LANDOVER, Md. — Landon Collins is on pace to set a career high for tackles in his first season with the Redskins.
Collins had 125 tackles back in 2016 in his second year with the Giants. It was a breakthrough season for Collins, who had four sacks and five interceptions and stamped himself as one of the NFL’s best young safeties.
His performance the next two years did not live up to those exploits, and the Giants did not pursue their 2015 second-round pick in free agency. Collins cashed in on the open market with a six-year, $84 million deal and is finishing up his first season with the Redskins.
In addition to his team-high 111 tackles, Collins has eight tackles for loss, the second-most among all defensive backs, and his 74 solo tackles is tied for second among all defensive backs. On the surface, it looks as if Collins put together a fine debut season for the Redskins, but his work in coverage has not been strong — that was an issue the Giants had with him and ultimately made Collins become available to sign with their NFC East rival.
Collins had a relatively quiet game the first time he faced his former team. He finished with nine tackles and did not show up anywhere else on the defensive stat sheet as he lost to the Giants, 24-3.
Saquon Barkley said it took him a while to get past the mental hurdle of wondering if the healed high ankle sprain that kept him out of three games would hold up amid the pounding. He ran for 112 last week against the Dolphins and looked like himself for the first since before getting hurt.
“I think that’s probably, more so than any other games, where I’ve really seen him cut it loose on some 90 degree turns that we saw last year,’’ offensive coordinator Mike Shula said. “Maybe we hadn’t quite seen as much. … That’s just my personal opinion. He might say differently.’’
Is this the last the Giants will see of Adrian Peterson? The 34-year-old running back, winding down his 13th NFL season, has 784 rushing yards. Last week, Peterson moved past Hall of Famer Curtis Martin and into fifth place in the league’s career rushing list with 14,102 yards.
Daniel Jones, beware. The Redskins are sixth in the NFL with 42 sacks. They also have 21 takeaways this season, but it has not translated into wins. The Redskins forced four turnovers in the first game with the Giants but lost by three touchdowns. … The Redskins are without LB Ryan Kerrigan, who is on injured reserve. Kerrigan has more sacks (11.5) of Eli Manning than any other player. … LB Deone Bucannon (illness) was added to the Giants injury report and listed as questionable for the game.