Giants safety Jason Pinnock ready to take charge in new defensive system

A lot has changed for Giants safety Jason Pinnock since last season.

His position mate, Xavier McKinney, departed in free agency. Cornerback Adoree’ Jackson’s contract was voided by the Giants in March.

The way Pinnock sees it, now he has “the keys to the car.”

Certainly, he is being counted on by new Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.

And Pinnock said Friday that he’s ready for the expectations and responsibility.

“My ceiling is probably a lot higher than other safeties because I’ve only been playing safety for 2 1⁄2 years,” he said. “So when you really look at it and look at me, I started playing safety [after making the switch from cornerback] in the middle of the 2022 season, my rookie year. So my ceiling is really high.”

Coming out of high school, Pinnock said his first college offers targeted him as a receiver. Then at the University of Pittsburgh, he played cornerback.

Pinnock was chosen by the Jets in the fifth round (175th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft. With the Jets, he was mainly used on special teams.

The Giants signed Pinnock off waivers from the Jets late in the summer of 2022. He’s become a leader on defense, able to answer questions and be a sounding board for teammates, especially as the Giants learn a new defense under Bowen.

In comparing Bowen’s scheme to former defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s, Pinnock said this: “This is more pre-snap communications and sometimes post-snap. That wasn’t required a lot in our last system.”

Pinnock believes that “a loud defense is a great defense,” and the Giants seem to be picking up confidence as the third practice of training camp is in the books.

“It’s falling together,” Pinnock said. “We got here in the spring and everybody was processing [the new system], everybody’s a little slower. And now, a loud defense is a great defense. That’s what we believe. That’s what we say. Maybe it’s been slow to come together, but once it does, it comes quickly.”

Pinnock said the Giants are fortunate to have Dane Belton, a third-year safety.

“We lean on him heavily,” Pinnock said. “His ability to retain [information] is at a different level. We joke with him that that’s Big Ten Iowa stuff, but some guys just got it. Some guys have to do it. Some guys are walk-through guys, some guys, you can tell them and it clicks. Dane is one of those guys. We lean on him heavily for the young guys understanding the defense.”

When it comes to rookie safety Tyler Nubin, who is currently dealing with a calf issue, Pinnock said: “It doesn’t matter where you put him. He can play anywhere.”

And then there is Isaiah Simmons, traded to the Giants by the Cardinals last August.

Simmons could be one of the players who benefits most from the arrival of Bowen, who has said Simmons will play nickel in some packages and linebacker in others.

“[Simmons] came into a second-year system,” Pinnock said. “We had things rolling and it was hard to plug [a new player] in. Now it’s fresh for everybody.”

“Yeah, it’s good,” coach Brian Daboll said. “It’s good, competitive practices. We’re two days in, so just making strides and trying to get better.”

Notes & quotes: Daboll said Friday morning that offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor was “a little bit better” after taking the hit to the ribs from Dexter Lawrence during team drills Wednesday. Surprisingly, Eluemunor joined practice later Friday, splitting first-team reps with Josh Ezeudu at right tackle . . . TE Lawrence Cager continues to have a strong camp. Daboll said: “He’s playing faster. I think he’s absorbed what he needs to do in terms of understanding all the play calls, the nuances, experience in the system, and I think [tight ends coach] Tim Kelly has done a great job. He’s added a lot to our staff in a lot of different areas, but he’s a heck of a tight end coach.”

By Kimberly Jones

kimberly.jones@newsday.comkimjonessports

Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.