New York Post, Tuesday, August 6, 2019
nypost.com
By GREG JOYCECorey Ballentinewould like
DanielJonesto know that it’s
nothing personal.
Theyare bothrookies, just
tryingto find theirway, so Bal-
lentine hasn’t give n Jo nesto o
muchgrief about thetwo inter-
ceptions he has against him early
in training camp. Bu t wh en Jo nes
brought up the subjectre centl y,
Ballentine had to oblige.
“Corey, you got me,” Jonestold
Ballentine as they were walking
to lunch.
“I had to do it.I couldn’t letyou
—Ididn’t have an y other choice, ”
Ballentinereplied, bursting out
laughingMonday as heretold the
story.Th e Giants hope one day Bal-
lentine wil l be picking off quar-
te rbackswe aringa dif ferent
jersey. In the meantime, making
an impactevery day in camp
will have to suffice for the sixth-
round pickwho gotalate startto
his NFL career after he and his
best friendwere shotwhile leav-
inga party the nightof the draft
in April. His best friend, Dwane
Simmons, did not survive. Ballen-
tine did, and now is making the
mostof his opportunities.
Ballentinewas the starof Sat-
urday’s practice, pickingoff Jones
for the second time andadding
a pair of passbreakups. After
Sunday’s day off, thecornerback
was rewardedMonday by gettingsomereps with thefirst-team
defense, lining up across from Eli
Manning andcoveringSterling
Shepard.
“I feel like I’m definitely catch-
ingup ,” Ballentinesa id after
practice. “Things are slowing
downfor me as I’mgetting more
reps.I thinkI learnby doing
more thanI do seeing and hear-
ing. So the moreIgoout there
and do it— even thoughI do
mess up sometimes, I knowwhat
notto do now.”
Asked ifJoneswas getting tired
of seeing himyet, Ballentine
smiled wide.
“He might be, but look, he’s
going to have to get usedto it,” he
said. “I’mgoingto be out there.”Ballentine thinks he may have
caught Alonzo Russell by surprise
on Saturday’s interce ption.The
6-foot-4 widereceiver has4 inch-
es on him, but Ballentine leaped
and stole theball awayfor an end-
zone interception ona fade route.
“I think they threwthat jump
ball because they thought they
had the heightadvantage. But
they must not know myvertical,”
Ballentine, who had the15th-best
verticalat the NFLcombineat
39 ¹/₂ inches,said witha laugh.
“But I’m definitely up for the chal-
lenge. ... I enjoy thecompetition.
I’m lookingfo rward to it, I’m not
shyingawayfrom any of that.”
With fellow cornerbackSam
Beal sidelinedby a hamstringinjuryfo r mostof camp, there
are more reps availablefor the
taking. Ballentine hasoften been
pulling double duty, mostly
with the second- and third-team
defenses before running with
the ones andtwoson Monday.
JanorisJenkins andfellow rookie
DeAndre Baker appearto have
thetop two outsidecornerback
spotstaken, but Ballentine joined
themat timesMonday withJen-
kinsmovingto the slot.
Ballentine may have beena
long shotcoming in, especially
getting drafted out ofDivision II
WashburnUniversity, but he has
been noticed each day in practice
as hegets more comfortable.
“It took hima littlewhile toUP ON
THE CORNER
Rookie Ballentine,
after offseason
shooting, has
been impressive
as he makes up
for lost time