Giants' Brian Burns has been a welcome addition in forgettable season

How do you avoid feeling hopeless, especially on a nine-game losing streak?

Brian Burns paused before calling hopeless a dirty word. He doesn’t feel that at all. There still are games to play, and that drives the sixth-year linebacker to keep pressing on with the Giants facing the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday.

“I take that personally if I’m the guy that messed up,” Burns said. “So that’s my main thing. It’s just to lead by example and show them that at the end of the day, whether we’re 13-0 or 0-13, you still got a job to do.”

It’s an attitude that has helped make Burns’ first season with the Giants a success. Even though the club is headed for one of the worst seasons in franchise history, Burns’ play validated why the team traded for him in March and signed him to a five-year, $141 million contract extension.

Burns, who has 82 tackles, has played like one of the leaders of the defense. He has sacks in back-to-back games and eight overall this season.

Burns has shown that type of effort despite playing through several injuries. He was limited to 37 of 59 possible snaps in the Giants’ 35-14 loss to the Ravens last Sunday and took a nasty blind-side hit while chasing down Lamar Jackson.

Still, Burns’ intensity hasn’t wavered. Although he didn’t participate in practice on Wednesday and Thursday because of ankle and neck injuries, coach Brian Daboll said he’ll play on Sunday.

It’s a testament to Burns’ durability and toughness in a 2-12 season in which pride is the Giants’ only motivation. That has been critical for a young defense that will play its third straight game without Dexter Lawrence and Bobby Okereke.

Burns has taught his younger teammates valuable lessons on how to be a pro.

“I look up to guys like that. Always high motor, high intensity every game,” rookie linebacker Darius Muasau said. “He may not be the big rah-rah guy that always speaks up and all that, but when we really need him, that’s when he comes out to the team and he speaks more so through his actions.”

“He’s a dog on every play,” rookie defensive lineman Elijah Chatman said. “He’s always all over the field and it just gives me that energy. His energy is contagious whenever he’s playing, so it make me want to match his level whenever I’m on the field as best I can.”

“Just leading by example of physically being out here and going about his business the way he does, it’s an example for everybody to see a veteran player who’s already gotten paid,” outside linebackers coach Charlie Bullen said.

Burns doesn’t say much, but his actions keep players accountable. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said Burns often will pull players aside one-on-one to offer tips. That’s what Chatman has noticed while playing more reps at defensive tackle the last two games.

“It just depends on what we got going,” Chatman said. “Like a play, whether we’re doing something within that play, the communication is always there. He’s always speaking to me, telling me what he’s about to do, whether he wants to go and rush. It’s just all types of stuff.”

Perhaps that’s why hopeless is a bad word around Burns. Giants fans may hope for the No. 1 overall pick as a reward for this season’s futility, but Burns, as he said last week, still has a job to do.

Keep playing hard. Keep being a guide for his younger teammates. And let his results speak regardless of the Giants’ record.

“A guy like that you expect to lead by example,” safety Dane Belton said. “When he talks, you listen. Those are good guys to have on the team.”

With Denis P. Gorman

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.