The Giants cut cornerback Janoris Jenkins on Friday after inappropriate comments to a fan on Twitter.
Jenkins had already clashed with the coaching staff earlier this season, indicating he didn't feel he was being used properly in the team's defensive scheme after a loss to the Packers in Week 13.
But as a veteran on a young defense, he still had the respect of his now ex-teammates, a few of whom spoke about the type of leadership he provided.
"Rabbit was more like a coach than just a teammate," Sam Beal told The Daily News on Friday. "He didn't have to stand there and coach me up as a rookie at practice. He didn't have to tell me to sit by him at meetings, but he did. He made me come over in the meeting room and sit by him just because he'd coach me up."
Beal was drafted by the Giants in 2018, but various injuries kept him off the field until Week 10 this year. He's consistently seen more and more playing time in the four games he's played, and chipped in with seven tackles in Monday's loss to the Eagles, a career high.
Beal also mentioned that he hopes his relationship with Jenkins would continue.
"Even this offseason I'm gonna try to get with him and figure out where he's working so he can keep coaching me up," Beal said. "Because the knowledge he's dropped on me has been real key to a lot of stuff, my confidence, of actually getting to the point where I'm learning the playbook and mastering the playbook."
Along with Jenkins, linebacker Alec Ogletree is a veteran voice in the Giants locker room. He's also aware of what the 31-year-old brought to the table from that standpoint.
"We all love Rabbit," Ogletree told NJ Advance Media. "And have a lot of respect for what he does. [You] hate to see something like that and hate that he's no longer with us. I hate this whole situation."
