New York Giants' safeties on life support: Injuries leave defense desperate vs. Saints

The New York Giants have been challenged on defense thus far through the first month of the season. They are still integrating several new players into their secondary and have been experiencing some growing pains. They have yet to gel.

Cornerbacks Dru Phillips, who has an NFL-high eight passes defensed, and Paulson Adebo, who leads all cornerbacks in tackles, have shone, but overall, they have been porous. They are 29th in total defense and are allowing the most first downs per game (25.0). They are 25th versus the pass and next to last in red zone defense.

Now, they are facing several injuries at the safety position that will make things even more difficult. Starters Tyler Nubin (groin) and Jevon Holland (neck/calf) are banged up. Nubin is questionable for Sunday's game against the Saints in New Orleans. Holland has been limited at practice all week.

To complicate matters, Dane Belton, the Giants' third safety, has also been limited with a shoulder injury.

"It's pretty fluid right now," defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said os the safety situation on Thursday.

The Giants' only healthy safety is Beau Brade, a special teamer they signed after the roster deadline. Bowen outlined the plan for this weekend.

"Getting a lot of guys, reps out here, making sure they're all engaged. I mean, for us, it's a myriad of things, obviously, with Dane, with him being banged up and what that looks like, and Nu, I think it's going to be probably day by day for a lot of these guys. It might take until Sunday morning to figure out who's going to be up," Bowen added.

"So, getting these guys prepared, whether it's Brade, whether it's (Raheem) Layne, if he comes into play. (Cornerback) Nic Jones has kind of been a little bit of that hybrid role for us, emergency for safety. So, spending time with those guys, making sure they know the game plan. Again, I think as a coaching staff, we've got to have contingency plans for all that stuff."

The Giants are fortunate that the Saints aren't exactly a dynamic offense. They are last in the NFL in plays over 20 yards (four) and are 27th in passing offense with 177.0 yards per game. If there's any week to be short in the secondary, it's this one.

This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants' safeties on life support: Injuries leave defense desperate