Uncle Adoree’ embraces mentorship role with New York Giants rookies

New York Giants cornerback Adoree’ Jackson is entering the final year of his current deal and it’s unclear what the future holds. But for now, the veteran says he’s taking each day as it comes.

“I’m just taking it a day at a time,” Jackson told reporters on Tuesday.

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Part of Jackson’s current role is mentoring rookies Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins, who could each start once Week 1 rolls around.

That’s perfectly fine with Jackson, who feels like their “uncle” and thinks back to his time as a young player and how the veterans helped him adjust to the professional game.

“I’m not going to lie, I tell them I feel like their uncle, and I’m just proud every time I go out there and see them play, see them work and just see them do different things. It’s one of those things like when I was rookie, how would I want the vets to treat me?” Jackson said. “So now, it’s me paying that forward to them. I just want to see them do things better than I did and not make the mistakes that I made so at the end of the day, I’m excited for them. I’m glad that they’re doing great things because I want to see them be the best that they can be.”

With Banks and Hawkins developing at a rapid pace, that further clouds Jackson’s future. Back in April, Dan Duggan of The Athletic pondered whether or not the Giants had any plans to extend Jackson as it was.

There have been no indications the Giants want to extend Jackson as he enters the final year of his contract. They seem content to let him play out this season then reassess.

As it turns out, it’s something general manager Joe Schoen did consider.

Jackson revealed that the Giants and his camp had discussed a possible contract extension last season but nothing came to fruition.

“I know it’s been talked about it, but at the end of the day, God took care of it before, and he’ll do it again, so I’m not really worried about what’s going on. Just control what I can control, that’s my attitude. How I show up to work and how I go out there and compete every day, I know everything will fall into place,” he said.

At 26 years of age, Jackson still has plenty of treads left on his tires. The 2017 first-round pick is a solid presence on the field and in the locker room for the Giants, but there’s only so much money to go around.

But Schoen is in no rush to extend anyone at this point. Like Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney, Jackson is likely to have to wait until after the season for any further talks.