Brian Burns called players-only meeting before Eagles win to deliver message from ‘my heart’

Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns is widely viewed as one of the best pass rushers in the league, with a pair of Pro Bowl selections during his first six seasons. He’s also reached the pinnacle financially, signing a five-year, $141 million contract with the Giants after being acquired in a trade last offseason.

Burns is having the best season of his career, tied for the NFL lead with seven sacks. He easily could be content with all he’s accomplished.

But the lack of team success throughout his career eats at Burns. The Panthers went 24-59 in Burns’ five seasons in Carolina. He thought a change of scenery would change his fortunes, but his Giants tenure started with just four wins in his first 22 games.

Burns reached his breaking point earlier this week, calling a players-only meeting among the Giants’ defensive players. Burns’ intention was to bring the defense together and play for each other.

“It was just something that was on my heart and I wanted to lead and show the guys how much I care,” Burns said. “It meant a lot for me to get it off and they responded positively to it.”

Burns’ message was received. The Giants’ defense pitched a shutout in the second half of Thursday night’s 34-17 domination of the Eagles.

Burns was the primary speaker in the 30-minute meeting, with veterans Dexter Lawrence and Bobby Okereke echoing his message.

“A lot of things they were saying just resonated because those are guys that have been fighting in this league for a long time,” said second-year safety Tyler Nubin. “They want to f— win more than anybody. When you see their level of urgency and they’re your best players, you can’t do anything else but go try to match that. When you see those guys working hard, doing extra, putting their life on the line, that just makes you want to do that, too.”

The Giants’ defense hadn’t been bad in the first five games aside from a 40-37 overtime loss to the Cowboys in Week 2. But the unit also hadn’t made the type of game-changing plays needed to win, like the fourth-quarter interception cornerback Cor’Dale Flott delivered on Thursday.

Players-only meetings are only celebrated when results follow. That’s the case for the Giants after some tough love from their veteran leaders.

“It wasn’t calling guys out,” Nubin said. “It was just being real, like, ‘Hey, we need this from you. We need this from this guy because we believe in you.’ It wasn’t, ‘You’re not doing this.’ It was positive, but it was a man-to-man conversation. It’s a grown-man league, so you’ve got to be grown at some point and hear the truth. It was good. It was what we needed.”

All-Pro?

As Nubin passed Burns in the locker room after the game, the safety repeatedly said, “All-Pro.” Burns is certainly on pace to achieve that distinction.

Burns added two more sacks on Thursday to match Denver’s Nik Bonitto with seven. Burns’ first sack came on third-and-8 in the first quarter. Aligned on the right edge, Burns expertly worked a stunt with Abdul Carter that freed him up to dump Hurts for an 8-yard loss.

Burns was lined up at inside linebacker on third-and-7 in the third quarter. He blew past left guard Brett Toth on a blitz and corralled Hurts before the quarterback could escape the pocket for a 9-yard loss.

If Burns was only racking up sacks, he’d be in the All-Pro discussion. But he’s brought much more to the defense. His nine tackles for a loss lead the league. He shot into the backfield on the play before his first sack to produce a 3-yard loss on a run by Saquon Barkley.

The production combined with the leadership has made Burns the Giants’ MVP through the first six games.

Brian Burns gets to Hurts AGAIN.

PHIvsNYG on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/AB04l3ZFwi

— NFL (@NFL) October 10, 2025

Cornerback rotation change

From the better late than never department, the Giants finally scrapped their cornerback rotation. Flott was the full-time No. 2 corner after being replaced by Deonte Banks on third downs in the first five games.

It’s unfair to attribute the Giants’ improved third-down defense to that change, but it’s impressive that they limited the Eagles to 1-for-9 on third down. Much of that success had to do with defensive coordinator Shane Bowen throwing different looks at Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.

“Shane called a great game,” Burns said. “He mixed it up. A lot of simulated (pressures). He changed the picture for Jalen. Made him hold the ball and gave us opportunities to get after the ball.”

Bowen got ultra-aggressive to set up Flott’s interception early in the fourth quarter. Trailing 27-17, the Eagles drove to New York’s 15-yard line with a chance to pull within one score. But on second-and-10, Bowen called an all-out blitz that sent seven rushers at Hurts. Flott read that Hurts would try to hit Jahan Dotson on an out and jumped the route for an interception he returned 68 yards.

Cor’Dale Flott was mic’d up for his INT! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/jnuiWxyMnQ

— New York Giants (@Giants) October 10, 2025

Flott mostly matched up with Devonta Smith as top cornerback Paulson Adebo traveled with AJ Brown (six catches, 80 yards). Smith finished with just four catches for 49 yards, although Flott got lucky that Hurts over-threw the receiver on a busted coverage that could have resulted in an 89-yard touchdown early in the third quarter.

Daboll wouldn’t commit to Flott being the every-down No. 2 corner going forward, but it would be indefensible to return to the rotation after Thursday. Banks could become a trade candidate — the Eagles desperately need corner help — after losing his role on defense.

A Barkley breakout?

Barkley seemed primed for a breakout performance on Thursday. A documentary detailing Barkley’s departure from New York was released on game day, which figured to provide extra motivation for a player who relished running all over his former team last season.

