NEW YORK GIANTS MEDIA DAY SAFETY DEON GRANT - Ingles

Super Bowl XLVI – Tuesday, January 31, 2012

(on what he has done to help the young secondary) “I showed them what I learned and what was taught to me when I was a rookie and young guy in the league. I did my part as a leader. First, I led as an example and made sure I got inside their heads and definitely got with them one-on-one – feeling their heartbeat to see where they were at. (I wanted) to see if they had problems off the field. Once I got that and we established a close bond they trusted me with their word. We have a great relationship. We’re like brothers. When we did hit that downward spiral, there wasn’t any finger pointing. We felt like we were brothers and we hold together and that’s why we’re in the position we’re in now.”

(on whether it’s easy to be considered the underdogs) “We like to be the underdog. I know I do. I’m from the hood, so we’re the underdog in life. I love being the underdog because your only expectation is to go out there and win instead of trying to protect this and protect that. Your only mentality is to go out there and win the ballgame. I think that is how our team is. When we had it in our own hands we went on a losing streak. When our back was against the wall, we had to win, we had to come out fighting – that’s exactly what we did. I think we like being in the position we’re in now.”

(on whether preparing for Tom Brady is similar to preparing for other quarterbacks) “It has to be the same preparation, just like any other quarterback we play. We’ve done it before so I can’t say it’s difficult. We’re going to do what we do as a defense. We’re not going to change our whole defense because of the guy we’re facing. We’re going to switch some things up because they watch film and dissect, just as we do as a defense. As far as us, and it being difficult and we change what we do as a defense, that won’t happen.”

(on using a lot of safeties against the Patriots offense in the regular-season game) “We mix it up. Sometimes I would be on (Rob) Gronkowski, sometimes I would be on (Aaron) Hernandez. We mixed it up a lot. I think that kept it off balance with me being able to play the run, switching up and blitzing sometimes, dropping into coverage and then playing man-to-man. It kept them off balance. Being physical at the same time threw their rhythm off a little bit.”

(on the Giants utilizing a “bison” scheme on defense) “One thing the D-coordinator (Perry Fewell) will tell you, and they’ve said to me, there aren’t too many guys who can play that position and us be as successful. Not to say there aren’t guys out there. You have to have the brains behind it too. It’s not just the talent to go out there and do the three different positions. You definitely have to have the brain behind it. It’s a difficult task, but I’m the person that asked to take on that task, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”

(on his relationship with Antel Rolle) “Antrel and I came into the organization together. He is probably the closest guy, on the team, to me. He’s a lot younger. Antrel and I definitely have a great time in the locker room, on the field and definitely off the field.”