Playing cornerback in the NFL is a bit counterintuitive — you have to study, study, study, retain all sorts of information, then instantly forget what happened from one play to the next, from one game to the next.
DeAndre Baker in his first game for the Giants was more bad than good and the entire defensive backfield was shoddy in the season-opening 35-17 loss to the Cowboys. Baker is looking ahead to his first regular-season game at MetLife Stadium, Sunday against the Bills, and somehow wants you to believe he is bolstered by what went down in his NFL debut.
“My confidence is way higher now than going into the first game,’’ Baker told The Post.
Way higher? After getting beaten by Amari Cooper for a touchdown and appearing as if he gave way on a 62-yard completion to Michael Gallup?
Way higher? After Dak Prescott compiled a perfect passer rating and might have gotten dizzy trying to sort out which open receiver to throw to?
Yes, the rookie insists, way higher.
“Now we got a little more chip on our shoulder to play better the next game,’’ Baker explained.
A youngster of few words, Baker needed to be cajoled a bit to stand in front of his locker and say anything at all. Cornerbacks can be mouthy or silent, brash or polite. All of them, however, must be resilient, and the Giants this week get to see how much resiliency Baker has in him. They traded back into the first round of the draft to get him with the 30th overall pick, convinced he was the best cornerback available, believing his pedigree almost never, ever giving up touchdowns at Georgia would serve him well at the next level.
Baker is not the only member of the secondary in need of improvement as the Giants prepare for strong-armed Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Four different Cowboys receivers caught passes of 25 yards or longer and three of Prescott’s four touchdown tosses were easy, uncontested completions to wide-open targets running free in the wide expanse that was the Giants secondary.
Veteran Janoris Jenkins anticipated a better showing.
“I thought, but you got to understand it’s the first game,’’ Jenkins said. “We got a lot of young guys out there, no excuses but we busted a few coverages. The only thing we can do now is come back out and fix ’em.’’
Jenkins said the key will be how the youngsters — Baker, Antonio Hamilton, Corey Ballentine, even Jabrill Peppers — attend to business this week.
“I think it woke them up, to be honest,’’ Jenkins said. “I don’t think they were embarrassed.’’
Growing pains were expected, but this was painful.
“I wouldn’t say it threw me for a loop, but it was definitely a shock,’’ safety Peppers said.
Baker missed time this summer with a knee injury and did not start, as the coaching staff wanted to limit his workload. He played 31 snaps, while Hamilton started and played 36 snaps. This will change. Expect Baker to get the start against the Bills.
“We’ll let that kind of reveal itself,’’ coach Pat Shurmur said. “You’ll remember Baker missed 14 days of training camp so we felt like he still needed to come along. That’s why we had them both in there playing. You can expect the young guys to play, just like they did the other night, and we’ll see how much. The rotation on that player and maybe a couple others may change on defense.’’
It was not only the young players who struggled. Free safety Antoine Bethea, 35 and entered his 14th NFL season, was responsible for at least one blown coverage that resulted in a touchdown.
Prescott completed all 16 of his passes when targeting Baker, Hamilton, Peppers, Bethea and Grant Haley, according to Pro Football Focus.
“It didn’t shake us,’’ Bethea said. “It wasn’t the outing we wanted. We got to put the work in this week.’’
In a video released by the Cowboys, Cooper, after beating Baker on a 21-yard touchdown catch, said, “Dak said ‘hike’ and that boy was ‘woo.’ That boy backed up. I said ‘What are you scared of?’ ’’
Baker, poker-faced, did not crack a smile when considering his second NFL game.
“I know it’s gonna get corrected,’’ Baker said. “For sure. Because I know what type of guys we got in the group and I know the type of talent we got.’’