EAST RUTHERFORD \u2014 Some fans must be wondering exactly what role former Cowboys defensive end Chauncey Golston is going to fill on the Giants\u2019 defense this season.<\/p>\n
Will he simply rotate with the Giants\u2019 talented group of outside linebackers? Will he play on the interior line as a pass-rusher who can also help out when offenses look to double-team All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence?<\/p>\n
\u201cI just see myself as a football player,\u201d Golston said this week after practice. \u201cThe best ability is availability, so you just be ready, you just learn all the spots that you need to learn, and be ready when your number is called.\u201d<\/p>\n
Availability has been a strength for Golston, who missed only four games in his first four NFL seasons and played every game in the past two seasons, including 11 starts for the Cowboys in 2024 with 5.5 sacks after DeMarcus Lawrence went down with a foot injury.<\/p>\n
He won\u2019t be starting for the Giants, barring an injury, and he won\u2019t be playing 72 percent of the snaps on defense like he did last year. That\u2019s the reality when you\u2019re a depth piece on a stacked defensive front that also added Abdul Carter with the third pick in the draft.<\/p>\n
But even when he signed a sizable three-year, $18 million contract with the Giants in March, Chauncey came in with the mindset that \u201cnothing\u2019s expected, everything\u2019s earned.\u201d So in training camp he is focusing on earning the coaches\u2019 trust for a bigger role while taking snaps with both the first-team and second-team defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got some pretty big guys inside, and if I\u2019m needed in there, I\u2019m a big guy, too,\u201d said the 6-foot-5, 277-pound Golston. \u201cWhoever has the hot hand, you know? We got some pretty talented guys, so I\u2019m not opposed to seeing them shine when they\u2019re out there balling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Golston says Carter has been as advertised in camp and can make an immediate impact. He compared the Penn State phenom to Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons, who was in Golston\u2019s draft class and was the 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing a lot of the stuff that I\u2019ve seen from Micah when we were just coming in, like putting the entire team on notice, like, \u2018Yeah, I\u2019m a rookie, but come on now,\u2019\u201d Golson said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping that that\u2019s where his career goes \u2014 like on that trajectory. That would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Giants\u2019 lethal pass-rush also features former first-round picks Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, who combined for 14 sacks last year despite Thibodeaux missing five games.<\/p>\n
Golston has already developed a close bond with Thibodeaux during team meetings, picking up on ways that he can improve his own stab and other hand moves since he isn\u2019t as fast as other outside linebackers.<\/p>\n
With his versatility and being one of the better rotational pass-rushers in the league, Golston feels the potential of the Giants\u2019 defensive front is sky high.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo dominate,\u201d Golston said. \u201cWe should accept nothing less than domination.\u201d<\/p>\n
And if that unit in fact becomes the backbone of the team this season, the Giants\u2019 defense has a chance to be special.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe outside linebackers, the defensive linemen, every great team needs those guys playing their best because it all works off of the rush and cover,\u201d Golston said. \u201cWe get pressure, quarterbacks throw it crazy, we get picked sixes. Our corners, our DBs, linebackers, they lock it up, we get coverage sacks. We all play great in the run and we hold running backs to low yards per carry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crisis Averted<\/p>\n
Head coach Brian Daboll said Thursday that Malik Nabers is \u201cgood\u201d after leaving Tuesday\u2019s practice with a shoulder injury.<\/p>\n
The second-year pro practiced and participated in 11-on-11 drills Thursday, but the Giants have a \u201cplan\u201d to scale back his reps because Nabers has also been nursing a toe injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sit down, we have a conversation, and we talk about what we think is best for each individual player based on what they have \u2026 whether that\u2019s don\u2019t practice, whether that\u2019s do a little bit, do a little bit more the next day,\u201d Daboll said. \u201cWe have discussions like that every night.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Giants have also been limiting reps recently for Lawrence and rookie running back Cam Skattebo.<\/p>\n
Other Absences<\/p>\n
Backup defensive lineman D.J. Davidson didn\u2019t practice Thursday, but not because of the leg injury he sustained during Tuesday\u2019s practice. Daboll said he was dealing with a personal issue.<\/p>\n
Greg Van Roten, who is competing with Evan Neal to be the starting right guard, missed practice for the birth of his second child.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: July 31, 2025 at 12:35 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAST RUTHERFORD \u2014 Some fans must be wondering exactly what role former Cowboys defensive end Chauncey Golston is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[7,519,1917,56,2321,2469,6,9,41877],"class_list":{"0":"post-251186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-giants","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-giants","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-giants","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkgiants","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-top-stories-trt"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114949018741424418","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}