Giants’ Micah McFadden still taking things ‘one game at a time’

New York Giants second-year inside linebacker Micah McFadden, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick, has become part of the team’s core and has played his way into the Giants’ future leadership group.

McFadden has started 13 of the team’s 14 games this season and has become a staple on both defense and special teams. He has formed a special bond with linebacker mate Bobbly Okereke, who the Giants added via free agency this year, and has given the team a solid presence at the second level on defense.

McFadden spoke to the media on Monday, a day after the Giants were smothered by the Saints down in New Orleans, 24-6, but were down just 7-6 at the half.

“I think (Sunday) we could’ve done a lot of things better, kind of talked about it on the plane afterwards. But I think we’re kind of finding our role in this defense. Like I said, still a lot of things to improve upon,” he said.

This week, the Giants will head down to Philadelphia to face the teetering Eagles, the team that unceremoniously bounced them from the NFC Playoffs last season by a score of 38-7.

“Whenever you get knocked out of the playoffs like that — obviously, we don’t think about the past too much, kind of focus on what’s ahead of us, but that definitely stung a little bit to get knocked out by a team in your division,” McFadden said.

“Whenever it’s a division opponent, you want to beat them and obviously we play those teams twice. I think it’s going to be a good challenge this week and obviously, they’re a good football team. But like I said earlier, it just comes down to our process, preparing the right way, and practicing well and figuring it all out throughout the week to put it all out on gameday and perform well to get the results we want.”

The Giants are 5-9 and their postseason hopes are all but dashed for this season. McFadden and the entire Giants organization were not expecting this massive step backward after such as successful season in 2022.

“I don’t think anybody in this building thought we’d be where we are at this point,” he said. “But as far as motivation, we’re process-driven here. We stick to what we do each week and that’s just focusing on winning one game at a time.”