Things appeared to be headed that way early, as Barkley picked up 31 yards on the first two carries of the game. He added just 27 yards on 10 carries the rest of the game. Considering 18 yards came on a carry late in the first half against a soft defense, Barkley had nine yards on his other nine carries.

The Giants bottled Barkley up on six carries for 1 yard or less. With the Eagles’ offensive line not as formidable as last season, Barkley was back to his feast or famine style.

The key has always been to feed Barkley because he’s the type of back capable of breaking a long run at any point. But an Eagles offense with no flow only gave him 12 carries.

Barkley had some odd absences, such as leaving the field after his two long runs to start the game. The Eagles’ drive immediately stalled and they settled for a field goal. He wasn’t on the field late as A.J. Dillon was stripped by Giants safety Dane Belton to seal the game.

Getting Barkley more involved is Philadelphia’s problem. For the Giants, they can enjoy a second consecutive strong performance from their maligned run defense.

A key has been eliminating the back-breaking long runs that have plagued the run defense. Barkley’s 18-yard run on the first play from scrimmage was Philadelphia’s longest carry on Thursday. The Saints didn’t have a run longer than 11 yards when the Giants limited them to 2.9 yards per carry in Week 5.

The return of defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches from a two-game absence has helped solidify the interior run defense, while outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux has been a force setting the edge.

New York’s OL progress

The Giants’ offensive line has quietly been performing well. It’s probably not a coincidence that the group’s improvement has coincided with left tackle Andrew Thomas’ return to the lineup.

Thomas has been as dominant as ever after missing nearly a year with a foot injury. Center John Michael Schmitz was playing well before leaving early in the second half with a concussion after Eagles linebacker Jihaad Campbell’s elbow got through his face mask and hit him in the bridge of the nose.

Austin Schlottman stepped in and the line didn’t miss a beat. The Giants impressively ran out the final 6:50 behind the offensive line and the physical running of Cam Skattebo.

With top wide receivers Malik Nabers (ACL) and Darius Slayton (hamstring) sidelined, the Giants predictably leaned on their running game. Skattebo battered his way to 98 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.

The Giants again leaned heavily on two tight end sets, with Theo Johnson and Daniel Bellinger making crucial blocks to spring rushes around the edge. Bellinger was effective as a lead-blocking fullback on the final drive. The Giants also mixed in some two-running back packages, with Tyrone Tracy limited to 6 yards on four carries in his return from a two-game absence due to a dislocated shoulder.

Considering the absence of Nabers and Slayton, the Giants will extend no sympathy to the Eagles for being without star defensive tackle Jalen Carter (heel) or No. 1 cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, who left in the at the end of the first quarter with a hamstring injury.

Even with their depleted receiver corps, the Giants picked on Eagles corners Kelee Ringo and Adoree Jackson. Wan’Dale Robinson led the way with six catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Robinson had been relegated to short catches in rookie Jaxson Dart’s first two starts, but he had a 35-yard touchdown and a 26-yard catch on Thursday.

Lil’Jordan Humphrey went from the practice squad to No. 2 receiver, logging 77 percent of the snaps. That snap share would have been even higher if the Giants didn’t use three tight ends for the entire 12-play drive to close out the game.

Humphrey lacks speed, but the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder used his size to snag a 34-yard jump ball on third-and-12 to keep the Giants’ opening possession alive. Most importantly, Humphrey is a reliable target, which is important for Dart.

Most importantly for the offense, the Giants didn’t commit a turnover after having five turnovers in their 26-14 loss to the Saints in Week 5.

Special teams conundrum

Special teams has been an Achilles heel for the Giants during so many of their losing seasons. That phase has suddenly morphed into a strength this season.

That continued on Sunday, with returner Gunner Olszewski breaking a 37-yard kickoff return and a 15-yard punt return in the first quarter. Sloppy ball handling by the Eagles’ kickoff returners led to Philadelphia starting drives at its own 7-yard line in the second quarter and its own 5-yard line in the fourth quarter.

Punter Jamie Gillan has mostly placed kickoffs well since taking over the role last week, but he didn’t reach the landing zone on the opening kickoff, which gave the Eagles the ball at their own 40-yard line. That allowed the Eagles to get into field-goal range with just two first downs.

The Giants signed kicker Jude McAtamney to the active roster despite him having one more practice squad elevation remaining. McAtamney went 4-for-5 on extra points while not attempting a field goal for the second straight game.

McAtamney is 7-for-8 on PATs and has made two short field-goal attempts since taking over for Graham Gano, who is on injured reserve with a groin injury. The Giants’ improved red-zone offense under Dart has limited McAtamney’s field-goal opportunities. It’s been an odd trial for McAtamney, who hasn’t done anything to lose the job, but also hasn’t had any opportunities to seize it.

John Mara’s battle

Sunday was the Giants’ first win since co-owner John Mara revealed he’s battling cancer. Mara was in the victorious locker room after the game to receive a game ball from Daboll.

“There’s one tough son of a b— in here. His name’s John Mara,” Daboll said to an ovation from players.

It was clear how much the moment meant to Mara.

“I’m telling you, all the chemo and radiation in the world doesn’t have the same effect as this,” Mara said.