“Didn't like it. Liked nothing about it.”
That was the message New York Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson had for second-year cornerback Deonte Banks on the play in which Banks allowed a 55-yard touchdown reception to Dallas Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb in last week’s 20-15 loss on Thursday Night Football.
“When your man catches the ball, you have to break your legs–not literally, but figuratively–to get him on the ground,” Henderson explained when asked what he didn’t like about the play.
“I thought there was room to do more, and we expected from him, and he expected from himself. But at that moment, he failed.”
Banks, to his credit, agreed with Henderson’s assessment.
“In the game, I thought it was like an angle-like thing,” he said. “I didn't think it was an effort until I saw the film. It looked like, ‘Oh, I could had it. I could have done more.’”
After a promising rookie campaign, Banks has struggled this season. His 134.5 coverage rating ranks last among the Giants' cornerbacks, and his four touchdowns allowed are first, two stats he probably would prefer to be reversed.
Banks admitted that he’s still adjusting to playing more zone coverage than he did under Wink Martindale when he played more man, which is his strength.
The numbers, though, would seem to indicate otherwise. Per Pro Football Focus, Banks has been targeted 14 times in man coverage, allowing nine receptions for 182 yards and four touchdowns.
In zone coverage, he’s allowed four of nine pass targets to be completed for 31 yards and no touchdowns, with a pass breakup.
Despite his struggles this season, no one is giving up on last year’s first-round pick with the first-round talent.
“We are working on it all the time, just trying to get him to understand that when you are on a number one guy, even when he's covered, to the quarterback, ‘(The ball is) mine; he's not covered,’” Henderson said.
“So you have to anticipate that no matter how good the coverage is, the ball's coming right now for every play, and the one play you don't is the one play they get you. And, to be honest, he's been a victim of that a little bit, like those big plays that have hurt us.”
While Henderson also said the receiver deserves credit for competing for the ball, Banks needs to step up his efforts to prevent it from turning into a backbreaker.
“We gotta find a way that we start getting those balls on the ground, or we catch those balls, and we make the quarterback think, ‘Maybe I shouldn't go there now; maybe that's not a good idea.’”
To his credit, Banks agreed with Henderson about not finishing the play properly and insisted that there were no hard feelings about his position coach sharing his blunt critique publicly.
“Hey, I expect more from myself,” he said. “So, it is what it is. It's coaching.”
