{"id":264397,"date":"2025-11-06T00:02:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T00:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/264397\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T00:02:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T00:02:17","slug":"leading-the-nfl-in-sacks-brian-burns-has-been-a-rare-bright-spot-for-the-last-place-new-york-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/264397\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading the NFL in sacks, Brian Burns has been a rare bright spot for the last-place New York Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) \u2014 There is not exactly a lot to get excited about around the New York Giants<\/a> right now, after three consecutive losses dropped them to 2-7. <\/p>\n

Rookie Jaxson Dart<\/a> is the quarterback of the future, but the present is pretty bleak.<\/p>\n

One of the few bright spots has been edge rusher Brian Burns<\/a>, who was noticeably the best player on the field from the start of training camp and has translated that into games. He leads the NFL with 11 sacks and is two away from setting a career high.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been really honing in on my preparation,\u201d Burns said Wednesday. \u201cThat kind of leads to my confidence when I step on the field because I kind of already have the answers to the test, kind of know what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns is schooling opposing pass blockers consistently. The 27-year-old has at least one sack in all but one game thus far in his seventh season in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing his thing,\u201d nose tackle Dexter Lawrence said. \u201cEvery day I tell him, \u2018Keep going, don\u2019t get bored of the process, just keep proving yourself every day.\u2019 And that\u2019s what he\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns is doing what he\u2019s doing despite Lawrence\u2019s dip in production (21 tackles and just half a sack) and while also mentoring younger rushers Kayvon Thibodeaux<\/a> and Abdul Carter<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have a guy like that (on your team), you\u2019ve got to emulate the success,\u201d Thibodeaux said. \u201cJust trying to get any tips and any insight on the game like he has and try to help it elevate my game. It\u2019s, one, the wisdom and then, two, just the work ethic day in and day out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns twice was a Pro Bowl pick during his first five seasons with Carolina, but he has elevated his game with film study and preparation during the week. He goes in with a plan and is quickly ready to adjust as needed.<\/p>\n

Health has helped, after groin and ankle injuries played a part in slowing him down last season. Saying he\u2019s dealing with some stuff now and wearing a brace on his right wrist, Burns was not listed at all on the injury report and doesn\u2019t want to use being banged up as an excuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of just tried to find ways around it because injuries are inevitable in this league,\u201d Burns said. \u201cWhether they\u2019re like super serious or just nagging injuries, you can\u2019t get away from it, so you just kind of got to find a way to get around it and still be able to perform at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns has done so even being a part of a defense that ranks 29th out of 32 teams. Coach Brian Daboll called him \u201cthe ultimate teammate\u201d who sets the example for the rest of the players \u2014 and they are watching.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything in training camp, mandatory minicamp, he was intentional on wanting to win. He tried to win every rep,\u201d said defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches, who has sacks in back-to-back games. \u201cEvery practice, every day, he came with a hard hat on to work, and you\u2019re just seeing everything that he\u2019s done have been benefits of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns is no stranger to losing, even as he\u2019s dominating. The Panthers went 24-59 with him, a winning percentage of .406, and the Giants this season and last combined are at .238. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt just tells you he has a foundation: Your job is to do your job,\u201d Nunez-Roches said. \u201dHe can\u2019t score any points. He can\u2019t do everything on offense. He\u2019s a defensive player, so what he expects is control what you can control and he does that very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns believes his time in Carolina steeled him against the threat of letting team success or lack thereof affect his play. He also thinks he\u2019s putting his full game together at the right time when chances materialize.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing I really feel like I\u2019m doing this year that I haven\u2019t done in other years is finishing,\u201d Burns said. \u201cI\u2019ve always had these opportunities to have a big sack year and to create these plays. Sometimes it just comes down to finishing it, and I haven\u2019t really missed too many opportunities this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nfl<\/p>\n

Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) \u2014 There is not exactly a lot to get excited about around the New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-264397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}