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “I’ve been in the league a long time. You ask them stuff, but I mean, we’ve got to take care of our business and make sure that we’re prepared with what we see.
“If there’s certain things we want to ask him, absolutely. Whether it’s a player or a scheme, you try to uncover every stone you can.”
Martindale called such information “overrated,” but a little extra motivation couldn’t hurt after the Week 1 debacle against the Cowboys.
“I know his competitive juices will be flowing a little bit hotter than normal, because that’s just the human nature of the sport,” Martindale said. “Just like us with Baltimore last year, or Dabes when he goes to Buffalo. That’s just one of those things that happen [in the NFL].”