Familiarity seemed to play as much a part in free-agent cornerback Adoree’ Jackson signing with the Giants as the three-year, $39 million contract they gave him did.
It seems like Jackson knows half the Giants roster. There certainly were enough of their players publicly recruiting him before his signing became official.
Jackson, the former Titans cornerback who was a surprise salary cap cut, has ties with fellow Giants defensive backs Logan Ryan, Darnay Holmes and Jabrill Peppers as well as receiver John Ross.
He called his visit with the Giants “kind of like being in college and getting recruited all over again.’’
“It felt like family, it felt like home and it felt good,’’ he said of his visit with head coach Joe Judge and his staff. “I always talk about trying to be comfortable and being at peace, so that’s what I felt when I was out there on the visit. It was just great to have people want me to come here.’’
Jackson had high praise for Judge.
“What sold me was him just being straightforward and straight up,’’ he said. “It was comfortable just being able to talk to him, your head coach, just being comfortable and talk face-to-face, laugh here and laugh there and to be able to kind of relate in a sense and understand each other.
“About the culture that he’s bringing, it’s just something that you feel and you know and what you want to see.’’
Asked what Giants fans can expect from him, Jackson said, “They’re getting a team player. They’re getting somebody who’s going to be compatible with what the guys want and what the coaches want, who’s going to go out there and do his job, bring a lot fun, try to bring some excitement.’’
Jackson said the knee injury that limited him to playing only three games last season was not a situation that he saw “stunting development’’ for him.
“You always hear the term, ‘A minor setback for a major comeback,’ ’’ he said. “As long as you stay mentally sharp and make sure you’re on top of everything … you’ve got to have your mind and spirit all aligned and if those two are aligned, it’s easy for you to go out there and the physical aspects will follow.’’
Jackson said, in an effort to get better, he’s been “picking peoples’ brains’’ about the cornerback position, talking to former Broncos great Champ Bailey, former Jets corner Darrelle Revis and Ryan, with whom he played in Tennessee, about their techniques “just to implement them in my game, just put little things in my game and try to get better.’’
